Method Drain cleaner

[cookiencream]

I remember seeing a video warning not to mix drain cleaner with certain cleaning products because it produces a deadly gas that kills you without you even knowing. Is this unreliable? Hence why no one ever suggests it? It seems easy to me.

 

[a-lien]

hmm... i'm not sure if we mean the same..
only hear something on the news, and it seems more like "exploding"...so sounds like "burn" and dangerois to others... so

 

[seasaltbutter]

i think it would be painful because it'll be suffocating.

 

[softfur]

unhelpful non-answer but i've grown to assume that when something is called deadly as a warning it doesn't actually mean anything

 

[hurts2b]

I remember seeing a video warning not to mix drain cleaner with certain cleaning products because it produces a deadly gas that kills you without you even knowing. Is this unreliable? Hence why no one ever suggests it? It seems easy to me.

The only gas I can think of that fits the description of "kills without you knowing" is carbon monoxide but even that is known to cause headaches and nausea. Except as far as I'm aware, carbon monoxide comes from burning some kind of fuel, not chemical reactions.

The most common gas created by mixing cleaning products is mustard gas... which will kill you but.... probably by giving you cancer.

Here's the Wikipedia link, for more details on that. Be warned, the photos are gross: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustard_gas

 

[ilovemanhattancafe]

sounds ineffective and painful. it would probably just damage your body rather than end you.

 

[Intoxicated]

The only gas I can think of that fits the description of "kills without you knowing" is carbon monoxide but even that is known to cause headaches and nausea. Except as far as I'm aware, carbon monoxide comes from burning some kind of fuel, not chemical reactions.

Burning some kind of fuel implies chemical reactions. In particular, when burning charcoal in air, we have

C + O₂ → CO₂
C + CO₂ ⇄ 2 CO
2 CO + O₂ → 2 CO₂

A lack of O₂ reduces conversion of CO to CO₂, so the concentration of CO grows.

There are other chemical reactions that produce carbon monoxide, f.e.:

• 2 HCOONa + 3 H₂SO₄ (conc.) → Na₂SO₄ + 2 H₂SO₄ * H₂O + 2 CO↑
• (CH₂COOH)₂C(OH)COOH + H₂SO₄ (conc.) → H₂SO₄ * H₂O + (CH₂COOH)₂CO + CO↑
• K₄[Fe(CN)₆] + 6 H₂SO₄ + 6 H₂O → 2 K₂SO₄ + 3 (NH₄)₂SO₄ + FeSO₄ + 6 CO↑
• 6 HCOOH + P₄O₁₀ → 4 H₃PO₄ + 6 CO
• (COONa)₂ → Na₂CO₃ + CO