How to unclog a toilet

1. Draining problems

Oftentimes, the problem with toilets that don't want to drain can be traced to either too much toilet paper being used or, in rare cases, poor design of a toilet bowl. Toilet bowls are configured with a drain pathway called a colon. The convoluted pathway inside a toilet bowl resembles a curvy road rally course with one or more hairpin turns. This pathway inside the toilet bowl helps create the water seal that keeps sewer gas and vermin from entering your bathroom.

2. First stage

The diameter of this colon is usually over 2 inches, and it connects to a 3-inch drainpipe in the floor. In some houses, the drain line may even be a 4-inch pipe. If waste and paper can make it through the colon in the toilet, it can easily be accommodated in the larger drainpipe in the floor. This is why a clogged drain line is seldom the problem.

3. Test for a clog

To test to see if your drain line or colon is clogged or partially clogged, first make sure the toilet is flushing normally. If you see the water swirl around the bowl and disappear with that classic slurping noise, you're ready to begin the test. Fill a 5-gallon bucket with water and pour it into the toilet bowl as fast as you can. If the toilet bowl does not overflow, this means that the toilet colon and the drain line are wide open. If the water from the bucket drains rapidly, you could still have a design problem with the toilet. Some discount toilets have a very tight turn at the end of the colon where it connects to the drainpipes at the floor. Solid waste and toilet paper can have a tough time passing through this very tight turn. High-quality name-brand toilets don't have this design flaw.

4. Take it easy

You can damage a toilet if you use the wrong tools while fixing a clogged toilet. Only use a plunger and a bucket of water. The clogged drain snakes made from flexible metal can scratch the polished china surface of your toilet if you get too aggressive.

5. Water's role

Water alone can often fix a clogged toilet without a plunger. You may have noticed in the past that when a toilet clogs, the toilet bowl fills with water from the tank but doesn't overflow. But when you come back minutes later to look at it, the water level in the bowl has mysteriously fallen. This happens because water from the bowl is seeping by the clog. If you wait for the water level in the toilet bowl to drop on its own and then pour a bucket of clear water into the toilet as fast as you can, making sure it doesn't splash out or overflow the rim of the bowl, you'll be shocked to discover most clogs are dislodged by this rush of water.

6. Before plunging . . .

Be sure the toilet bowl has more water in it than the normal level of water when using the plunger. The weight of the water, in addition to the plunger action, is what helps to clear the clog. You don't want to use a plunger when the water in the toilet bowl is almost overflowing the bowl's rim. You'll have a mess. Remember that water is heavy, and its weight alone can persuade a mass of toilet paper and solid waste to pass through the toilet colon.

7. Another possibility

Mineral deposits that collect around the siphon jet hole in the bottom of the toilet bowl can also cause the problem. The water from the toilet tank needs to enter the toilet bowl rapidly to force waste through the toilet into the drainpipe. A partially clogged siphon jet hole or a flapper valve that's closing too rapidly, not allowing all the water from the tank to enter the bowl, can make you think the toilet is clogged when it's not. The bucket-of-water test can clear clogs caused by this. If the siphon jet hole is partially clogged, muriatic acid will often dissolve the deposits.