Home Remedies for Clogged Toilet?

[liveforthemagic]

It never fails...always an unexpected expense right before the holidays.

OK plumbers...not to be too graphic...I have a toilet that is partially clogged...the water fills up close to the top, does not overflow, then drains down....but never completely empties the bowl. We have plunged numerous times, to no avail. There is nothing yucky left in the bowl, so I have time to try and fix this myself. Any ideas?

My kids assure me there are no Barbie Dolls or baseball gloves stuffed down the toilet....

I have heard you can't put Liquid Plumber or anything else like that in a toilet cause it will eat the wax ring....

TIA!

 

[mrsboz]

Hi. I don't know anything about it but I know that my brother uses something called a snake that he bought at the hardware store. How about this? I bet that it will be way cheaper than a plumber. It is a long snake like thing that you put down the pipe. Hope that this helps.

 

[disneyfreakk]

are you on the city sewer service or do you have a septic tank? Maybe your tank needs to be emptied if you are on septic.

 

[frannn]

I have 3 girls, so our toilets are always getting clogged. We called a plummer once, when the plunger would not do the trick. The plummer himself used a snake to unclog.

 

[liveforthemagic]

Can't believe I'm going to say this....but I'm on my way to buy a snake!

Wish me luck!

 

[Mom2Ashli]

We were having the same problem. Called a plumber to come out and snake the line and he found that a root had started to grow at the end of our sewer line. We need to cut out that whole section and redo it.

Good luck.

 

[MsLeFever]

My dad's trick:

Pour a bucket full of HOT water into the toilet. (not boiling but as hot as the hot water can come out of the spout).

Let it sit until it goes down.

Repeat until the hot water alone causes the toilet to flush.

So far it has worked for us everytime.

 

[kritter]

My dad's trick:

Pour a bucket full of HOT water into the toilet. (not boiling but as hot as the hot water can come out of the spout).

Let it sit until it goes down.

Repeat until the hot water alone causes the toilet to flush.

So far it has worked for us everytime.

This really works....

 

[englishteacha]

I was going to recommend a snake, too. A coated, unbent wire hanger will work in a pinch, too.

 

[SarahKate]

This happened to us earlier this year. DH came up one morning and said the drain in the basement was backed up a little bit and the toilet upstairs wasn't flushing right. So we had the plumber come out and he quickly realized that we had a clog but it was all the way out to the street so he actually had to go rent a VERY long snake.

The culprit was a couple of things - flushing kleenex, using too much TP, etc. plus tree roots growing into the pipes causes it to back up. So he was able to open everything up and we haven't had any problems since then.

Every 3-4 weeks we put a root killer down the toilet and leave it overnite w/o flushing.

This may not be what's going on w/ your toilet and maybe you can use some of the other remedies from other posters. Good luck! Sometimes it sucks to be a homeowner.

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

I've always heard to use the snake too. I would say one other thing about plungers though. We always used to have a regular looking plunger, and I could never, ever unplug the toilet. I always had to get DH to do it - not convenient if he wasn't home. One day he came home with a funny looking one. It's fat on the top like most plungers, but then it narrows underneath, looking almost tube-like. That thing unplugs the toilet with two little pushes. I can even do it!

 

[LIFERBABE]

I swear by the SwampBuster. This is a plunger hawked by Billy Mays on HSN years ago. I purchased one and was really impressed. I used it alot.

My Dh broke it and threw it away without telling me.

I had my toddler niece here and I know she put something down the toilet and we tried everything to unclog. HSN no longer sold the SwampBuster, so I tried drano products, flushing hot water, and some industrial stuff from Home Depot that they swore by. NADA!

I googled Swamp Buster and found it on Ebay! They are only $5 ( I paid $20 years ago) but there is shipping. Well after weeks of trying everything short of calling a plumber, I used the SwampBuster and it worked!! It funnels air like a jet and has different settings.

Here is a link to a Ebay Swamp Buster (Not me)

 

[tink2dw]

1. Diet Coke
2. Dawn Dish Liquid only
Wait 1/2 hour and flush
Clean pipes!!

This works on the worst clogs!! Saves $$$$$

 

[MELSMICE]

We were having the same problem. Called a plumber to come out and snake the line and he found that a roof had started to grow at the end of our sewer line. We need to cut out that whole section and redo it.

Good luck.

OMG - how does a roof start to grow in the sewer line?!!!!!!!???

BTW - I'm assuming you mean root!

 

[Mom2Ashli]

OMG - how does a roof start to grow in the sewer line?!!!!!!!???

BTW - I'm assuming you mean root!

I did mean root.

 

[twinklebug]

Home Remedies for Clogged Toilet?

Take down the wall paper... we're moving!

 

[PaMom001]

I had a clogged toilet a week and half ago. On a Friday night of course. Last Monday plumber came. Over $150.00.

 

[jennifer293]

My sister just went through this over this last past week. The toilet started to clog and she got it unclogged then everytime they would flush the toliet her shower would back up with sewage. Well they got that fixed then it started backing up in the washing machine. OK that is when they finally called the professionals. They came out and dug up the septic tank and took the lid off and my mom said that on the top was about 6 inches of grease and soap scum floating. She said they told them it was the worst they had ever seen. This house belongs to my parents and my sister lives there, but come to find out she was flushing pretty much everything in the toilet and running grease down the drain when she cooked. BIG NO NO!!!!!

They pumped it and it took 2 days to get it all out, but dad knew the guy so it was only like 100 bucks!!!

We do Rid X and enzyme treatments in our toilets and drains about every 3 months or so and so far so good!!!

 

[liveforthemagic]

OK. So after trying every thing you guys suggested, I am sitting on the edge of the tub, staring into this clogged and toilet and trying not to cry.

DD then decides to admit she has flushed an apple core. Why did she flush it? She couldn't find the trash can that normally sits next to the toilet--which she isn't supposed to put food in, anyway.

Worst fear realized and one grounded little girl later, DH removes the toilet, we snake it from behind, apple core gets jammed, and I have to stick my hand into the toilet and dig this rotten apple out with my finger nails! Makes sticking your hand in the business end of a turkey sound like a walk in the park.

Thanks to all for your suggestions--and here's to unclogged toilets everywhere!

 

[tink2dw]

OK I believe this the right time to tell this!!

The Dad has false teeth, leaves them in a glass by the bathroom sink every night. The Wife's sister and kids come to spend the weekend. In the night, teeth in glass, young nephew goes to the bathroom, sees the glass wants a drink of water, so he dumps the "old" water out into the toilet and flushes bye bye teeth.

Dad wakes up goes to get teeth Hmmmmmmm, No teeth, in the glass, not even water. They ask everyone and nephew fusses up that that he dumped the old water into the toilet and flushed!! Ohhh Horrors!! Wife is sickened, sister groans and goes home early, Kids stagger away under the cloud of doom.

Not to Worry says Dad and reaches down the toilet to get the teeth, but can't reach them. So, he calls a buddy to bring the snake and tools to remove a toilet.

They snake the commode to no luck. Now they have to pull up the toilet, and wallaaaaa the teeth can be seen, covered in what goes down toilets. Dad reaches in gets the teeth cleans off the paper and rinses them in hot water in sink.

This is where the faint of heart needed to make your decision!! Because here goes...............

Dad was going to pop the teeth back in his mouth, But his wife yelled NO YOU DON"T!! She found a sauce pan she wasn't fond of and set the water and teeth on to boil, and boil, and boil till SHE deemed they were germ free.

She gave them to Dad, he PoPed them in his mouth, and the She puked!

They got a snaked toilet, new wax ring, Saved money on buying expensive New teeth and Dad now puts glass of teeth on his bedside table.

What would you have done????