How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building up in there.

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

For all I know, both products are the same strength and the one is designed to adhere to porcelain. But in that case why would anyone supply both sorts?

An how long is a piece of sting question:
What quantity should I place in the really large washing machines used in Laundrettes?

There doesn't appear to be a determining factor at my local one. I watched the woman working there load a small machine to the gunnels with soap powder and realised asking her would be silly.

On Friday, 30 September 2016 10:52:06 UTC+1, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building up in there.


You can dissolve Sodium Hydroxide pellets in water, but I wouldn't recommend it as it is highly exothermic and dangerous if splashed on skin.

On 30/09/16 10:52, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?

More than exists is the whole world.

I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

Why would caustic soda cause a sediment?

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute
thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

I would say the Pacific ocean is probably the sort of volume you should
be thinking of.


For all I know, both products are the same strength and the one is
designed to adhere to porcelain. But in that case why would anyone
supply both sorts?


For all you know the moon is made of green cheese and the Mediterranean
is a wine lake.

An how long is a piece of sting question: What quantity should I
place in the really large washing machines used in Laundrettes?

Holy crap. You cant afford a washing machine, yet you can afford a computer?
There doesn't appear to be a determining factor at my local one. I
watched the woman working there load a small machine to the gunnels
with soap powder and realised asking her would be silly.

Mate, you are weird, and obviously not in touch with the real* world. I
have seen this behaviour come and go, so I infer that perhaps you are on
medication, except when you forget.

Take it, wait for it to work, and come back and ask the question again.



*at least the world that most people here agree is real.


--
Canada is all right really, though not for the whole weekend.

"Saki"

On 30/09/2016 11:08, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 30/09/16 10:52, Weatherlawyer wrote:

I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

Why would caustic soda cause a sediment?
That was the only bit that (sort of) made sense to me. If you add it to
water too quickly and/or without stirring enough, in can form clumps
rather than dissolving. Of course, you should be able to see the clumps
before you pour them into the sink, and the answer to "how much to
dissolve" is "read the instructions"...

On Friday, 30 September 2016 10:52:06 UTC+1, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?

wikipedia will give you the solubility

I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building up in there.

it doesn't build up, it's soluble

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

none. But thin bleach is better suited. Except in machines that don't tolerate bleach.

For all I know, both products are the same strength and the one is designed to adhere to porcelain. But in that case why would anyone supply both sorts?

wild guess he because they're different chemicals with different propoerties?

An how long is a piece of sting question:
What quantity should I place in the really large washing machines used in Laundrettes?

....how long is a piece of string. Depends what you're trying to achieve.

There doesn't appear to be a determining factor at my local one. I watched the woman working there load a small machine to the gunnels with soap powder and realised asking her would be silly.

Most people use far too much of it.


NT

On Friday, 30 September 2016 11:15:06 UTC+1, Chris Bartram wrote:
On 30/09/2016 11:08, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 30/09/16 10:52, Weatherlawyer wrote:

I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

Why would caustic soda cause a sediment?
That was the only bit that (sort of) made sense to me. If you add it to
water too quickly and/or without stirring enough, in can form clumps
rather than dissolving. Of course, you should be able to see the clumps
before you pour them into the sink, and the answer to "how much to
dissolve" is "read the instructions"...

You could put some 40% HCl in the sink to clear it. :-0

On 30/09/16 11:15, Chris Bartram wrote:
On 30/09/2016 11:08, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 30/09/16 10:52, Weatherlawyer wrote:

I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

Why would caustic soda cause a sediment?
That was the only bit that (sort of) made sense to me. If you add it to
water too quickly and/or without stirring enough, in can form clumps
rather than dissolving. Of course, you should be able to see the clumps
before you pour them into the sink, and the answer to "how much to
dissolve" is "read the instructions"...

and it doesn't matter if it does form clumps. Just add boiling water and
they soon go.


--
"Women actually are capable of being far more than the feminists will
let them."

On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask) and
swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use
with great care.

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

Why would you want to? Chlorine won't do the seals (door and bearing)
and hoses any good at all


For all I know, both products are the same strength and the one is designed to adhere to porcelain. But in that case why would anyone supply both sorts?

An how long is a piece of sting question:
What quantity should I place in the really large washing machines used in Laundrettes?

There doesn't appear to be a determining factor at my local one. I watched the woman working there load a small machine to the gunnels with soap powder and realised asking her would be silly.

"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask)

No need to use a round bottomed one, almost anything works fine.

and swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use with
great care.

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute
thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

Why would you want to? Chlorine won't do the seals (door and bearing) and
hoses any good at all


For all I know, both products are the same strength and the one is
designed to adhere to porcelain. But in that case why would anyone supply
both sorts?

An how long is a piece of sting question:
What quantity should I place in the really large washing machines used in
Laundrettes?

There doesn't appear to be a determining factor at my local one. I
watched the woman working there load a small machine to the gunnels with
soap powder and realised asking her would be silly.

On Fri, 30 Sep 2016 12:10:11 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask) and
swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use
with great care.

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

Why would you want to? Chlorine won't do the seals (door and bearing)
and hoses any good at all


I've just started using soda crystals more regularly, am I wasting my
time?

--
AnthonyL

On 30/09/2016 12:10, newshound wrote:
On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask) and
swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use
with great care.
+1

As chemist I would say NEVER add swoild caustic soda (soudium
hydroxider) to hot water. the action of dissolving releases heat and can
easily boil the water. The hot solution (and even when cold) attacks
the skin making it (in the first instance) feel soapy. To make a
solution add the solid a little at a time stirring constantly until you
have dissolved the required quantity. While doing this wear goggles and
gloves. Any splashes on the skin should be washed off immediatelywith
copious amounts of cold water.

Malcolm

On 9/30/2016 12:15 PM, Rod Speed wrote:


"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a
small amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask)

No need to use a round bottomed one, almost anything works fine.


Oh, I *know* that you wouldn't. But I said that a chemist would.

On Friday, 30 September 2016 12:54:26 UTC+1, Malcolm Race wrote:
On 30/09/2016 12:10, newshound wrote:
On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:

How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask) and
swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use
with great care.
+1

As chemist I would say NEVER add swoild caustic soda (soudium
hydroxider) to hot water. the action of dissolving releases heat and can
easily boil the water.

which helps it attack the muck in the drain.


NT

The hot solution (and even when cold) attacks
the skin making it (in the first instance) feel soapy. To make a
solution add the solid a little at a time stirring constantly until you
have dissolved the required quantity. While doing this wear goggles and
gloves. Any splashes on the skin should be washed off immediatelywith
copious amounts of cold water.

Malcolm

On Friday, 30 September 2016 13:03:16 UTC+1, newshound wrote:
On 9/30/2016 12:15 PM, Rod Speed wrote:


"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a
small amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask)

No need to use a round bottomed one, almost anything works fine.


Oh, I *know* that you wouldn't. But I said that a chemist would.

I was a chemist and we used to dissolve the pellets in a 5 litre beaker in an ice bath. After an hour, we would then mix it with an electric stirrer. In the end, it was safer to buy in 5 litre 40% stuff.

On Friday, 30 September 2016 13:18:24 UTC+1, everybody that should know better posted:

Imagine a poster to uk.diy not knowing bleach and caustic can be dangerous and think about it -then try hard not to bother me.

If you know the answer kindly tell me; if not. WADR, STFU!

On Friday, 30 September 2016 14:05:06 UTC+1, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Friday, 30 September 2016 13:18:24 UTC+1, everybody that should know better posted:

Imagine a poster to uk.diy not knowing bleach and caustic can be dangerous and think about it

Most of us have done that

-then try hard not to bother me.

it's a 2 way deal

If you know the answer kindly tell me; if not. WADR, STFU!

we did.


NT

On 30/09/16 12:54, Malcolm Race wrote:
On 30/09/2016 12:10, newshound wrote:
On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask) and
swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use
with great care.
+1

As chemist I would say NEVER add swoild caustic soda (soudium
hydroxider) to hot water. the action of dissolving releases heat and can
easily boil the water. The hot solution (and even when cold) attacks
the skin making it (in the first instance) feel soapy. To make a
solution add the solid a little at a time stirring constantly until you
have dissolved the required quantity. While doing this wear goggles and
gloves. Any splashes on the skin should be washed off immediatelywith
copious amounts of cold water.

Malcolm

AS a chemist (A level) and a practical person, I'd say by all means do
it, *provided you understand exactly what you are doing*.

Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools.

Tipping, as I do, a cupful of pure sodium hydroxide down a kitchen sink
and adding water from a boiling kettle, will produce an exothermic
boiling spitting caustic mixture that will clear a u-bend faster than
senna pods will clean plowmans arsehole.

If you don't wear glasses you are asking for trouble an eye damage, and
you will get hot splashes of caustic on any skin you leave uncovered.
This doesn't kill you, and it doesn't make you feel soapy. It burns like
hell, and that's why you had a bucket of cold water ready to plunge your
hands in. THEN it will feel soapy.

Respect your chemistry, but don't be afraid of it. And if you haven't
done this before, put on glasses, gloves and a burkah, and clothes tha
are disposable or you don't mind having the colour bleached out, and can
be washed in minutes. and pour a cupful of crystals into a dish, take it
outside and pour boiling water on it.

Then you will know roughly what to expect.



--
"Anyone who believes that the laws of physics are mere social
conventions is invited to try transgressing those conventions from the
windows of my apartment. (I live on the twenty-first floor.) "

Alan Sokal

On 30/09/16 14:04, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Friday, 30 September 2016 13:18:24 UTC+1, everybody that should
know better posted:

Imagine a poster to uk.diy not knowing bleach and caustic can be
dangerous and think about it -then try hard not to bother me.

If you know the answer kindly tell me; if not. WADR, STFU!


The problem is not not-knowing the answer, it was understanding the
question.

I know you have telepathy, but the rest of is don't.

And since you have telepathy, why don't you read it from someones mind
instead of asking here.



--
€œIt is hard to imagine a more stupid decision or more dangerous way of
making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people
who pay no price for being wrong.€�

Thomas Sowell

On Friday, 30 September 2016 17:01:21 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:


Tipping, as I do, a cupful of pure sodium hydroxide down a kitchen sink
and adding water from a boiling kettle, will produce an exothermic
boiling spitting caustic mixture that will clear a u-bend faster than
senna pods will clean plowmans arsehole.

If you were a proper chemist like me (GRSC)you would know that pure NaOH is a solid at STP.

On Friday, 30 September 2016 17:17:34 UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
On Friday, 30 September 2016 17:01:21 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:


Tipping, as I do, a cupful of pure sodium hydroxide down a kitchen sink
and adding water from a boiling kettle, will produce an exothermic
boiling spitting caustic mixture that will clear a u-bend faster than
senna pods will clean plowmans arsehole.

If you were a proper chemist like me (GRSC)you would know that pure NaOH is a solid at STP.

You don't need much in the way of experience or qualification to know that. Do you have a point?


NT

On 30/09/16 17:21, wrote:
On Friday, 30 September 2016 17:17:34 UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
On Friday, 30 September 2016 17:01:21 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:


Tipping, as I do, a cupful of pure sodium hydroxide down a kitchen sink
and adding water from a boiling kettle, will produce an exothermic
boiling spitting caustic mixture that will clear a u-bend faster than
senna pods will clean plowmans arsehole.

If you were a proper chemist like me (GRSC)you would know that pure NaOH is a solid at STP.

You don't need much in the way of experience or qualification to know that. Do you have a point?



And I fail too understand why he thought from my posting that I didn't
understand it.

A cupful of sugar is not a liquid, nor is a cupful of sodium hydroxide.
Both pour.

I can only guess that the thinks everyone else is as stupid as he is.



NT



--
Gun Control: The law that ensures that only criminals have guns.

On Friday, 30 September 2016 17:42:27 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 30/09/16 17:21, tabbypur wrote:
On Friday, 30 September 2016 17:17:34 UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
On Friday, 30 September 2016 17:01:21 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:


Tipping, as I do, a cupful of pure sodium hydroxide down a kitchen sink
and adding water from a boiling kettle, will produce an exothermic
boiling spitting caustic mixture that will clear a u-bend faster than
senna pods will clean plowmans arsehole.

If you were a proper chemist like me (GRSC)you would know that pure NaOH is a solid at STP.

You don't need much in the way of experience or qualification to know that. Do you have a point?



And I fail too understand why he thought from my posting that I didn't
understand it.

A cupful of sugar is not a liquid, nor is a cupful of sodium hydroxide.
Both pour.

I can only guess that the thinks everyone else is as stupid as he is.

It ever puzzles me why so many confuse imagination with fact, guess with logic. None of us are immune but some genuinely don't seem to know the difference.


NT

On 30/09/16 17:48, wrote:

It ever puzzles me why so many confuse imagination with fact, guess
with logic. None of us are immune but some genuinely don't seem to
know the difference.


Unfortunately this comes from a certain level of philosophical
misunderstanding that is very popular with the Lefty**** intelligentsia.
Its a bit of Marxist Mind**** that they can't puzzle out.,

Basically what it says, correctly, is the truth is relative to Culture.
By which is meant that we need a set of cultural assumptions to
determine what in fact the facts actually are.

So far so good, but that is then taken by the sort of third rate brains
that end up espousing the left, with the faux understanding that there
is no truth BEYOND culture, and that in fact 'magic thinking' is
possible, whereby merely determining that a problem exists and defining
it, is immediately the solution to it, because as 'truth is relative to
culture', if you change the culture, a new Truth will emerge. This is
behind all the multi-cultie ******ati diversity virtue-signalling social
justice warrior leftybollox spouted by that bastion of third rate
intellects, the 'liberal arts' graduates of the BBC and Guardian.

Of course this is absolutely inimical to the practice of Science, which
is based on the assumption that the world is absolutely not affected by
how we relate to it intellectually, (although its *appearance* may be),
that behind the BS and the models lies a Reality that exists whether we
believe in it or not. And the business of a Natural Philosopher, as
scientists were once called, is to determine which models of reality
*work* when tested against experience.

And of course I am here to point out the difference.




--
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as
foolish, and by the rulers as useful.

(Seneca the Younger, 65 AD)

On Friday, 30 September 2016 19:10:01 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 30/09/16 17:48, tabbypurr wrote:

It ever puzzles me why so many confuse imagination with fact, guess
with logic. None of us are immune but some genuinely don't seem to
know the difference.


Unfortunately this comes from a certain level of philosophical
misunderstanding that is very popular with the Lefty**** intelligentsia.

I suspect it's mostly just deficient schooling, based on fools' ideas.


Its a bit of Marxist Mind**** that they can't puzzle out.,

Basically what it says, correctly, is the truth is relative to Culture.
By which is meant that we need a set of cultural assumptions to
determine what in fact the facts actually are.

So far so good, but that is then taken by the sort of third rate brains
that end up espousing the left, with the faux understanding that there
is no truth BEYOND culture, and that in fact 'magic thinking' is
possible, whereby merely determining that a problem exists and defining
it, is immediately the solution to it, because as 'truth is relative to
culture', if you change the culture, a new Truth will emerge. This is
behind all the multi-cultie ******ati diversity virtue-signalling social
justice warrior leftybollox spouted by that bastion of third rate
intellects, the 'liberal arts' graduates of the BBC and Guardian.

Of course this is absolutely inimical to the practice of Science, which
is based on the assumption that the world is absolutely not affected by
how we relate to it intellectually, (although its *appearance* may be),
that behind the BS and the models lies a Reality that exists whether we
believe in it or not. And the business of a Natural Philosopher, as
scientists were once called, is to determine which models of reality
*work* when tested against experience.

And of course I am here to point out the difference.

You should put some of your stuff on a website.


NT

"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 9/30/2016 12:15 PM, Rod Speed wrote:


"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a
small amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask)

No need to use a round bottomed one, almost anything works fine.


Oh, I *know* that you wouldn't. But I said that a chemist would.

I was in fact a chemist before I changed over to computing.
And a demonstrator when doing the MSc in chemistry.

In article ,
AnthonyL wrote:
On Fri, 30 Sep 2016 12:10:11 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water? I wish to use it
on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building
up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask) and
swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use
with great care.

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute
thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

Why would you want to? Chlorine won't do the seals (door and bearing)
and hoses any good at all


I've just started using soda crystals more regularly, am I wasting my
time?

"Soda crystals" (formerly called washing soda) are sodium carbonate not
caustic soda which is sodium hydroxide. However since sodium carbonate is
made from a strong alkali (sodium hydroxide) and a weak acid (carbonic
acid) when dissolve in water the solution of sodium carbonate will be
alkaline but not as strongly alkaline as a similar concentration of sodum
hydroxide.

Alan

--


Using an ARMX6

wrote:
On Friday, 30 September 2016 10:52:06 UTC+1, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?

wikipedia will give you the solubility

I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

it doesn't build up, it's soluble

This is the real danger with caustic soda, it does build up when used
incorrectly, in fact, it sets like concrete under water.

I have a stainless steel flask and the inside was stained brown with tea, so
i used caustic on it a few times with great success.
One time, I was in a rush as I was late home from work one Friday, and I
partially filled the flask with cold water, poured in 2 or 3 tablespoon
fulls of caustic, waited a minute then topped it up with cold and left it on
the kitchen window cill until Sunday night.

Sunday night I carefully poured it down the sink and watched all the brown
crap go with it, rinsed it thoroughly with cold water a few times and left
it there ready for Monday morning. The next morning, quite by chance, I
glanced in the bottom to make sure i hadn'tleft any water in there and there
it was, a solid block of caustic soda about half an inch thick, welded to
the bottom of the flask. A long handled knife wouldn't budge it, neither
would a long metal bar from the shed, so some boiling water from the kettle
melted it and I rinsed it a few more times and double checked everything,
filled it with tea and went to work. i dread to think what would have
happened if I hadn't checked it first thing...

On 30/09/16 20:10, Alan Dawes wrote:
In article ,
AnthonyL wrote:
On Fri, 30 Sep 2016 12:10:11 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water? I wish to use it
on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building
up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask) and
swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use
with great care.

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute
thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

Why would you want to? Chlorine won't do the seals (door and bearing)
and hoses any good at all


I've just started using soda crystals more regularly, am I wasting my
time?

"Soda crystals" (formerly called washing soda) are sodium carbonate not
caustic soda which is sodium hydroxide. However since sodium carbonate is
made from a strong alkali (sodium hydroxide) and a weak acid (carbonic
acid) when dissolve in water the solution of sodium carbonate will be
alkaline but not as strongly alkaline as a similar concentration of sodum
hydroxide.


Washing soda is in fact what you get when you pass water through an ion
exchange softener. Calcium carbonate plus sodium chloride gives sodium
carbonate and calcium chloride. Sodium carbonate is much more soluble in
water, and doesn't react with soaps to form scum.

And in fact is basically a water softener. Wiki has a nice level of detail

"It is used as a water softener in laundering: it competes with the
magnesium and calcium ions in hard water and prevents them from bonding
with the detergent being used, but doesn't prevent scaling.[14] Sodium
carbonate can be used to remove grease, oil, and wine stains."


Alan



--
"Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They
always run out of other people's money. It's quite a characteristic of them"

Margaret Thatcher

"Simon Mason" wrote in message
...
On Friday, 30 September 2016 17:01:21 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:


Tipping, as I do, a cupful of pure sodium hydroxide down a kitchen sink
and adding water from a boiling kettle, will produce an exothermic
boiling spitting caustic mixture that will clear a u-bend faster than
senna pods will clean plowmans arsehole.

If you were a proper chemist like me

And me.

(GRSC)you would know that pure NaOH is a solid at STP.

Still perfectly possible to have a cupful of pellets.

On Friday, 30 September 2016 20:21:28 UTC+1, Phil L wrote:
tabbypurr wrote:
On Friday, 30 September 2016 10:52:06 UTC+1, Weatherlawyer wrote:

How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?

wikipedia will give you the solubility

I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of
sediment building up in there.

it doesn't build up, it's soluble

This is the real danger with caustic soda, it does build up when used
incorrectly, in fact, it sets like concrete under water.

I have a stainless steel flask and the inside was stained brown with tea, so
i used caustic on it a few times with great success.
One time, I was in a rush as I was late home from work one Friday, and I
partially filled the flask with cold water, poured in 2 or 3 tablespoon
fulls of caustic, waited a minute then topped it up with cold and left it on
the kitchen window cill until Sunday night.

Sunday night I carefully poured it down the sink and watched all the brown
crap go with it, rinsed it thoroughly with cold water a few times and left
it there ready for Monday morning. The next morning, quite by chance, I
glanced in the bottom to make sure i hadn'tleft any water in there and there
it was, a solid block of caustic soda about half an inch thick, welded to
the bottom of the flask. A long handled knife wouldn't budge it, neither
would a long metal bar from the shed, so some boiling water from the kettle
melted it and I rinsed it a few more times and double checked everything,
filled it with tea and went to work. i dread to think what would have
happened if I hadn't checked it first thing...

So it sets like readily soluble concrete.


NT

On 30/09/2016 20:21, Phil L wrote:
A long handled knife wouldn't budge it, neither
would a long metal bar from the shed, so some boiling water from the kettle
melted it and I rinsed it a few more times and double checked everything,
filled it with tea and went to work.

That is some kettle you have there! Caustic soda melting point is around
318 C.

--
Rod

"polygonum" wrote in message
...
On 30/09/2016 20:21, Phil L wrote:
A long handled knife wouldn't budge it, neither
would a long metal bar from the shed, so some boiling water from the
kettle
melted it and I rinsed it a few more times and double checked everything,
filled it with tea and went to work.

That is some kettle you have there!

Nope.

Caustic soda melting point is around 318 C.

He didn’t melt it, just used the boiling water to dissolve it.

On Fri, 30 Sep 2016 20:10:37 +0100, Alan Dawes
wrote:

In article ,
AnthonyL wrote:
On Fri, 30 Sep 2016 12:10:11 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water? I wish to use it
on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building
up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask) and
swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use
with great care.

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute
thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

Why would you want to? Chlorine won't do the seals (door and bearing)
and hoses any good at all


I've just started using soda crystals more regularly, am I wasting my
time?

"Soda crystals" (formerly called washing soda) are sodium carbonate not
caustic soda which is sodium hydroxide. However since sodium carbonate is
made from a strong alkali (sodium hydroxide) and a weak acid (carbonic
acid) when dissolve in water the solution of sodium carbonate will be
alkaline but not as strongly alkaline as a similar concentration of sodum
hydroxide.


Yes I know the products are different and that wasn't my question.

--
AnthonyL

On 9/30/2016 12:42 PM, AnthonyL wrote:
On Fri, 30 Sep 2016 12:10:11 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 9/30/2016 10:52 AM, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building up in there.

The correct way to make a dilute solution is to add granules to a small
amount of water (a chemist would use a round bottomed pyrex flask) and
swish around until they dissolve. The solution almost reaches boiling
point. When it is all dissolved, dilute as required. Nasty stuff, use
with great care.

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

Why would you want to? Chlorine won't do the seals (door and bearing)
and hoses any good at all


I've just started using soda crystals more regularly, am I wasting my
time?

Washing soda is still quite alkaline, it does help to clear grease
especially with regular use. Arguably a better strategy than waiting for
a blockage and then trying to blitz with caustic soda.

On 30/09/2016 10:52, Weatherlawyer wrote:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?

As others have said, it is exothermic, so there is a risk that it could
raise the temperature of the water to boiling without warning.

This is a really nasty accident waiting to happen.

I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building up in there.

In article ,
Weatherlawyer writes:
How much caustic soda can you dissolve in hot water?
I wish to use it on my sink occasionally and don't want a chunk of sediment building up in there.

A little dishwasher detergent (powder or liquid) works well.
Even clothes washing detergent works well.

The other thing I wish to know is how much water do I need to dilute thick bleach with to make it usable in washing machines?

Check your washing machine instructions.
Bleach will damage GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) that many washing
machine outer drums af made from. You don't want thick bleach - that's
thin bleach with a thickener added to stick to porcelain for longer.
It doesn't indicate anything about the strength.

For all I know, both products are the same strength and the one is designed to adhere to porcelain. But in that case why would anyone supply both sorts?

An how long is a piece of sting question:
What quantity should I place in the really large washing machines used in Laundrettes?

If you want to bleach clothes, you would normally presoak them in
a bleach solution before washing. The bleach container will tell you
the strength to use.

There doesn't appear to be a determining factor at my local one. I watched the woman working there load a small machine to the gunnels with soap powder and realised asking her would be silly.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

En el artículo ,
escribió:

You should put some of your stuff on a website.

I think http://www.swuivel-eyed-loony.com/ is already taken.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) Bunny says: Windows 10? Nein danke!
(")_(")

On 02/10/16 08:19, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
En el artÃ*culo ,
escribió:

You should put some of your stuff on a website.

I think http://www.swuivel-eyed-loony.com/ is already taken.

well I certainly wont be buying it from you.

--
Karl Marx said religion is the opium of the people.
But Marxism is the crack cocaine.

On 02/10/16 10:00, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 02/10/16 08:19, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
En el artÃ*culo ,
escribió:

You should put some of your stuff on a website.

I think http://www.swuivel-eyed-loony.com/ is already taken.

well I certainly wont be buying it from you.

Just out of curiosity I checked 'whois' both with Mikes incorrect
spelling and with the correct spelling.

The domain is not taken: So another provable lie.

*plonk*

--
€œit should be clear by now to everyone that activist environmentalism
(or environmental activism) is becoming a general ideology about humans,
about their freedom, about the relationship between the individual and
the state, and about the manipulation of people under the guise of a
'noble' idea. It is not an honest pursuit of 'sustainable development,'
a matter of elementary environmental protection, or a search for
rational mechanisms designed to achieve a healthy environment. Yet
things do occur that make you shake your head and remind yourself that
you live neither in Joseph Stalins Communist era, nor in the Orwellian
utopia of 1984.€�

Vaclav Klaus

wrote:

So it sets like readily soluble concrete.


Yes, it sets, like damp sugar sets, both are soluble though.

You told the OP it doesn't 'build up' because it's soluble, though he could
still end up with a (soluble) solid lump in his sink trap.