A clogged toilet is one of the most common misfortunes to befall a fellow human being. Have you ever been over to someone else’s house and clogged their toilet? You look around frantically as you can’t find the plunger. After severe mental anguish, you have two choices to make.
Close the lid, walk out and make up an excuse to suddenly leave, or you decide to face the facts with the homeowner. Believe it or not, this is a commonplace occurrence. Well, I’m here to show you how to unclog a toilet if you are so lucky as to find that coveted plunger.
Now, if you need help unclogging a toilet; that could mean one of two things- a) you don’t have your person (elder/younger sibling, parent, boyfriend/girlfriend) around, who usually does it for you, or b) none of your usual methods work. Well, there can be a variety of reasons for a clogged toilet and here are a few options for you to consider.
Steps to Unclog A Toilet
- Plunger– This is the best method and is to be used if you know for sure that there is some foreign material that is causing your toilet to clog. It is recommended that you use a plunger of good quality, as they form better seals and are overall more effective. It is not at all helpful to buy a cheap plunger, you will only be disappointed. Make sure that the plunger is fully submerged in water; the suction has to come from water and not air. Also, the plunger should be covering the whole hole. It is a good idea to have newspapers around the toilet; they will be far easier to clean afterward.
- Plumbing Snake- If the clog is being caused by a build-up of waste material in the drainpipe, then a plumbing snake or auger is one of the best bets to unclog your drains. It is a coiled wire, which is very flexible. It reaches inside your toilet, ‘snaking’ its way through the twists and turns of the toilet. Once you feel the impediment of the waste, start twisting and turning the coil. It will make the accumulated mass break apart into smaller, flushable pieces. The coil can be used for other drains around the house as well.
- DIY Drain cleanser- You can use the products available in your kitchen to brew a concoction that is certain to dissolve the majority of clogs from your drains. If the clog is being caused by organic waste, then this method will work 100% of the time. You just need to heat up a considerable amount of water, say around half a gallon. It should be warm so that it can change the water temperature around the clog. Once you have warm water on hand, pour one cup of baking soda and two cups of vinegar into a bowl. The quantity can vary but should be in this proportion. After that, pour the warm water into the toilet bowl from a considerable height (around your waist) so that it has considerable force when it enters the bowl. Let the toilet remain undisturbed for at least 5-6 hours, you can do this overnight for best results. This is one of the most trusted methods to clear out organic clogs of any kind in drains around the house.
- Store-bought enzymes- Enzymes also work on the same premise as the method above. They may be a bit stronger and can be bought easily from any store. They breakdown the clog by a chemical process that is not damaging to the porcelain of the toilet and the environment.
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When you know for sure that your toilet is clogged, it is a bad idea to continue flushing repeatedly in the hope of getting rid of whatever is causing the blockage. The only end result would be overflowing of messy, smelly water all over your bathroom. When you notice a clog, turn off the flapper so there is no more water going in the bowl and start working on one of the methods above. I hope you don’t have to go through any more clogging nightmares in the near future.
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