Re: Eau de Javelle ( Javel )

[Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>]

> Finally, to avoid releasing chlorine gas, do not mix household bleach with an 
> acid.  Lime and scale removers, which often contain a metabisulfite, and 
> acidic drain cleaners (generally sulfuric acid), will liberate chlorine gas 
> from household bleach, as many people have found quite by accident.  (I seem 
> to recall that Dick Sullivan had a tale of generating a cloud of chlorine gas 
> while trying to clear a plugged drain.)

"Acidic drain cleaners" can also eat a hole in your plumbing pipes... 
Caustic drain cleaners mixed with stuff that blocks your drain can also 
make cement... quick hardening cement IME... often leading to enrichment 
of plumbers (if you can get one in a hurry).

Which is to say, if ANYTHING other than normal water and waste is to go 
down your drain... the wise will proceed with great caution and extreme 
dilution.

J.