We've all been there: you're using the toilets, flush the water, and it's still there. Flush again, to no avail. It's utterly clogged.
When at home I can simply call a plumber, but:
Are there any hacks to handle such a crisis?
Use a toilet plunger. That's what it was designed for, and if you use it right, won't splash at all. Most people have one by the toilet, or in a small closet nearby. It's far more effective than using a brush, and much less messy.
A builder friend of mine who services student accommodation passed on this great tip that requires only a readily available and disposable tool - and no gloves:
It's not usually necessary to hold the blockage inside the garbage bag, although this can be done if the blockage was something that didn't belong in the toilet in the first place - simply hold onto it as you invert the bag.
Garbage bags are also known as a trash bag, bin bag, refuse sack, black bag, etc, a well known brand is Hefty bag but many others and cheap generics are available. Plastic carrier/shopping bags often have perforations (as do garbage bags in some regions - @Angelo), and are prone to rip or puncture, so avoid.
Personally I used Toilet Cleaning Brush whenever such thing happened:
Don't think I need to explain how to use it for unclogging, however as you can imagine it's quite gross, that's why I'm open for other, more elegant, ways.
I have this problem in my house as we speak! I've tackled it a lot in the past and it doesn't usually involve using rulers or brushes.
It really helps if you have another toilet and you can leave this one to "stew" for a while. The water will break down the blockage over time.
I like to add a LOT of bleach to the water - this aids in the breakdown too. I sometimes add detergent but not sure if this really helps or not.
Most effective is the use of PRESSURE. I usually achieve the additional pressure by filling the bowl as high as possible using an external source (to make sure it doesn't overflow). Usually the water will gradually trickle away, but you need to stand by and keep topping-up to keep the pressure as high as possible on the blockage.
A combination of these techniques nearly always prevails eventually.
UPDATE: After having typed above, went back to my toilet which had been left for about 3 hours. Filled it with water up to the brim and, like magic, the blockage swooshed away!
I see that someone suggested the plunger, but it was rejected as making too big a splash.
When using the plunging device, gently push all the air out, compressing the plunger. Quickly and abruptly pull ONE time. Let water settle briefly and repeat until cleared. I generally wait 2-3 seconds between hard pulls.
Good luck.
A "plumber's helper" or plunger with an internal lip makes a better seal - see the picture (copied from WP); the one on the left has that lip. These may cost a bit more than the flat type, though. Yes, it's messy, but chemicals are dangerous and often ineffective. Another tool, if the plunger fails, is the toilet auger - a metal snake with a rubber or plastic sleeve to protect the china bowl. Though "life hacks" may be about saving money, these tools are necessities and are less likely to damage a toilet than coat-hangers, high-pressure hoses or caustics.
A bit gross and I'm not sure it is any more elegant but I have heard that a long ruler (a 30cm one) can be used as a 'chopping' device to make the 'obstruction' smaller, obviously it doesn't help in floating situations.
I would recommend that it is a single use device though. You certainly don't want to take it back to your desk.
Unwind a wire hanger, leaving a hook at one end. Stick it down the toilet and poke repeatedly to dislodge the clog. You can also use the hook to try to pull the clog back up (ew). This should eventually work.
If the above fails, find some rubber gloves and a 2 liter plastic bottle. Push the opening of the bottle into the bowl and down the drain area. Try to create a seal around the drain and bottle as well as possible. Now squeeze the bottle (the first squeeze will let out air and might splash a bit, so gloves would help here). Then repeatedly squeeze the bottle until the clog has dislodged. This does a similar suctioning method as the plunger would, but is a bit harder to use.
You can use caustic soda. Be very careful when you use it and ensure that you dont get it on your hands. You generally need to mix it with water (cold water) and once mixed, pour it on the clogged toilet - leave it for 30 minutes and flush
This one doesn't work at a friend's house if your goal is to avoid letting anyone know the thing is clogged. However, it works great if that's not a concern.
Typically, the water will straight-up dissolve whatever hellish mess you've left in there. It certainly works for solid human waste. If you've clogged it with a bunch of paper, though, it won't be quite as effective as the paper hold together much better.
If a toilet clogs very often, it is a sign of it being filled with water sediments. This is the case with most of the old toilets and in the areas with hard water.
You should remove the toilet and manually clean it from the other side of the pipe. You'll probably need a hammer and/or some other tool to break the sediments. The easier way is to change the toilet for a new one.
A toilet without any blockage should never clog unless you put in there something that should not go there.
In times of need I have heard that dish soap can unclog the toilet. I have no idea how, or why anyone even thought of it, but it's worth a try. If you're constantly getting clogged toilets, it might be best to just call out a plumber and get your pipes looked at.
When your toilet clogs up, squeeze at least three squirts of dish washing liquid into the bowl. The chemicals can help to break up the debris. Pour around four cups of hot water into the bowl.
Let everything soak for a while (20 minutes to a few hours) before attempting to flush.
I've actually tried this and it works!!
What always works for me is a 2-litre plastic bottle with the bottom cut off.
The force of the water inside the bottle always clears it. This has never failed for me.
This is a drain cleaning bladder. You connect it to a hose and the bladder expands to give you a tight seal to wash away obstructions. They are typically available at hardware store and run anywhere from a few bucks to twenty bucks depending on quality and size. These are nice if the obstruction is in the pipe rather then in the toilet. A good flow for a couple minutes will also wash the obstruction clear of the smaller sewer pipes typically in the home.
You use these things when your toilet plunger is not able to effectively loosen and remove the clog. Try the plunger first, you really don't want to use the bladder until it is far enough in to be able to seat itself on a drain pipe. If it can't seat it can come shooting out like a rocket.
Using these is often a two person operation, since often you will be using a yard hose ran from an outside spigot. You don't really want to turn on the hose, then get to the bathroom to find the hose loose and spraying water all over the place. You want to be able to keep a hand on the hose when it is being turned on. These things also work great for grease clogs in the kitchen and washing machine drains. Everyone should have one handy.
General Prevention:
At home or away:
At Home:
Okay, here's how I do it...
What a plunger does is add some pressure to the water exiting the bottom of the toilet. With this trick I haven't used a plunger for years.
First, try to flush and pay particular attention to how high the water comes in the bowl, and notice how much more water could be added to the bowl at 'high tide' without overflow.
Second, take a container (I usually used the bathroom trash can with the trash removed and placed on the floor) and fill it in the bathtub with less than the amount needed to overflow.
Third, pull the lever and flush the toilet and while the toilet is filling with water from the reservoir, pour the water from the trash can into the toilet, aiming for the drain in the bottom. Try to pour from waist height to get the extra pressure of the water dropping into the bowl. The added pressure of the extra water is usually enough to free most blockages. Away goes the trouble and you don't have to splash around in dirty water.
The plunger certainly is the best, just gross. I attached a long handle to one using a piece of PVC pipe and rivets. Makes it much less gross. Then clean in a bucket with dilute bleach
I am sure your problem is fixed, but if it happens again take this advice too: It's true plumbers are sometimes quite expensive, and anyway, with corona around these days, it wouldn't be a good idea to call them either.
I have an interesting solution that doesn't involve a plunger nor drain cleaning bladder, but a type of liquid that has non organic salts (these do the job). You can find it in some supermarkets, and if you are extremely lucky in a pharmacy, you can also make the liquid yourself! just buy some inorganic powerful salt and mix it with a liter of water (per 1-15 grams depending the salt). I you make or buy this liquid, you put some in the toilet, and let it there for some minutes (it works BEST if you leave it the whole night) and then wash away with hot (HOT NOT COLD) water... Problem solved :-)
Now if you don't have anything like a plunger nor a Frain cleaning bladder nor this liquid and not even the salts to make it, and you're in a rush, I'm afraid you'll have to use bare hands (yuck!). I hope you never get to such point.
Do take in mind, that if you leave a bathroom or anything clogged, it can burst in any moment, I tell you because my friend experienced it unfortunately, (wondering why?) he didn't have a plunger nor nothing, I told him to use my liquid as he lives close to me but he was skeptical for it and decided not to use it, when the next week he came around for dinner, as if by magic the toilet got clogged, and I said come around... He went and I put the liquid. We had dinner and I told him "now I'll boil the water and prepare to be impressed and to believe me" I took the water, and in less than 2 seconds after I threw it mostly in, it was "unclogged" so I flushed the after and problem solved, He later even asked me where on Earth could he buy that!
I hope I helped you here.
I'm sorry for it to have been such a long answer.
Plumber's secret: Add hydrochloric acid for 30mins, then swirl it around with a mopstick. Then use plunger.
flush the water, and it's still there. Flush again, to no avail. It's utterly clogged.
That describes two different problems. If it's "utterly clogged", it's not "to no avail", it's to overflow and flood the floor.
If you can flush several times and "it's still there", that means that it isn't flushing properly, not that it's clogged. A simple test is to flush and at the same time pour a couple of litres of water from a pail into the bowl. If everything rushes down, it's not a clog.
A good flush should result in the sound of air being sucked into the pipes. If not, the problem could be:
Often it is the last case, and what needs to be done is a thorough scrubbing under the rim, possibly followed by examination with a mirror and hole-poking with a coat-hanger wire.
As for calling the plumber, if you know how to do it yourself, it's typically cheaper to buy and install a new toilet. (Though that's not something one can secretly do at someone else's house.)
