The toilet is clogged - what to do at home and how to clean it? A clogged toilet is like a natural disaster - it occurs suddenly, requires immediate action and turns the life of the household into a real nightmare. The vast majority of people immediately begin frantically digging through the phone book in search of the coveted telephone number of the ZhEK emergency service. But hopes for brave and fast plumbers begin to melt over time - utilities are not very in a hurry to help. In this regard, one has to think about independent measures to eliminate the blockage and resume the usual way of life, without going to the neighbors “out of need”.
First you need to figure out why there was such a blockage that could block the normal passage of sewage through the pipes and what to expect from this situation.
Why blockages occur
- The most common cause is clogging the toilet with too much toilet paper and feminine hygiene products, or getting completely unexpected objects into it: rags, toys, etc.
- Wrongly installed toilet. During installation, a certain angle of inclination of the toilet bowl to the riser must be maintained, as well as the optimal distance from the riser to the toilet.
- Lack or valves that equalize the pressure in the pipe when draining.
- Poor toilet design. It even happens, because now handicraft industries are a dime a dozen. Non-professionals may not know the ins and outs of making a properly functioning toilet.
The most common ways to clean the toilet
Hot water
If there are no special tools at home, the toilet is clogged - you don’t know what to do, you can try the option with hot water. You will need to bring about a bucket of water to a boil and immediately pour it into the toilet. It must be poured strictly at a right angle and quickly to build up pressure. If you see that the water is gradually starting to leave, you can add another bucket of water to enhance the effect. Small blockages are very well cleaned using this method.
Cleaning the toilet with hot water is the easiest way to deal with blockages. Important: Even with such fairly simple manipulations, extreme care should be taken so as not to burn yourself.
Soda
Every housewife has soda and she helps us out in many situations. It will come in handy here too. You just need to pour half a standard pack directly into the toilet. Gradually, the blockage will dissolve under the influence of alkali.
Cleaning with chemicals
People have long been accustomed to using ready-made solutions in all areas of their lives, and manufacturers are successfully using this. Household chemical stores offer a fairly wide selection of specialized tools for cleaning pipes and toilets. They are presented in the form of liquids, gels, powders and granules. There may be disposable packages and large containers designed for several times. These tools perfectly cope with the problem, performing a number of other functions:
- Disinfect the cleaned plumbing.
- Eliminate unpleasant odors from sewer pipes.
- Keep pipes clean.
- They have a preventive effect.
The most common brands:
- Tiret.
- Mole.
- Domestos.
- Tofix.
- Domol.
- Mister Muscle.
Important: When using chemicals, you must strictly follow all the rules specified in the instructions so as not to inadvertently burn and damage the plumbing. Rubber gloves are a must.
People who are closely familiar with chemistry as a science know how to clean the toilet bowl at home using various acids: acetic, hydrochloric, formic or sulfuric. However, such aggressive solutions can damage old pipes in the house.
Mechanical cleaning methods
How to clean a clogged toilet without using chemicals? For this, mechanical cleaning methods are suitable, which imply the presence of certain devices.
plunger
This device is recommended for everyone who has a toilet. Its design is simple: a rubber hemisphere is fixed on a wooden or plastic handle. With simple and shallow blockages, the plunger copes with a bang. It happens like this:
- The toilet should be filled with a little water so that it covers the rubber cup of the plunger.
- The plunger is positioned so that the hemisphere completely covers the drain hole.
- With a confident and strong movement, the plunger is pressed inward and returns to its original position.
- These movements should be performed until the result is achieved.
The plunger seems to suck out parts of the blockage from the bowels of the toilet until it is completely removed.
Corrugation cleaning
If the toilet is attached to the riser using a corrugated pipe, then the question of what to do and how to eliminate the blockage in the toilet can be solved by simply cleaning it. The pipe can be easily removed and, if there is a kind of plug in it, remove debris. After cleaning, the corrugated pipe is put in place.
Rubber hose
It works like this:
- One end of the hose is attached to a hot water faucet.
- The other end goes down into the toilet as low as possible.
- Hot water comes out with strong pressure.
This method is also good in combination with chemical cleaning.
Plastic bottle
When a blockage suddenly appears in the toilet - not everyone knows what to do and how to eliminate it, especially if you do not have the necessary experience. If special devices are not stocked on the farm, you can use the recommendation of craftsmen. Take an ordinary plastic bottle with a volume of 1.5-2 liters. Cut off the bottom, and twist the neck well. Insert the bottle into the drain hole with the cut down and follow the same movements as when working with a plunger.
Plumbing cable
Such a device is a rare guest in ordinary apartments, because it is considered a professional tool for plumbers. But if one, fortunately, is still present, then a sharp nozzle or a piece of thick wire (if necessary) must be fixed to one end of it. This design is immersed in the toilet until it stops and the handle is turned clockwise. The cable can even reach a very distant blockage, after which it is recommended to clean the system with one of the special tools or use hot water for this.
When to Call a Plumber
If you know perfectly well how to eliminate the blockage in the toilet on your own, but all the methods have already been tested, and the result has not been achieved, then you still have to wait for the plumber.
There is a situation in which a plumber needs to be called immediately. It is when water in the toilet continues to rise despite attempts to clear the blockage. So the riser is clogged below the level of your floor. When the upstairs neighbors continue to drain the water, the sewer will overflow the edges of the toilet bowl and end up in your apartment. Only specialists can solve such a problem, they know how to clear a blockage in the toilet bowl and riser.
The standards for water pressure in the water supply are given in the material.
An overview of water filters can be found at this address. Nowadays, they are becoming more and more necessary.
Prevention and Precautions
Having figured out what to do if the toilet is clogged at home, you need to say what rules when handling plumbing should be followed in order to prevent unpleasant situations with a clogged toilet.
- Never throw foreign objects into the toilet. If by chance you or a child dropped something there, you should try to remove the item immediately.
- Do not throw food leftovers into the toilet, even liquid ones. Fats from food gradually accumulate on the inner bend of the toilet bowl and at one “perfect” moment can form a tight plug.
- Children should be taught from infancy how to use the toilet and not allow them to throw toys down the toilet.
- If the toilet is being renovated, it is advisable to carefully cover the toilet so that the remains of construction debris do not get into it.
- To prevent blockages, you can periodically use tools specially designed for this. They will keep the pipes clean. When working, you must strictly follow the manufacturer's instructions.
- Old, rusty pipes will be a constant cause of blockages, because debris accumulates faster on their loose inner surface. To protect your apartment from a sudden outpouring of sewage, you need to change the pipes to newer polymer ones.
Those people who have already experienced the horrors of a clogged toilet once, as a rule, take precautions more seriously and use the toilet strictly for its intended purpose.
