Manufacturer source check

Manufacturer sources checked 24 September 2026.

• Directions for Use: Read the bottle instructions before opening and wear the specified protection. The TDS says squeeze the cap sides and turn anticlockwise; the retail page says push down. Follow the actual cap label. Pour 330 mL slowly, close the cap, wait 15–30 minutes and flush with hot water. Never mix with detergents or other chemicals.
• Hazard classification: Australian SDS v1.2, 10 November 2022: Danger, H290 and H314; Dangerous Goods Class 8 and Poison Schedule 5. Follow the complete SDS, including gloves, protective clothing and eye/face protection.
• Colour: TDS: light straw; retail: colourless. Check the label and product condition rather than treating the colour descriptions as equivalent.

Manufacturer source 1 · Manufacturer source 2

What is Selleys Complete Clean Power Gel Drain Cleaner, and where should you use it?

Selleys Complete Clean Power Gel Drain Cleaner is a thickened gel formulated to power through and clear blocked drains, leaving the drain clean and clear and reducing odour-causing bacteria. It is sold in a 1L plastic bottle with a child-resistant cap, and one dose is 330mL — roughly a third of the bottle.

Before anything else: this is a corrosive product with a pH above 13. Selleys prints the warning in capitals on the page and asks you to read the safety instructions on the back of the bottle before you open it, let alone use it. The product works because it is aggressive. Treat the gloves and eye protection as part of the job, not an optional extra.

Technical specification

Property	Typical result
Colour	Light straw
Odour	Bleach
Density	~1.1g/mL
pH	>13
Dose	330mL (approximately one third of the bottle)
Contact time	15–30 minutes
Packaging	1L plastic bottle, child-resistant cap

Indicative data only, not intended for the preparation of specifications.

What the numbers mean in practice

A 1L bottle at 330mL per dose gives you about three treatments. That is worth knowing before you start, because it tells you the product is designed to be poured in a measured quantity rather than tipped in until something happens. Emptying the bottle into one drain does not triple the effect; it uses up the two treatments you might have wanted later.

The 15 to 30 minute window is the working time. The gel needs to sit in contact with the blockage for that period before you flush. Flushing early washes the product away before it has finished; there is no instruction to leave it longer than 30 minutes, so the upper end of the range is the sensible stopping point.

pH above 13 is at the extreme alkaline end of the scale, and it is why Selleys classifies the product as corrosive and gives the detailed first aid directions below. It is also why the instruction not to mix it with other detergents or chemicals is not negotiable. If a different drain product is already sitting in the trap, you are no longer following any manufacturer's directions.

The gel form is deliberate. A thickened product moves down through standing water rather than diluting straight into it, which is what puts the active formula in contact with the blockage instead of the water above it.

Where to use it

• Toilet drains
• Kitchen drains
• Indoor drains generally

Selleys describes the product as perfect for use on drains, and the product page narrows that to toilet, kitchen and indoor drains. Outdoor drains are excluded — see the limitations below.

How to use it

1. Put on protective gloves and clothing, including eye and face protection, before you open the bottle.
2. Open the child-resistant cap by squeezing the sides and turning it anticlockwise.
3. Pour 330mL — approximately one third of the bottle — slowly into the drain. Pouring slowly keeps the gel in the drain rather than splashing it back at you.
4. Replace the cap and keep the bottle tightly closed. Do this before you walk away, not after.
5. Wait 15 to 30 minutes.
6. Flush the drain with hot water.
7. Wash your hands after use.

Do not mix the product with other detergents or chemicals at any point in that sequence.

Before you start

This is a job worth setting up rather than improvising, because once the cap is off you are handling a corrosive product over an open drain.

Have the gloves and eye and face protection on before you open the bottle, not after the first pour. Work with the room ventilated — the technical data sheet describes the odour as bleach, and Selleys does not recommend the product for people with respiratory problems. Make sure nothing else has been poured down the drain first, because the instruction not to mix with other detergents or chemicals applies to what is already sitting in the trap as much as to what is in your hand.

Pour slowly. A gel poured quickly into a drain that is already holding water splashes back, and the splash is the part of this job that puts product on skin.

Limitations — where it should NOT be used

• Not recommended for use on outdoor drains.
• Not recommended for people with respiratory problems. This is a limitation on who should use the product, not just where. If you have a respiratory condition, this is not the drain cleaner for you, and the fact that a drain is a small job does not change that.
• Do not mix with other detergents or chemicals.
• Corrosive. Read the safety instructions on the back of the bottle before opening or using.

Safety directions

Selleys gives these directions in full. They are longer than most cleaning products' for a reason:

• Keep out of reach of children.
• Read carefully and follow all instructions.
• Wear protective gloves and clothing including eye and face protection.
• Avoid contact with eyes and skin.
• Wash hands after use.
• If in eyes, immediately irrigate with copious quantities of water for 15 minutes. Urgently seek medical assistance. Transport to hospital or a medical centre.
• If skin or hair contact occurs, remove contaminated clothing and flush the skin and hair with running water. If swelling, redness, blistering or irritation occurs, seek medical assistance.

Warnings, first aid and shipping information are on the product's Safety Data Sheet, available through the Selleys website.

Storage

Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place out of direct sunlight, away from foodstuffs and away from sources of heat or ignition. Keep the container standing upright, keep it closed when not in use, and check it regularly for leaks. With a corrosive product that has two doses left in the bottle, upright and closed is not a formality — a leaking bottle on a shelf is a hazard in itself.

Hazard classification

Classified as hazardous under Safe Work Australia GHS 7, with the signal word Danger.

• Skin corrosion/irritation — Category 1B. H314: causes severe skin burns and eye damage.
• Eye damage/irritation — Category 1. Covered by the same statement, H314.
• Corrosive to metals — Category 1. H290: may be corrosive to metals.

It is classified as Dangerous Goods, Class 8 Corrosive, under the Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road & Rail and the New Zealand NZS5433, and it is scheduled as a Poison under Schedule 5 (Caution). Almost nothing else in the Selleys cleaning range carries a transport classification at all; this one does.

What is in it

Chemical entity	CAS number	Proportion (w/w)
Sodium hydroxide	1310-73-2	1–10%
Sodium hypochlorite	7681-52-9	1–10%
Lauramine oxide	1643-20-5	1–10%
Ingredients determined to be non-hazardous or below reporting limits	—	Balance

This composition is the explanation for every warning already on this page. The sodium hydroxide is caustic soda, and it is what puts the pH above 13 — it attacks blockages by breaking down the fats and hair holding them together, and it will do the same to skin. The sodium hypochlorite is bleach, which is the source of the bleach odour listed in the technical specification. The lauramine oxide is the surfactant, and it is a large part of why the product is a gel that sinks through standing water rather than a thin liquid that dilutes into it.

H314 is not a strong version of an irritant warning — it is a burn warning. Category 1B means tissue destruction, not redness that fades. That is why the first aid below is 15 minutes of irrigation followed by urgent medical assistance and transport to hospital, why the skin instruction says to cover burns with a clean dry dressing, and why it says not to break blisters. It is also the reason the safety data sheet calls for a face shield and an apron rather than safety glasses — the exposure it anticipates is a splash back out of a drain, not a drip.

The instruction not to mix it with other detergents or chemicals is the most important line on this page, and the composition is why. A hypochlorite in contact with an acidic cleaner — a toilet descaler, a limescale remover, a "sulphuric acid" drain product — liberates chlorine gas, and doing that over an open drain puts your face directly above it. Caustic soda meeting an acid also releases a great deal of heat in a confined trap. If another product has already gone down the drain, this one does not go in after it.

The last piece follows from H290. Corrosive to metals means the product attacks metal itself, so never decant it into a metal container or leave it standing in a metal bowl or bucket. Keep it in its own bottle with the child-resistant cap, which is the form it was tested and packaged in.

Protection

• Face shield — the safety data sheet specifies a face shield, which is what "eye and face protection" in the directions above means. Safety glasses alone do not cover it.
• Gloves — nitrile rubber is suitable for intermittent contact. Glove construction and conditions vary, so make your own final assessment.
• Apron, overalls and rubber boots. For a household job that means at minimum covered arms, an old apron and closed shoes — not bare feet on a wet bathroom floor.
• Ventilation — use only in well-ventilated areas, with ventilation adequate to keep airborne concentrations below exposure standards. Use local exhaust ventilation, or an appropriate respirator, where that is not achievable.
• Do not enter a confined space where vapour may have collected. The vapour is heavier than air and settles in hollows and sumps.
• Wash your hands before smoking, eating, drinking or using the toilet, and wash contaminated clothing and equipment before storing or reusing it.

First aid

Exposure	What to do
Eyes	Immediately irrigate with copious quantities of water for 15 minutes, holding the eyelids open. Remove contact lenses if present and easy to do, and keep rinsing. Urgently seek medical assistance and transport to a hospital or medical centre.
Skin	Immediately remove all contaminated clothing and flush the skin and hair with running water. Continue until advised to stop by the Poisons Information Centre or a doctor, or for at least 15 minutes, then get to a medical facility. For gross contamination, drench immediately with water while removing clothing. Cover burns with a clean, dry dressing until medical help is available. If blisters form, do not break them.
Inhalation	Remove the person from exposure without becoming a casualty yourself. Remove contaminated clothing and loosen the rest. Let them take the most comfortable position, keep them warm and at rest until fully recovered. Seek medical advice if effects persist.
Swallowed	Rinse the mouth with water. Do not induce vomiting. Give a glass of water to drink. Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious person. If vomiting occurs, give further water. Seek medical advice.

If poisoning occurs, contact a doctor or the Poisons Information Centre — 131 126 in Australia, 0800 764 766 in New Zealand — with the container to hand. Selleys emergency line: 1800 220 770 in Australia, 0800 220 770 in New Zealand.