Dave H. wrote:


"Donnie"

SNIP

Yep, sure can - be aware that any fat in the drain will turn to soap
though, and swells about 50% in the process, so running some hot
water through before and after could be a good idea if your drain's
already a bit clogged?

It's not but I guess it never does any harm to pre flush the pipe just
in case

On the subject of soda and cleaning steel, have you heard of the
Bubbling Electric Gunge Tank method for removing rust? Big plastic
tub, battery charger, half a cup of washing soda to each bucket of
water, then connect the +ve from the charger to a piece of scrap
iron, -ve to the piece to clean, leave for a few days - saves all
that tiresome messing about with wire brushes, strong acids etc., and
often does a good job of stripping paint too! (Google "electrolytic
rust removal" for more details) The leftover liquid's drain-safe as
long as you don't use stainless for the +ve electrode (which will
eventually dissolve into the solution), stainless will make lots of
hexavalent chromium in the solution, which is Very Bad Stuff.

I'd heard something like this before I must admit but never did give it
a try, could be interesting to experiment with it.

--
Donnie