Drāno
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Drāno (also spelled Draino or Drano if the ā (a-macron) character is not available) is a drain cleaner product manufactured by S. C. Johnson & Son.
Crystal Drāno
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 power crystals are simply colored salt, and are actually the least powerful ingredient. The crystalized lye reacts with fats to form soap. The machined shards of aluminum react with the lye to generate near-boiling temperatures. The sharp shards in the hot churning lye physically cut hair and dislodge deposits.
Crystal Drāno was invented in 1923 by Harry Drackett. Even as Drackett grew to offering over a hundred household cleaning products in the late 20th century, Windex (introduced a decade later) and Drāno provided the lion's share of revenue and profits. Bristol-Myers bought the Drackett Company in 1965 and sold it to S.C. Johnson in 1992.
For years, Drackett advertised Once every week, Drāno in every drain. As many clogs form where a bacterial matrix makes the pipe walls less slippery, the disinfectant action of the hot lye actually does prevent clog formation. Dumping a gallon of scalding water down the drain, however, would have a similarly salutory result with substantially less damage to the environment and the budget.
Other Drāno products
Drāno 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 their other products, but due to the risk of fire, that wasn't the best idea for an aerosol plunger.The product could be highly effective, yet it 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. The aerosol product was only useful against complete clogs, not against slow drains.
Liquid Drāno was introduced in response to Clorox's purchase of Liquid-Plumr in 1969. Originally, it was simply a liquid lye (Sodium Hydroxide) but that product proved ineffective and unpopular with consumers. 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.
Foam and gel products have been introduced in recent years, marketed more for slow drains than for opening clogged drains.
Drano bombs
In 2003, Sherman Austin was sentenced to a year in federal prison for publishing instructions for making Molotov cocktails and Drano bombs on his website. A 1997 law makes it illegal to publish such instructions with the intent that the reader commit a violent federal crime.Dr. David S. Touretzky has since mirrored[link] Austin's site.
While Molotov cocktails are a relatively simple incendiary device to make and use, Drano bombs are not. Most instructions online put the bomb maker at serious risk.
The phrase "Drano Bomb" can also refer to less serious device often used by pranksters. By half-filling a plastic pop bottle with water, then adding tinfoil in (usually in balls), mixing in draino powder and quickly capping then shaking and throwing, the pressure buildup will cause the bottle to expand and make a loud pop. This leaves a chemical cloud in a small radius and can be very unpleasant. Not quite a "bomb".
External links
See also: Soap, Cosmetics, Chemical Specialties magazine, published by the Chemical Specialties Manufacturers Association.
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