It’s an all too common scenario. You’re at someone else’s home and you go to use the toilet. But when you flush – instead of everything going down, it starts to come up!
You begin to panic just a bit – but you keep your wits about you and you start looking around for a plunger. Then the panic begins to rise as you realize, there is no plunger! Anyone would agree that this is a bit embarrasing.
So, what do you do? Well, believe it or not, you CAN unclog a toilet without a plunger. But, you will have to ask the homeowner for some dishsoap.
Disclaimer: This solution is only for soft tissue or light waste blockage. Doing this process wrong could overflow the toilet and cause water damage. Also note that some cleaners in contact with walls or flooring can cause discoloration or damage. This trick is not for hard plastic, vegetables, toys, qtips, sanitary wipes, tampons, cellphones, spring loaded toilet paper rollers, bowl cleaners , fresheners..among other things that don’t disintegrate when wet. Although we know that you may think to use a straightened out hanger to unclog the toilet we don’t recommend this technique, it will scratch off the porcelain glaze toilet finish. If the toilet clogs in a hotel, call maintenance and have them deal with it. The clog could be from the previous guest and you don’t want to be responsible for flooding multiple hotel suites. If you think the clog is more than a soft tissue blockage we strongly recommend that you consider calling a plumber first.
7 Easy Steps To Unclog Your Toilet If You Don’t Have A Plunger
- Place a towel around the base of your toilet
- Squeeze about 1 cup of dish liquid soap or liquid soap or shampoo into the toilet bowl
- If you don’t have a full cup use as much as you have available
- Also – epsom salt has been known to work as well
- Wait for the dish liquid to sink to the bottom of the toilet (it will begin to lubricate the area)
- Turn on the faucet in the sink or bathtub and let it run until the water is as hot as it can be
- Collect as much of that hot water as will fit in the toilet and pour it into the toilet bowl
- Wait about 20 minutes. You should see the water level in the toilet bowl at a low level
- Pour another bucket of very hot water into the toilet bowl and flush – you should get a very clean flush
If it looks as if the toilet is going to overflow – lift the lid from the toilet tank (the back of the toilet) and pull the float up – this will stop the flow and help you to avoid a larger mess.
Crisis averted!
Found the problem
“I called Atlantis Plumbing to find out why a basement toilet kept clogging. I had paid another plumber $275 to come “unclog” the toilet, but they did not “fix the problem.” Mike and his assistant came out the same day, and after some searching, found cement lodged in the pipe. They spent 4 hours that same day breaking up cement floor, removing and replacing pipe, and pouring new cement. I did not get other quotes for repair – after all the grief I’d gone through dealing with a clogged toilet, I was happy they could fix the problem. I will definitely call them again when I need a plumber.”
Call Atlantis Plumbing at 770-505-8570 to help you with any plumbing issues you (or your friend) may have.