Drain Cleaner Can Dissolve Glass

Drain Cleaner Can Dissolve Glass Just about everyone knows many acids are corrosive. For example, hydrofluoric acid can dissolve glass. Did you know strong bases can be corrosive, too? An example of a base sufficiently corrosive to eat glass is sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which is a common solid drain cleaner. You can test this for yourself by setting a glass container in hot sodium hydroxide, but you need to be extremely careful. Glass Dissolver Sodium hydroxide is perfectly capable of dissolving your skin in addition to glass. Also, it reacts with other chemicals, so you have to be certain you perform this project in a steel or iron container. Test the container with a magnet if you are unsure, because the other metal commonly used in pans, aluminum, reacts vigorously with sodium hydroxide. The sodium hydroxide reacts with the silicon dioxide in glass to form sodium silicate and water: 2NaOH SiO2 → Na2SiO3 H2O Dissolving glass in molten sodium hydroxide probably wont do your pan any favors, so chances are youll want to throw it out when you are done. Neutralize the sodium hydroxide with acid before disposing of the pan or attempting to clean it. If you dont have access to a chemistry lab, this could be achieved with a whole lot of vinegar (weak acetic acid) or a smaller volume of muriatic acid (hydrochloric), or you can wash the sodium hydroxide away with lots and lots of water. You may not be interested in destroying glassware for science, but its still worth knowing why it is important to remove dishes from your sink if you are planning to use solid drain cleaner and why its not a good idea to use more than the recommended amount of the product.