How To Unblock A Toilet

Unblocking Your Toilet

Are you experiencing a blocked toilet and wondering how to go about unclogging it? If the water is taking a long time to drain, it is a likely sign of a blockage. When this happens, the waste will not be flushed away; rather, it will stay there, and the water will start to rise towards the brim. It might even begin to overflow, causing a nasty situation, which is not what you want in your ideal home.

Your first instinct might be to call emergency plumbing immediately for toilet repairs but don't be so hasty. There are some DIY environmentally-friendly ways of dealing with a toilet clog. You will not have to lose a penny and still get the job done. Just read on to find out how.

Use A Plunger

A plunger is usually the first thing people use to deal with a blocked drain. A toilet can get clogged for many reasons, and 90% of those blocks can be solved by using a toilet plunger. A plunger with an extension flange ending with a bell-shaped rubber is the most recommended type. It fits toilets better, and you can create more pressure with it.

Once you have the tool with you, first plunge the toilet with the rubber flange pulled out. Having a towel nearby to wipe up any splashed-out bits of water is a good idea. The first plunge should be gentle. This is because the bell will be full of air in the beginning. So, if you push too hard, the air will be forced back around the seal and blow over everything.

Then, you can start a vigorous series of pushing and pulling while maintaining the seal. Keep enough water in the bowl to cover the plunger. You might have to do it around twenty to thirty times, depending on the severity of the clog. So, it's essential to be patient.  It's also a good choice to stretch your hand muscles properly before starting.

However, if your arm begins to hurt as you plunge, don't worry. You can do some steady strokes for a while before resuming the hard speed. With the constant push and pull, you will be forcing water in both directions of the drain. This will effectively unblock the toilet. You can also use the same method to unblock sinks and tub drains.

Try Using Dish Soap

Plunging can get quite messy. It is also very physically strenuous. So, you might just be wondering if there are any alternatives to this. Well, using dish soap is one of the alternatives to plunging, but it does not always guarantee the same kind of effectiveness.

You probably have dish soap at home, so all you have to do is go to the kitchen and get it. Since soap is slippery, it can help lubricate the clogged pipe and allow the lodged debris to slide away more easily. It is sufficient to put only about half a cup of dish soap into the toilet.

If you don't have dish soap at home or have run out of it, you can also use hand soap. Simply cut up a bar of soap into small pieces and drop them into the toilet. The pieces should do the exact same thing as a dish soap does. If you are lucky, this will be enough to get the job done.

Add Some Hot Water

Do not feel disheartened if the dish soap alone fails to unblock your toilet completely. Adding some hot water might get you the desired result. Hot water applies a certain level of pressure, which pushes the blockage away. Moreover, the heat helps to dissolve the build-up of fat or grease. In the end, you will get an unblocked toilet and a cleaner one.‍‍

Make sure to use hot bath water instead of boiling water because the latter can cause the porcelain to crack due to solid expansion. Keep in mind that the level of water in the toilet bowl must be low before you can start the process. Therefore, ensure that you remove the excess water if needed.

Here are the steps taken to unblock a toilet using hot water:

• First of all, close the water supply at the valve to make sure the cistern doesn't refill. The valve is situated at the left or right side of the cistern. Sometimes it is also positioned underneath it. Then, put on a pair of rubber or disposable gloves to manually remove the stagnant water as much as you can.
• Rather than pouring the hot water immediately after, pour about half a glass of washing-up liquid into the bowl first; this should be enough to lubricate the waste outlet. Now, wait for about ten minutes for the washing-up liquid to do its magic.
• Then, pour around two to three litres of hot water into the bowl. Pour it rapidly, but be careful to ensure that it does not splash and get into contact with your skin.
• Things might not work out right after. Wait a few moments to see if the water level has fallen. If the blockage is severe, the level will probably not fall. If that is the case, repeat this process one more time. If it still does not work, using a plunger might be your best option.

Use A Wire Coat Hanger

When dealing with a blocked toilet, coat hangers will definitely not be the first thing that comes to your mind. However, you will be surprised by how effective it can be when it comes to dealing with a severe blockage. It is also an excellent alternative to a plunger.

If the blockage is serious, the dish soap and hot water won't be able to get rid of it. This means that you have to work on it manually. All you have to do is unwrap a wire coat hanger until it is entirely straight. This is relatively easy to do and does not require that much strength.

Once you have a straight stick-like object, push one end of it into the clogged area. Then, start prodding the debris until the blockage is loosened up and everything starts flowing down the drain. Simple, isn't it?

Using Baking Soda And Vinegar

There is a more natural solution for clogged toilets as an alternative for plunger and dish soaps: a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. The chances are that you have both ingredients in your pantry, so you will not even have to buy them. This mixture works magic when it comes to cleaning, deodorising waste pipes, descaling, and removing soap residues.

In addition, if your toilet is connected to a septic tank or cesspit, this method is beneficial. Baking soda and vinegar do not kill the beneficial bacteria in septic tanks, allowing your septic system to function correctly for much longer. Now let's take a closer look at utilising baking soda to unclog your toilet step by step:

• Pour around one cup of baking soda into the toilet bowl. You are not supposed to pour the vinegar and baking soda together. Therefore, you don't have to mix the two in a bowl beforehand.
• Now, heat up around two or three litres of water in a saucepan. Before the water starts boiling, add about half a cup to one cup of white vinegar into the toilet bowl. If you don't want to use vinegar with water, adding around two cups of vinegar will do. However, adding it with water will give you a better chemical reaction.
• Next, close the lid. When the hot water and vinegar come into contact with the baking soda, a chemical reaction will occur. This reaction will create foam inside. Allow it to fizz for approximately half an hour.
• Once the time runs out, you can flush the toilet. This should clear the toilet drain. However, in the rare scenario that it does not work, you can try the hot water method next.

Create Water Pressure With Plastic Bottles

Plastic water bottles can act as a replacement for a plunger. Therefore, if you do not want to buy a plunger, you can try this method out. However, as is the case with a plunger, the unclogging process can get quite messy. Start by removing as much water as you can from the toilet bowl.

You can use a small container to gradually scoop out the water, pour it into a bucket, and repeat this step until the water level is low. Once you are done, ensure that you wear a pair of protective rubber gloves because your hand is about to go into the toilet. Then, take a large plastic bottle and fill it with warm water.

Place your thumb tightly over the opening of the bottle, as in, on the bottle's mouth. Proceed to fit the top end of the bottle into the outlet at the bottom of the toilet. After that, you can remove your thumb and then start squeezing the bottle so that all the water inside shoots down the pipe. This can add some pressure to the clog, which can help dislodge whatever was causing it.

A Squirt Gun As Toilet Drainer

This method is not exactly used to unblock a toilet. Instead, it is something you can do before dealing with the clog to make unclogging easier. Using a squirt gun, you can drain your toilet bowl quickly. As previously stated, you need to remove all the water from the bowl when repairing or replacing a toilet.

Only flushing the toilet is not enough. You could choose to use a sponge, but that will take longer. That's why a squirt gun is an excellent tool for this purpose. It can suck the water out and then squirt it into a bucket. That will leave you with only a few drops of water that you can wipe off with a sponge. You won't have to get your hands too dirty, and the process is made much simpler.

Reach Out To A Plumber To Unblock Your Toilet

This article has covered several tested methods that you can apply to unblock a toilet by yourself without calling someone to do it. It might seem like quite a dirty job, but every single penny matters! However, if you are too busy to do this yourself or are dealing with a stubborn clog, you can always contact a reliable plumbing company near you to unblock your toilet.