Caustic soda and vinegar - recipe for disaster?

Tiddlywinks

Please save me from myself......

My shower plughole is really slow in emptying and I want to stick a caustic soda solution down to clear the gunk - if I do this, how long should I wait before I can use vinegar to clean the glass and tile surround?

I want to soak the tray in vinegar to remove some limecale but don't want to cause an explosion or anything if the two liquids shouldn't be mixed:o.

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Tiddly

MrsBartolozzi

Caustic soda is a strong base, whereas vinegar is a weak acid so while a reaction will occur if you add one to the other it won't be very extreme. I would use the CS then wait til it does it's thing then rinse out with water and only then use the vinegar. You're not pouring the whole bottle of vinegar in are you? so the small amount that gets washed down will bewell diluted by the water and you won't even notice the reaction.

Tiddlywinks

MrsBartolozzi wrote: »

You're not pouring the whole bottle of vinegar in are you?

I'm using quite a lot as I'm soaking paper kitchen towel sheets and then laying them in the tray so there will be quite a lot of it sloshing around.

Off to do the caustic soda bit now - and will hold off on the vinegar until I swill some water down the drain a bit later.

Thanks for the help so far. Any other tips for clearing the drain or the limescale would be great as well.

Thanks

Tiddly