The TikTok-Famous Foaming Drain Cleaner Is More of a De-Gunker Than an Unclogger

Cost: $25.98
Size: 2 x 17 fluid ounce bottles
Ingredients: deionized water, surfactant, propellant, antiseptic
Scent: Slightly citrusy, strong chemical cleaner smell
How it works: To use this drain cleaner, you first have to shake the can 10 times. Then, you turn the top of the pressurized bottle counterclockwise until it is in the “open” position. After lining up the nozzle over your drain, you push down on the can and hold it in place for a few seconds while the foam is dispensed into the drain. The company doesn’t say for how long, so I pushed down for 15 to 45 seconds each time. As the pressurized foam travels through pipes, it should push any debris that is stuck out. After allowing it to sit for 30 to 60 minutes, you then rinse away any remaining foam with running water.

As expected, watching this foaming drain cleaner work was very satisfying. The force at which the foam is pushed out of the drain caught me by surprise. It didn’t make a mess outside of the sink, but there was foam all over the sink after I used it. It’s hard to describe any type of cleaning as fun, but honestly, this sort of was. 

It was very easy to use, with clear directions on the can’s label. The cleanup afterward was painless, too. I picked out some large pieces of what looked like a broken rubber gasket with a gloved hand and tossed them in the garbage. Smaller pieces were trickier to pick out of the foam. The foam eventually washed down the drain after running water over it for several minutes.

Vague ingredient information: The first thing I noticed when inspecting the packaging of this product was its vague product composition list. The ingredients list is short, but it doesn’t include specific ingredient names. For example, the product lists antiseptic as an ingredient, but we don’t know which antiseptic is in the formula. Even Drano, a popular drain cleaner brand, clearly lists the ingredients in its product formulations on its website.

Many companies keep ingredients under wraps, but will often share specific details confidentially with journalists when asked. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any contact information for the makers of the Yugou Foaming Drain Cleaner we tested, so we couldn’t learn more about what’s in it. This is a common issue for manufacturers of products without a brand website. Several other foaming drain cleaners we found being sold on Amazon had similar, vague ingredients lists and no contact information for the manufacturer. 

The model we tested appears to be a knockoff of a drain cleaner from a company called Yugou, which is not available for purchase in the U.S. We attempted to contact the Swedish-based Yugou to confirm that the product we tested was a copycat, but did not hear back by the time of publication.

No hair came out of my drain. I was surprised when the foam came out of my drain and overflow hole with no hairballs. Small bits of black and brown debris and large pieces of what looked like an old rubber gasket were the only things that came out. 

Surely, some hair should have been pushed up and out by the foam, no? And if it wasn’t pushed out by the foam, where did the hair go? We talked to a plumbing expert about the kinds of problems that can result from hair being pushed deeper into drains. More on that below.

Uncomfortably strong smell: This cleaner’s scent is very strong. It’s unpleasant and lingered in my bathroom for hours after I used it. Because my bathroom doesn’t have any windows, smells often remain for longer than expected. There is no warning on the product label about using it in a well-ventilated area.

We should care about the ingredients in any cleaning products we use, especially those that could affect pipes and lead to expensive repairs. Even though the knockoff Yugou cleaner we tested claims to be non-corrosive, it could still cause other types of damage to your home’s plumbing system. Since it didn’t push the hair out of my drain, the only place it could have gone is deeper into the pipes.

Patrick Fee, co-founder of Mr. Drain Plumbing in California, says the first place clogs could go is in your p-trap, “the sharp, U-shaped bend in your pipes just past the drain (if viewed from the side, the drain line leading up to your shower or sink drain looks like the letter P on its side).” If the foam had managed to push the hair past this trap, the next place it might get caught is in the main sewer line. “Even a relatively small clog can get snagged if you’re dealing with narrowing in your pipes from buildup or root intrusion along the sewer line,” Fee says. Your tub might drain better for a while because the clog has moved farther down, but it won’t be long before it clogs again. Worse, the farther the clog is, the less likely you’ll be able to reach it with a drain snake.

I also asked what Fee recommended for a clogged drain: a drain snake, a plunger, a chemical drain cleaner, or something else. He recommends starting with a plunger, and if that doesn’t work, moving on to a snake drain, though not the powered kind, as these should be used by professionals. Like most other plumbing experts you talk to about drain cleaners, he does not advise using any chemical cleaners.

I decided to buy a plastic drain snake and used it on my shower and bathroom sink after the foaming drain cleaner. Just a few bits of hair were pulled out of the drains—significantly less than the amount I usually see during my regular drain-snake use. The hair wasn’t within reach of the snake, but I can’t be sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

I have a hard time recommending a product that offers so little information about its formulation and no way to contact the company with questions. Add to that the fact that no hair actually came out of my drains when I used the product and the information we learned about what could happen if that hair is just pushed deeper into the pipes, and I feel even more strongly about not recommending this product. At least not for a clogged drain. If you have a stinky drain and are looking for a way to get rid of the smell, there are better options on the market, like a drain snake or an enzymatic drain cleaner.

I personally won’t be repurchasing this to clean my drains. As fun as it was to see the thick foam pushing its way through the overflow and drain of my sink, I worry about what it’s doing in the pipes and whether it’s causing a bigger clog farther down the system that’ll eventually require professional intervention. Using the wrong product in your drains can cause a costly, very messy problem that no one wants to deal with. When in doubt, contact your super or landlord if you rent. If you’re a homeowner, find a professional plumber instead.