Drain clog from soap residue

[Cleanliving]

Hello everyone, the soap I make has lard, coconut oil, olive oil, jojoba and she butter in it. My last batch has been used by my household for 4 years. Soon I will need to make more soap. It is lovely soap that we use for showering, shaving and shampooing. I have very long hair and the hair and the soap residue clogs the shower drain regularly. The saponification process is complete. Our newly plumbed home is no match for the soap residue. So, I say beware of clogs. Today we used a plumber's snake down from the kitchen sink only to find the clog was full of hair, soap residue and a little food. So the plumbing was clogged somewhere about 50 feet from the kitchen. The presence of hair indicates material from the shower. I will continue to make my soap using the soap calculator, because I cannot use commercial soaps. Beware of the drain clog potential.

 

[shunt2011]

I’ve been using my soap for 10 years and never a clog. Do you use a high SF? Use a chelator? I don’t use soap on my hair though as it ruined it years ago.

 

[math ace]

What is your Super Fat? I found a super fat of 5% left a nasty oil ring on my tub. I super fat at 3% and no oil residue. I always cringe when people recommend high super fats.

 

[Jillyb]

Hello everyone, the soap I make has lard, coconut oil, olive oil, jojoba and she butter in it. My last batch has been used by my household for 4 years. Soon I will need to make more soap. It is lovely soap that we use for showering, shaving and shampooing. I have very long hair and the hair and the soap residue clogs the shower drain regularly. The saponification process is complete. Our newly plumbed home is no match for the soap residue. So, I say beware of clogs. Today we used a plumber's snake down from the kitchen sink only to find the clog was full of hair, soap residue and a little food. So the plumbing was clogged somewhere about 50 feet from the kitchen. The presence of hair indicates material from the shower. I will continue to make my soap using the soap calculator, because I cannot use commercial soaps. Beware of the drain clog potential.

We had a drain clog that sounds the same from commercial soap before I started making soap so unfortunately can happen with any soaps but good to keep in mind. Our plumber told us to pour hot water with vinger or draino' cleaner every 3 months down each sink..

 

[DeeAnna]

You mention your home has new plumbing, so I'll mention another thing for you to consider -- If there's a low spot in the drain pipe, then food, hair, soap scum, and other particulates will collect and a clog will repeatedly form.

If your drain line continues to clog in that specific area, you might want to check into the possibility that the drain line wasn't installed with the proper slope or there has been some unexpected settling that has allowed the drain line to form a "swale" in that area.

 

[AliOop]

I agree with @shunt2011 to reduce your superfat, use a chelator, and consider using a hair-catcher over your shower drain. Most likely the hair is the main problem, and everything else is sticking to that.

If you still need to use a drain cleaner, simply put on your PPE, mix up some of your lye in hot water, and use that to clear the drains. Plenty of YT videos show that process and include the proper water lye ratio, too.

ETA: great point, @DeeAnna! My husband is a retired general contractor and always says that shower drains rarely clog bc they are supposed to be 4” to handle all the hair. So if they do clog, the first thing he checks is for improper slope or a low spot, just as you recommended.

 

[Obsidian]

You can get a hair catch for your shower drain. They work great and are easy to clean.

https://www.simplygoodstuff.com/tub...hTvzAXsOCs5UsubWv5GduP2ISVTGFHAIaAsbDEALw_wcB

 

[Cleanliving]

Hey everyone, thanks for all of your comments. I will check into the slope of the pipes, the SF and the chelate. I was not aware of using a chelate. I do have soft water, but I think I will use the chelate anyways. My husband uses my homemade soap as shampoo. I do not use my homemade soap as my shampoo. Thanks again for your quick and useful responses.

 

[earlene]

Thanks for the warning.

I couple of suggestions based on experience, long hair, drains, etc.

1. Find this product and use it periodically down the shower drain or any drain over which you wash your hair (in my youth, we (Mom, me, other females) used to use the kitchen sink for hair washing). The tool I linked can be found at places like Walmart, some Hardware stores, and as you can see, Amazon. It's cheap, can be tossed into re-cycle and very effective at getting hair clogs out of drains.

2. Use some sort of hair-catching drain cover in addition to whatever drain you already have. There are so many out there that may be a better fit for your type of drain (as not all drains are created equal.)

3. Periodically pour some lye solution down your drain! It will help keep the pipes clear.

4. Add a chelator to your formulas. I use EDTA, but Citric Acid is used by others and still others use Sodium Gluconate. See this from DeeAnna on chelators: Table of contents | Soapy Stuff
That may help you decide which one to use.

5. Decrease the superfat in your formulas.

6. Wipe down your soaping vessels and utensils thoroughly to remove as much oils and raw soap, and then DON'T wash them until after any residue has saponified. Keep them for a day or two in a bucket or bin out of sight until the saponification process is complete. This leaves less soap residue from the soapmaking process to clog up your drains.

 

[TheGecko]

Our home was built in the mid-80s by lazy, cheap contractors. We had a lot of issues with clogged drains before I started making soap, to the extent that I bought a snake and we seldom use the garbage disposal. I just got into the habit of buying THE BLACK BOTTLE THAT CAME IN A PLASTIC BAG from Home Depot four times a year and pouring it equally between the tub, bathroom sink, kitchen sink and where the washer drain hose goes. Now I just mix up some 50/50 and pour it straight down the drains while it's hot.

Oh...and I use Microfiber towels to clean everything, rinse them, allow them to dry and then wash.

 

[Gaisy59]

You can get a hair catch for your shower drain. They work great and are easy to clean.

https://www.simplygoodstuff.com/tub...hTvzAXsOCs5UsubWv5GduP2ISVTGFHAIaAsbDEALw_wcB

So frustrating...i have a new tub and we put in a plug that pops up or down by stepping on it (spring loaded?). I would love this hair catcher but it won’t fit .

 

[Obsidian]

So frustrating...i have a new tub and we put in a plug that pops up or down by stepping on it (spring loaded?). I would love this hair catcher but it won’t fit .

I had one of those too, I removed it and bought a regular old rubber stopper so I could use the hair catcher.

 

[cmzaha]

I changed to a 2-3% superfat years ago and mentioned it helped cut our plumbing bills down tremendously. I live in a hillside home build in the '50s below street level with very little fall to the mainline. When I first started soaping it was a nightmare the amount of time my plumber had to come out, he liked it, it was always soap scum. I determined I should cut my superfat which really helped, a few years later I learned about using chelators now my plumber visits my house no more than once a year versus every 3 months. I now use a combination of Sodium Gluconate and EDTA for a total percentage of 1% and vinegar at 50% water, which I recently found out can also have chelating properties although I use it for hardening. Back when I low I superfatted I had some forum member, no here anymore, tell me they would not touch my soap with a 10' pole. How things change.

 

[AliOop]

@Gaisy59 we had one of those in our other house. We used this type of hair catcher:

Hair Catcher for Pop-Up Drains

 

[math ace]

I changed to a 2-3% superfat years ago and mentioned it helped cut our plumbing bills down tremendously. I live in a hillside home build in the '50s below street level with very little fall to the mainline. When I first started soaping it was a nightmare the amount of time my plumber had to come out, he liked it, it was always soap scum. I determined I should cut my superfat which really helped, a few years later I learned about using chelators now my plumber visits my house no more than once a year versus every 3 months. I now use a combination of Sodium Gluconate and EDTA for a total percentage of 1% and vinegar at 50% water, which I recently found out can also have chelating properties although I use it for hardening. Back when I low I superfatted I had some forum member, no here anymore, tell me they would not touch my soap with a 10' pole. How things change.

I'm much happier with the reduction in soap scum simply by reducing the superfat.

Vinegar... Does it leave any residue? My testers were very impressed with the feel of beer soap,. But the smell was a big turn off. I'm wondering if vinegar will create a similar issue.

 

[AliOop]

I'm much happier with the reduction in soap scum simply by reducing the superfat.

Vinegar... Does it leave any residue? My testers were very impressed with the feel of beer soap,. But the smell was a big turn off. I'm wondering if vinegar will create a similar issue.

I don’t smell vinegar at all in my soaps, and none of my testers have, either. Even the batter doesn’t smell like vinegar when I’m pouring into the molds.

 

[DeeAnna]

All of the acetic acid in the vinegar should become sodium acetate. Sodium acetate is basically odorless.

 

[cmzaha]

Vinegar leaves no smell in my soaps, if it did I would not use it. I will mention, do not make masterbatch using vinegar it can leave little pearls of Sodium Acetate in your masterbatch.

 

[math ace]

@AliOop ,. @DeeAnna , @cmzaha
Thanks for the feedback on vinegar. I will give it a try on my next batch of soap. What rate do you use it at?

I remember reading that you shouldn't use vinegar with something else, but I don't remember what it was.

 

[math ace]

Quick Google search landed me on a web site that advises:

"When using vinegar in your recipe, add the appropriate extra weight of lye needed to react with the acid. If you do not add any extra lye, the acid will increase the superfat in your soap."

Do you adjust your lye with the use of vinegar or do you just let it go (increasing your super fat)?