How to Unclog a Toilet

Posted on June 13, 2010 | Category: Bathroom Trivia, Featured

Clogging up of the toilet becomes a very messy situation at times when you don’t know how to fix it and have to call for a plumber. Not only does it take your patience to wait until the toilet is fixed but also is an expensive deal if you call from some plumber to do the fixing. To avoid getting into all of these, you must be aware of how to fix up a clogged toilet.
Here are some basic steps that you can follow while fixing:

• The first step is to flush. Flush only once and if the waste doesn’t go down the drain then do not flush again. Flushing again would make more water collect. Let the pot be still for some time and do not disturb it, after some time the contents might automatically go down the drain.
• The second step is to put on a pair of gloves on your hands. Before you start working on fixing the clog, wear a pair of gloves to prevent yourself from germs and bacteria. Toilets are not sanitized and self-precautions should be taken.
• The third step is to cover the pot’s area with some newspaper so that you do not tend to dirty the nearby areas too. Clogged toilets become a complete mess if it starts overflowing. Some amount of water is bound to splash, so protect your floor by covering it with newspapers.
• The most common method is to clean by using a plunger. Plunger is generally used when you know that there is something like a ball, toy or some other small bathroom fixture that is the cause of clogging. Here are two basic steps that you can perform while cleaning toilet using a plunger.
• Choose the right plunger: Choose such a plunger that forms a seal with bowl’s bottom. It is recommended to use plunger made of heavy-duty rubber over the small suction plungers that are available in the market. The ball-shaped or the fold-out type is best suited for this purpose. The force that you can apply is directly proportional to the size of the rubber base. Make sure that the plunger’s shape is such that when force is applied to it, it doesn’t force the contents back to the bowl instead push it down the drain. You can even use an integrated plum plunger that comes with a jet of water.
• Insert the plunger into the bowl effectively, not with too much of force though. Keep the device held in such a way that it completely covers the hole of the bowl. After placing it at the right position, apply some pressure so that suction is created and then pull back so that pressure is created with water. Repeating this will drain off the bowl.

Using a plunger is the most common method for fixing a clogged toilet. There are several methods specific to the problem of the clog. You can research on internet to get more information.

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