Don’t Back Up Your Day! 4 Tips for Unclogging Toilets

Clogged toilets are a fact of life. They’re a natural part of the bathroom cycle in just about any home or office today. While not exactly a “sexy” topic, a backed-up latrine can happen to any of us, so it’s best to have you prepared for when it just won’t flush. Here are four helpful tips to unclogging toilets.

1. Plunging

The plunger should always be the first tool you turn to when unclogging your toilet. Toilet plunging is one of the oldest methods of freeing toilet blockages, but it’s still the best initial approach to clogged drains.

Invest in a quality plunger with a strong seal for your home. The seal, once put into place, creates a strong suction. When suction is is in place, the plunging motion will dislodge whatever it is that’s preventing your toilet bowl from draining properly.

2. Vinegar and Baking Soda

This is an interesting trick that’s new to many people. These two natural cooking ingredients are more effective and safer for your toilet than using most chemical compounds sold in stores.

  • Start by heating a pot of water until it just starts to boil, then take it off the burner to let it cool a bit.

  • Next, pour one cup of baking soda into the clogged toilet, followed immediately by two cups of vinegar.

  • Let it settle (a small amount of volcanic activity may occur), then add the hot water slowly to avoid overflowing the bowl.

  • Walk away for a few hours and let the bubbly reaction do its thing, breaking up the obstruction.

3. Liquid Soap

Soap is a powerful compound all on its own, making it a practical unclogging solution. Squirt a decent amount of liquid soap into the toilet, then pour hot water over it and into the bowl.

Pouring the water from a foot or two above the toilet will help force the soap down into the drain. Stop before the bowl overflows and walk away for a few hours, letting the soap work its magic.

4. Call Us

These are all very useful tips and one of them will most likely work. However, occasionally the blockage is something that can’t be dislodged through plunging or dissolved with the vinegar trick or soap.

It costs far more to accidentally break your toilet or the plumbing lines and end up soiling your bathroom with sewage than it is to have a plumber with the proper tools clean out your plumbing system. If you’re unable to safely unclog the toilet yourself, it’s time to call Home Angels to dispatch a plumber.