Drano is a drain cleaner product manufactured by S. C. Johnson & Son.
Crystal Drano According to the National Institutes of
Health's Household Products Database, the crystal form is composed of sodium
hydroxide, sodium nitrate, sodium chloride, and aluminum.
The colored crystals in Drano are for appearance only; lye is white in color.
Lye decomposes most organic matter and is particularly effective on fat, grease
and hair which are materials which often clog drains. As the decomposition is
more rapid if the temperature of the mixture is higher, and lye reacting with
aluminum produces heat, shards of aluminum are an ingredient in Drano.
Several chemical reactions take place here:
When Drano is added to water, the sodium hydroxide, sodium nitrate, and sodium
chloride dissolve. The heat of solution liberated when sodium hydroxide is
dissolved warms the mixture. The formula for the lye reacting with
the aluminum shards is 2NaOH + 2Al + 2H2O → 3H2 + 2NaAlO2, although the exact
species in solution may be NaAl(OH)4. The reaction can raise the temperature
sufficiently to cause the mixture to boil. The reaction also liberates
hydrogen gas which churns the mixture and improves the interaction between the
lye and the materials clogging the drain. While the position of the mixture
in the drain pipe usually does not result in high pressure developing from
the liberated hydrogen or the boiling of the mixture, it is possible for the
mixture to spurt out of the drain so the user must exercise care when using
Drano. The sodium nitrate "absorbs" the
hydrogen, reducing the fire and explosion hazard posed by free hydrogen
gas. Hydrogen combines with the nitrate ion, producing ammonia, which also
decomposes organic material although not as aggressively as lye does. The
reaction is: 2NO3− + 9H2 + 3O2 → 2NH3 + 6H2O.
Crystal Drano was invented in 1923 by Harry Drackett. For years, Drackett
advertised Once every week, Drano in every drain.
Bristol-Myers bought the Drackett Company in 1965 and sold it to S. C.
Johnson in 1992. Drano has been developed into several forms; the
original Crystal Drano® is currently marketed as Drano® Kitchen Crystals Clog
Remover. Other Drano products
= Drano Aerosol Plunger= Drano Aerosol Plunger was developed in
the late 1960s, intended as a safer product that would be kinder
environmentally. It was basically just a can of CFC propellant, the best-known
brand of which was Freon. After Earth Day in 1970, there came increasing
pressure to eliminate CFC propellants. Drackett used cheaper propellants, a
blend of propane and butane, in all its other products. However, the propellant
mix created a fire hazard. The product was problematic. The
forceful propellant required most consumers use both hands to control the
can, plus another hand or two to hold a rag over the drain vent to contain the
pressure. The pressure sometimes knocked apart poor plumbing without blasting
free the clog. Consumers who ignored instructions and attempted to use
chemical drain openers first could be chemically burned from blow-back.
= Liquid Drano= Liquid Drano was introduced in response
to Clorox's purchase of Liquid-Plumr in 1969. Originally, it was simply a liquid
lye. In the late 1970s, the product was reformulated as a combination of liquid
lye and sodium hypochlorite. Sodium hypochlorite is sold in 5% concentration
as laundry bleach and in 10% concentration as a swimming pool
disinfectant. Liquid Drano is currently marketed in
several forms: Drano® Liquid Clog Remover; Drano® Max Build-Up Remover;
Drano® Dual-Force® Foamer Clog Remover. All are variations on the basic Liquid
Drano formula. = Drano Foamer=
Drano Foamer first started out a powder similar to Crystal Drano in which water
had to be added. This was the first ever foaming pipe snake product. This caused
Liquid-Plumr to launch Liquid-Plumr: Foaming Pipe Snake which is a 2 in 1
liquid. Many years later, the makers of Drano
decided to reimagine Drano Foamer as a 2 in 1 liquid known as the Dual Force
Foamer. = Drano Kit=
The Drano® Snake Plus Drain Cleaning Kit combines a mechanical snake for
loosening clogs, with yet another gel-variation on the Liquid Drano
formula. See also
Hi-Fi Murders – a crime in Ogden, Utah, in 1974, in which Drano was used
References External links
Official site NIH Household Product Database entry
How to unclog a drain FTC order