Used some old white vinegar to clear a drain. Legionnaires disease worry.

[Nighttime pacer]

Hi all,
For the past 2 days I've had a funky smell coming from my kitchen drain. I read online it's probably due to some fat or something accumulating. The article I read said you can clear it by putting baking soda and vinegar down the drain and then pouring boiling water down it. I did that but the only white vinegar I had had already been opened and had a best before of October 2019! I only noticed that after I used it. I have read that vinegar is so acidic it can't really go off and bacteria can't grow in it, and that best before dates on vinegar are more routine than important. I assume that's more from the point of view of taste anyway. I'm hoping that is the case as I've been worried about legionnaires disease now for quite a few years. I just worry about any stagnant water. I realise the vinegar would have had to have been turned into a spray for me to breath it in. It did foam up because of the baking soda but I assume that's not the same thing. I did pour boiling water on it immediately and tried not to breath but I may have taken one breath. I then got out of the kitchen and haven't been back in for 90 mins. I guess I'm worrying about nothing, but I always think, what if!
Sorry for rambling.
Nighttime Pacer

[venusbluejeans]

vinegar is a preservative, so doesn't actually go off, The acid pretty much kills off any bacteria in it.... they have to put an expiry date on it by law though.


To add a quote from online.....

Vinegar is a fermented product to begin with, and the good news is that it has an “almost indefinite” shelf life. According to the vinegar institute “Because of its acid nature, vinegar is self-preserving and does not need refrigeration. White distilled vinegar will remain virtually unchanged over an extended period of time. And, while some changes can be observed in other types of vinegars, such as color changes or the development of a haze or sediment, this is only an aesthetic change. The product can still be used and enjoyed with confidence.”

[Nighttime pacer]

Thanks for that venusbluejeans, it does make me feel a little better. I just wish my rational brain and my irrational brain would somehow agree to get along at least some of the time.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Best Before dates aren't a measure of safety, they are an indicator by the producer of when they expect quality to start going down.

It's Use By dates that are enforced by law in the UK. For years even the government have been trying to get Best Before dates scrapped due to the amount of food waste they cause.

Yes, it's likely a fat build up. We get it from time to time and try flushing/rodding and ocvassionaly tipping caustic soda (be careful with that, it's dangerous) down the sink. Sometimes a blockage will shift if you use a plunger action on the drain outside where the sink pipe pours into.