On Oct 12, 10:19*am, Bob Summers
wrote:
I never had any success with basic (in the chemistry
sense) chemicals. *The only chemical that I've gotten to work
is sulfuric acid. *It does a great job on hair.

I get mine at the hardware store. *Home Depot carries it. *The
stuff I use is called tempered sulfuric acid. *It comes in a
plastic bottle inside a plastic bag.

Be careful. *Mixing H2SO4 with water produces a lot of
heat; Being sprayed with a boiling mixture of sulfuric acid
is likely to be unpleasant or disfiguring. *If you don't
know how to handle concentrated H2SO4, do some research
first. *I learned enough in high school chemistry to avoid
accidents (so far). *Some decorative pluming fittings can
be "de-chromed" or stained by it. *DAMHIKT

Lye AKA NaOH AKA Caustic Soda and KOH should work fine
on fat. *Fat plus a strong base makes soap.At least that's
how I remember my mother and grandmother making soap. *
Soap dissolves in water and goes down the drain. * Most
drain cleaners are mostly a strong base.

Bob S

On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:35:09 -0500, "RogerN" wrote:

As others have suggested, this might have a drum type trap and that may be
where I'm having difficulty getting past. *Anyway, I used some rubber
washers and the vent plate to seal off the vent and forced some pressure
into the drain. *The drain is working but slow, at least it's useable. *I
plan to see what I can do with some chemical (vinegar, bleach, ???) and hot
water. *Other than that my only plan is to try to save up $$ to have the
drains pipes replaced with snake friendly traps. *Maybe I'll come back with
a question on installing 4" drain pipe in a sink! :-) *At least since it's
flowing I can get some chemical down there that's not diluted in gallons of
water.

Any recommended chemical treatments for hair/soap scum clogs?

Thanks!

RogerN

Don't put the lye in then decide it didn't work and switch to acid.
Bad things will happen.
Karl