Can Baking Soda Remove Choke? It’s easy to lose track of many things due to the happenings in our lives. But sometimes, the things we forget turns out to be quite essential and end up causing us many problems. A clear-cut example of such a case starts on the pipes that can be found all over our homes. In most cases, these problems will plague your drain pipes.
Whenever something goes down on these pipes, some of the nasty stuff will stay and stick to the pipe walls. Over time, they will become thicker, and before you know it, you now have a clogged pipe. If left unchecked, this situation will get worse and might even cause irreparable damages. Hence, once you notice the first signs of sink chokes or toilet chokes, go into action immediately.
Typically, you can use commercial drain cleaners to do the job, but you can also use homemade alternatives. This article will explore one such homemade substitute that you can probably find in your pantry right now. If you like it fancy, it’s called sodium bicarbonate, but to many, it’s just known as baking soda.
Can baking soda remove choke?
Baking soda, contrary to its name, is not exclusively used for baking. It is one of the most efficient and cheap all-around cleaners out there. In some cases and applications, it can even be more effective than most known chemical cleaners in the market.
In chemistry, there are two groups of chemicals called acids and alkalis. These two are opposite of each other and would cause different chemical reactions if mixed in different amounts. If you mix equal portions of both, they’ll cancel each other out, basically becoming water in a process called neutralization.
Baking soda is a slightly alkaline compound, while drain chokes are of acidic composition. Once they interact, a chemical reaction will happen, which softens the choke to the point of being dissolved. After this process, it would be a lot easier for you to clean up or flush down the choke.
Baking soda can also serve as a deodorant and a disinfectant, although not as effective as its cleaning effects. Hence, not only does it clean up your pipes, but it also removes those bad smells coming from them. It can also prevent and inhibit bacterial and fungi growth that can potentially cause diseases to you and your family as a disinfectant.
How to remove sink chokes by using baking soda
Now that you know the wonders of baking soda, it’s now time to put it to the test. But before anything else, you need to prepare other ingredients since baking soda works best with them. In this method, you’ll be using the following:
- Two cups of baking soda
- A bottle of dish soap
- A cup of white vinegar
- Half a cup of salt
- A kettle of boiling water
#1. Start by boiling water
In this method, you will use hot water to soften those stubborn chokes. Just boil water in your kettle and set it aside near your sink.
#2. Pour the dish soap and hot water into your drain
Pour the dish soap first carefully while making sure that you evenly coat the pipe walls with it. Wait for a few seconds, then proceed to pour the hot water using your kettle. Make sure to keep your face away from the drain to prevent the hot steam from hurting it.
#3. Now pour the baking soda into the drain
You have to be smart about this step, or you’ll end up with a messy sink full of white powder. To be safe, try to use a funnel and gently pour down the baking soda into the pipe.
#4. Pour the last ingredient, white vinegar
Once you finally emptied two cups of baking soda, it is now time for the white vinegar to go down. As always, carefully pour it down. Contrary to the peacefulness of the previous steps, you might hear something unusual. Stay calm, and don’t freak out. Nothing is going to explode, and this is just a normal reaction.
As explained earlier, alkali and acid don’t like each other that much. So if you mix baking soda with a very acidic vinegar, it would create these fizzling or rumbling noises. Most importantly, this reaction will, most of the time, successfully remove the stubborn choke.
#5. Finish it all up by flushing down hot water
Wait for at least five minutes or until you can no longer hear the fizzing sounds. Hopefully, you did not pour down all the water you boiled earlier. If you did, boil water again, then pour it down the drain to finish the whole process.
Can Baking Soda Remove Choke? – Conclusion
If you’ve successfully made your drain functional, run hot tap water. This way, any choke remnants are flushed down further. If you’re unfortunately unsuccessful, don’t be discouraged and do the whole process again.