Suppose, you woke up early in order to use the toilet. But to your pure horror, you discover that the toilet is blocked. In this horrifying situation, you may be wondering, “How do you unblock a badly clogged toilet?”
There are several ways to clear a severely clogged toilet. For instance, using hot water and dish soap, vinegar and sodium bicarbonate, plastic bottles, or homemade snakes. Apart from all these, you can always use a plunger, which is arguably, the best tool for unblocking a badly clogged toilet.
However, it would be best for you to steer clear of clogging the toilet in the first place. And you can keep an unclogged toilet by following certain tricks.
To know about these and much more read this article right now!
How Do You Unblock a Badly Clogged Toilet- 4 Useful Methods
When your toilet backs up or overflows, there may be more than just a minor inconvenience. It might ruin your day.
To clear a severely blocked or flooding toilet, you do have other alternatives besides using a plunger. And a lot of these alternatives only call for household items that you already may have.
1. Vinegar and Sodium Bicarbonate
You may already know that vinegar and sodium bicarbonate or baking soda work wonders on a variety of surfaces. However, these kitchen cleansers also function if you want to unclog a toilet.
You should pour vinegar and sodium bicarbonate cautiously down the toilet. Because vinegar mixed with baking soda normally reacts to create bubbles and this may cause the toilet water to overflow.
Give the vinegar and baking soda solution a few minutes to work. Flush your toilet to see if the obstruction has been removed.
Until the blockage is cleared, you may have to repeat the method. And when your toilet makes a brief suction sound and then resumes normal drainage, the obstruction has been removed.
2. Dish Soap and Hot Water
On the stove, boil up the bucket of hot water. As the water is heating, add enough dish soap to your toilet.
When the water is quite hot but not boiling, carefully pour it into the toilet. To soften the clogging, wait for 10 to 15 minutes while using hot water and dish soap.
When you do this, the toilet will flush smoothly and unclog. As a substitute, if you want to clean your toilets without exiting your bathroom, you can use warm water and shower gel from the sink.
3. Using a Plastic Bottle
To unclog your toilet, you could also consider using a plastic container. Be aware that while this might be terribly unpleasant, it is also very efficient.
Start by draining the toilet bowl of as much water as you can. Next, fill a large plastic bottle with hot water.
Put your thumb on the bottle’s top and insert the bottle’s top end into the toilet’s bottom outlet. (For this stage, rubber gloves are recommended.)
Take your thumb off the bottle and press it to force the water down the pipe. The additional pressure might force whatever was blocking the pipe to move.
4. Coat Hanger Snake Craft
If you don’t have any unclogging tools on hand, you can quickly make a snake out of a wire coat hanger.
First, untangle the hanger until it becomes one long, single wire with the hook still attached. After that, cover the hook end with a little piece of cloth to shield your porcelain from nicks and scratches.
Wearing rubber gloves next, insert the wire into the toilet bowl and gently twist it. Last but not least, flush the toilet a few times to remove the clog as the water begins to drain.
Unclogging A Toilet with A Plunger
Apart from all the methods discussed above, having a plunger might be easier to unclog a toilet. Then, “How to unclog a toilet fast” may be a thought that crosses your mind.
Although this equipment might appear straightforward, it is still the most efficient way to unclog a toilet. Arguably unclogging a toilet with a plunger might also be the fastest way to do the job.
We suggest getting this tool in every home since they are the most effective in unclogging toilets. Let’s look at the steps for using a plunger.
- The plunger must be inserted into the toilet and carefully pushed down in order to use this equipment. The initial effort is simply to expel the air. Push gently; otherwise, you risk splashing yourself with unclean water.
- Once a solid seal has been formed, firmly push the plunger downwards and upwards while keeping the seal. In order to break the air seal, pull the tool strongly up.
- You can see water pouring down the drain.
Repeat the procedures if this doesn’t clear the obstruction until it does.
Tips to Avoid A Badly Clogged Toilet
Prevention is the best way to deal with badly clogged toilets. For you to better manage your toilet, here’s a list of some tips and tricks to avoid clogging.
1. Cut Back on Toilet Paper
Your toilet may be clogged because there is too much toilet paper in it at once. It is made to decompose, but it was intended to do it in the sewer, not your toilet.
Because it takes some time for the paper to completely dissolve, your toilet isn’t flushing effectively while it does so. Try your best to just use as much paper as is necessary and to conserve it.
To prevent the toilet from becoming overloaded, try flushing more frequently throughout the process rather than just once at the finish if you discover that you require a lot of paper.
2. Be Wise about What You Flush
Liquid, tissue, and human excrement are the three things that your toilet was made for. The trash should be used to dispose of everything else. However, a lot of people think it’s alright to flush other objects as well.
You might occasionally be lucky to escape with this, but if you keep doing it, the toilet will eventually become clogged.
It is preferable to place all rubbish, including food waste, into a plastic bag and transport it outside to a trash bin.
3. Leave the Lid Shut
When anything accidentally falls into the toilet, it can cause a clog.
Perhaps something dropped from the sink and went down the toilet’s drain. Perhaps a toy was dropped in there by one of your children unintentionally. These kinds of foreign things can seriously choke pipes.
Keep your toilet lid closed while not in use for the best chance of preventing inadvertent objects from falling in.
4. Avoid Putting Grease in Your Drain
Never flush grease down the toilet or any other drain. Grease will almost immediately solidify in the cool toilet water.
Where the toilet joins to the floor or deeper down the pipes, a substantial amount of grease might clog your toilet.
In addition, grease gradually accumulates on the pipe walls. As grease accumulates, it will also catch other items going down the drain and entirely stop the water flow.
FAQ
Will a clogged toilet eventually unclog?
Most of the time, the answer is yes. Over time, a blocked toilet will ultimately clear itself.
This is because the majority of the debris that clogs toilets is water-soluble, meaning that it will eventually disintegrate in the toilet bowl.
The strength of flushing should be sufficient to empty the pipes once the blockage in the toilet has had enough time to decompose.
But prepare yourself for a night or more of waiting. In case the blockage is still present when you try to empty the toilet the following day, you should also be prepared to restrict the flow of water.
Does pouring boiling water down a toilet unclog it?
Although boiling water might unclog the toilet, it might have some consequences.
When your drains are clear, it’s probably acceptable to pour boiling water down the drain, but a clog will make sure it stays in the pipe. This can seriously damage PVC pipework and pipe seals by melting them.
Using hot water to unclog a toilet might also dissolve the wax circle around it or even shatter the porcelain bowl, costing you a trip to your preferred hardware store.
How long does it take a toilet to unclog itself?
Your toilet will ultimately unclog itself if regular things like toilet rolls and human waste clog it. Unclogging can take anywhere from an hour to an entire day.
You could use a plunger, warm water, dish soap, a wire hanger, and other items to unblock the toilet if you don’t have time to call for help or prefer to do it yourself.
More significantly, by making sure that only flushable and biodegradable products are put down in the toilet, you can avoid clogs in the future.
Conclusion
A badly clogged toilet is a nightmare for everyone. And not everyone has the proper information to tackle situations like this. But thanks to this article, “How do you unblock a badly clogged toilet”, you will be able to handle this hassle with ease.
Remember that a plunger is not the only way to unblock a clogged toilet. It’s possible to unclog a toilet using a number of alternative techniques. Most of the items you’ll need to clear a clogged toilet are also in your home.
However, keeping a toilet clear is what’s most crucial. Your life will be much simpler if your toilet is unclogged.
Amos Christen graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from Drexel University — Philadelphia, PA. Since 2003, Amos has worked with top interior design professionals in this area, including architects and interior/graphic/lighting designers. As a skilled interior designer, Amos Christen is highly versed in fine arts and crafts and uses that to supplement his main area of expertise. He often publishes articles related to home décor on several websites, including Sprucetoilets.com, Sprucebathroom.com, and Mybesuitedhome.com. He also contributes to leading interior design magazines.