What to do if a toilet clogged: a review of methods

Plumbing fixtures tend to clog over time. This is facilitated by deposits of salts of too hard water, urea and other sediment that enters the pipes and narrows the inner hole. And the owners have to choose: either call a professional plumber, or look for ways that will help to clean the toilet on their own. We will analyze the best ways to clean plumbing.

How to determine the causes and degree of blockage

Sewerage may not work for two main reasons:

• the drain system is improperly made;
• misuse, misuse.

If the drain pipe is not mounted according to the technology, for example, with a violation of the angle of inclination, then over time deposits will accumulate in the pipe and blockage will occur.

Lack of adequate fan ventilation also leads to clogged sewers. This is due to a decrease in the rate of water discharge if air does not enter the riser pipe.

Violation of the conditions for the use of sewage drains often occurs due to the fault of residents.

After all, the remnants of food that fermented homemade preparations, like pickled tomatoes, do not hesitate to pour into it. And sometimes after cleaning the apartment, along with the drained dirty water, a rag accidentally “runs away”. After such "feeding" the toilet refuses to work, blocking the passage of water into the pipes.

The clogging of the toilet with cat cat filler and large pieces of toilet paper leads to the same consequences. Clay, which forms the basis of clumping filler, settles in the pipe.

Insoluble materials, objects, toys that accidentally fall into the drain form a cork in the pipe. The same thing happens with sand, cement, and other building materials.

Without preventive chemical filling, your pipes will gradually overgrow with salt sediment and will cease to let water through even without additional blockages.

When choosing tools for cleaning the toilet, first find out the degree of clogging and, if possible, its cause. Water may drain in a slow trickle or not pass completely. It’s easy to find out: you need to pour about a liter of water into the toilet and after half an hour see if it is gone. You should not use the tank for checking, because when you press the button, all the available liquid will flow into the toilet (and at least three liters of it!). If the channel is clogged tightly, then the water will begin to spill out onto the floor of the toilet.

Next, check how local the blockage is.Open the faucet in the bathroom and in the kitchen and see how it works with the drain. If the water leaves both points in the normal mode, it means that the pipe is clogged at the outlet of the toilet. It discharges fluid into a common sewer pipe. If the flow in all places is weak, then the problem is in the common pipes, and more serious measures will have to be applied.

To prevent sewage pipes from overgrowing with salt sludge, prophylaxis should be carried out at least once every three months. For this, any chemicals that are designed to clean the pipes are suitable. Pour liquid according to the instructions for the night when plumbing fixtures are not used. And then no sediment has time to settle on the walls of the pipes and turn into stone, which is very difficult to deal with.

What to do if a toilet clogged

If prevention has not been carried out, and the pipes are still clogged, try to corrode the blockage, filling it with special compounds.

Folk remedies

The simplest means that are in every kitchen are soda and vinegar.

Act as follows:

1. They scoop out excess water, leaving a little in the place of discharge.
2. Pour 1/2 packet of soda and push it as deep as possible.
3. Pour a glass of vinegar.
4. Waiting for the end of the reaction (approximately 15-20 minutes).
5. Pour boiling water into the toilet.

Pouring boiling water is not recommended for toilets, where the connecting corrugation is made of thin plastic, as it can burst. In this case, it is washed only with hot water, not boiling water.

Soda ash diluted in water instantly gives off a chemical reaction if vinegar is poured onto it

If the owners prefer not to use aggressive chemistry, then you can resort to folk remedies that have been tested for years and are safe.

If the problem concerns exclusively the toilet, then most often they use the mechanical method, chemistry and punching with a plunger.

Chemicals

A more expensive chemical flushing option is store specials such as “Mole”, “Tiret”, “Flup”. They corrode everything that has accumulated inside the pipes (hair, limescale, salts, fat, etc.). Use these potent agents with caution, they have a pungent odor, corrode the skin, they should not be allowed to get into the eyes, so it is advisable to work with gloves. Read the instructions carefully before cleaning. After eliminating the plug from the sediments, it is necessary to rinse the sewer with water.

You cannot mix several different products or use them at the same time. As a result of a chemical reaction, toxic substances can form and the situation will only worsen.

But the maximum effect should be expected if the pipes are not too “overgrown”, and deposits are in the initial stages. If the sediment has time to petrify, then no chemistry is able to break through it. That is why it is recommended to regularly flush the sewer with special means.

Mechanical cleaning

If some object (a rag, an apple, etc.) got into the toilet, and the owners guess the reason for the jam, then the first thing to do is to examine the place of release and the siphon. To do this, you will have to scoop up all the water in the bowl, pull a rubber glove on your hand and, if possible, cover your nose with a gauze bandage, because the smell will not be pleasant. They put the hand as deep as possible into the drain hole and touch to find out if there are any objects in the pipe. A rag or sponge can easily be pulled out with your fingers, and if you get some kind of vegetable or fruit, you can pry it with a wire with a hook bent at the end.

If an object or rag has got into the toilet, do not blow it with air, otherwise you will drive the cork even further, from where you yourself cannot

Using a plunger

If the cause of the blockage is not exactly known, but the water continues to drain slowly, then you can use plunger. Almost everyone has this device, so finding is not difficult. The main thing is that the diameter of the rubber suction cup should be larger than the diameter of the drain hole.Traditional models have a wooden handle, but more modern designs are also available. In this way, it is possible to eliminate the blockage that formed in the siphon or local pipe, which drains the drains into a common sewer. Under the pressure of air and water, the garbage stopper will move deeper and exit into a pipe of a larger diameter, after which it will freely float out of the house.

The size of the rubber suction cup in the plunger must be larger than the drain hole of the toilet bowl in order to tightly close the area that you will punch

In order to make the punching as effective as possible, it is necessary to close the hole for the lower and upper drain in the bathroom, kitchen and with sharp shocks pump the water in the toilet with a plunger. With a slow drain, not only in the toilet, but in all sinks, this procedure should be repeated in each plumbing fixture, closing the openings of the others.

How to get rid of clogging with a "doll"

Another homemade appliance that plumbers call a “doll” is used to eliminate pipe clogging. Sand is poured into a small bag and tied tightly, forming a piercing “doll”. It is mounted on the end of a curved thick wire and sharply lowered into the drain hole, breaking through a blockage, pushing objects or a toilet paper lump further into the pipe, from where it goes down the riser. After this procedure, you must thoroughly flush the toilet.

“Doll” is a tightly tied sand bag

Cleaning with a plastic bottle

Of the improvised means that you can always find at home, an ordinary plastic water bottle with a volume of 1.5 - 2.5 liters is suitable. The lid is left twisted, the bottom is cut with a sharp knife and immersed in the toilet so that the cut edge touches the bowl deeper. Make a sharp push down, repeat several times. By such actions, we push the blockage, causing a small water hammer and release the drain.

An ordinary plastic bottle will be no less effective in some cases.

Video: Using a plastic bottle to eliminate blockage

Using a rubber hose

This method acts on blockage not only mechanically, but also hydrodynamically, with the help of pressure and high temperature. It works great in combination with a chemical process. We fix one edge of the rubber hose to the tap with hot water, and lower the other end into the toilet drain as far as possible. We open the tap all the way and let hot water with a strong pressure.

Corrugation Cleaning

It often happens that the toilet is attached to the riser using a corrugated pipe. In the event of a blockage, this design feature will help eliminate the cork. Scoop out the water in the drain as much as possible, then remove the pipe, clean it and put it in place.

How to eliminate the complete coking system

Now let's figure out what to do if the toilet clogged completely, blocking the drain of water. In this case, they buy or look for special appliances from their neighbors. Of all that you can clean the toilet, the most effective and convenient is considered a special sewer cable. It is quite flexible, has a metal braid and a handle at the end.

A flexible sewer cable is able to pass through the bends of the drain hole and pipes, but it needs to be helped with the rotational movements of the handle

It is better to clean the pipes together, as the cable is advanced gradually and at the same time rotate with the handle. It is necessary to rotate so that the cable can go through the bend of the pipe, which is made for odor blocking. Having advanced the device to the maximum depth, it is necessary to move them back and forth several times to stir up deposits on the pipe walls.

When you will take out the cable after the end of the procedure, put an old rag on the floor and immediately wipe the removed part with a cloth dampened in a dishwashing detergent. Otherwise, you yourself will be tormented, and the floor will suffer. And the smell on the hands will be felt for a very long time.

Video: flexible sewer cleaning hose

Where to go if the toilet is clogged and you cannot clean it

If you tried, as you could, to clean the clogged toilet, and there was no improvement, then the problem may be with the common riser, through which sewage is removed from all apartments on floors above. In this case, urgently call the organization serving the house, and let the specialists deal with the problem.

In this case, water can not only stand in the toilet, but also arrive at a considerable speed and after a short time flow over the edge of the bowl and end up in the apartment.

In this case, urgently call the emergency service, the team that each management company has, HOA, or call the organization serving the house, and let the specialists deal with the problem. You can call any plumbing service or master plumber. They eliminate the cork quickly with professional equipment.

The problem of clogged toilet is solved, and so that it does not occur again, it is necessary to monitor the condition of your plumbing and use it without disruption. Regularly carry out preventive measures using special means and then the atmosphere of cleanliness and comfort will reign in the house.

Material updated 03.03.2018