How To Fix A Choked Toilet Bowl? Sometimes a single toilet flush can bring you in trouble. The toilet bowl starts overflowing because of a clogged drain that you didn’t know of. A plunger would help you deal with business in seconds.
But what to do if you lack this essential plumber tool. Luckily, your house is full of items that are perfect weapons against drain clogs. Here are some ways you can bring your choked toilet bowl back to working order.
1. Try a hot shower
The first method to remove drain clog is using hot water. It sounds like a no-brainer but sometimes it proves incredibly efficient. All you have to do is to heat up some water, without letting it reach boiling temperature.
Then, pour the water in the suffering toilet bowl and wait for some minutes. You’ll understand that you have solved the problem when the water will start steadily to drain. Hot water may be enough to break up the source of the blockage.
However if the clog is still there, you will need to move to more powerful weapons.
2. Use dish soap
Sometimes hot water needs a chemical ally to win the war against nasty clogs. Take a simple dishwashing agent and squeeze it generously into the toilet bowl. You will need about 1/4 cup to make your efforts successful.
Allow 10 minutes for the dish soap to reach the clog. Follow up with hot water. Most of the time, soap will break up big accumulations of grease which are a hard nut to crack for hot water.
3. Go with baking soda
Baking soda is good not only at preparing delicious cakes, but also at declogging drains. Its fizzy reaction agitates the clog and forces it to break up and continue its way down the drain. Before using it, be sure to remove water from your overfilled toilet bowl.
Otherwise, the reaction will cause a flood in your bathroom. So once you have emptied the bowl, get down to the chemical part of the business. Pour a generous amount of baking soda and a similar amount of vinegar. Let the bubbling reaction take place.
After 30 minutes, pour some hot water down the drain. If the water drains, you’ve completed your mission. If water stays in the toilet bowl, you need to repeat the procedure. Sometimes, clog may be too big or too tough to break up after a single baking soda session.
So you better go the extra mile than giving up and putting the soda and vinegar back in the kitchen cabinet.
4. Use a handmade drain snake
If you don’t have a plunger or a plumber snake at hand, you should go creative. Craft a snake yourself using a wire coat hanger. All you have to do is to straighten up the hanger, leaving only the hook. Next, cover the sharp hook with a cloth to prevent it from damaging the pipe.
Now you are ready to begin the fight against the clog. Wear rubber gloves and send the hanger down the drain, going deeper until you find the blockage. As you identify the clog, push it until it gives up and goes away.
When you get rid of the clog, flush the toilet a couple of times for a total cleaning.
5. Create your own de-clogger
Special de-cloggers are also efficient at removing drain blockages. If you don’t have a store-bought one at hand, you can create a de-clogger yourself. Combine 2 cups baking soda and 1/4 cup Epson salt. Mix them while adding 10 tablespoons of dish soap at a time.
Then, let the mixture harden overnight, placing it in many muffin liners. The next day, throw one piece into the choked toilet bowl, adding 4 cups of hot water. Let it sit for 3-4 hours to get visible results.
How To Fix A Choked Toilet Bowl? – Conclusion
To sum up, there a myriad of ways you can unclog a toilet drain. Without a plunger at hand, you can use hot water, baking soda, or dish detergent. You can also combine them all – adding some Epson salt – to get a powerful homemade de-clogger.
To fight stubborn clogs, you can use a makeshift snake made of a coat hanger. No matter the efficiency of these methods though, you are always better off calling a professional plumber. He uses specialized tools that declog faster saving you time and energy that you can spend on other activities.