How to Fix a Clogged Toilet On Your Own

We often underappreciate A properly working toilet until the plumbing starts grumbling, the water stops draining properly and, quite possibly, the bowl overflows.

Stick around to find out how to fix a clogged toilet if you lack the plumbing gear or don’t want to call a plumber immediately.

Pour in Some Hot Water

Starting with the simplest plumbing fix for any soon-to-be plumber, you can unclog your toilet with hot water. Hot water can help dissolve the clog and is a very cheap and efficient way to try performing a plumbing repair job.

Use this method only if the water level in your toilet is low enough to pour in hot water and then flush it again without overflowing.

Arm yourself with a bucket to fill about a gallon of hot water. Use an electric jug for a few rounds of hot water. That, or you could simply use very hot water from your water heater to fill the bucket.

Ensure the water is not boiling or near boiling because it could crack a porcelain toilet.

Once you have enough hot water, you should fill the bucket and go back to the clogged unit.

Standing in front of it, start pouring the hot water from the waist level down into the bowl. The force from the drop combined with the hot water should be sufficient to unclog the plumbing, but just in case, you could flush the toilet too.

Use Dish Soap to Unclog the Toilet

Now If the hot water was not enough to remove the clog from your toilet plumbing, you should consider using dish soap, too.

As a mild detergent, dish soap is a great solution for breaking down grease and food off your kitchenware, but it could also do the same for whatever is causing your toilet plumbing troubles.

Additionally, it can serve as lubrication to help the clog move along the plumbing. You could cut a hand soap bar or shampoo as an alternative to dish soap.

Grab a standard cup and fill up about half of it with soap. You should add a bit more hot water to the toilet and pour the soap inside. Give it a dozen minutes for the soap to do its plumbing magic and soften the clog.

Once the time is up, pour some more hot water and flush your toilet; that should take care of most toilet plumbing clogs.

Try a Baking Soda and Vinegar Mixture

If the clog still persists, soda and vinegar can help you with your plumbing repair solution even better.

Sodium bicarbonate and vinegar are a great combo for dissolving persistent clogs and stains. This mixture is harsher than dish soap and is used as a home remedy for many carpet and curtain stains and removes persistent stains from other surfaces.

Remember to use a baking soda and vinegar mixture only when your toilet bowl is not filled to the brim. The mixture will create a reaction that will bubble up and possibly overflow your toilet.

To use this method properly, you should first add some more hot water to the toilet bowl. Then pour a cup’s worth of baking soda into your toilet and give it a few minutes to mix with the water.

Once the time passes, you should add 2-3 cups of vinegar. Leave the mixture to sit in your toiled for about half an hour. After 30-40 minutes, pour in more hot water and flush your toilet.

Use the Toilet Brush

If the clog still does not go away, you should try to reach the clog using the toilet brush.

This is hardly ideal, but if you have no other plumbing tools and want to try another DIY method before calling a licensed plumbing company to do it safely and quickly for you, the brush will have to suffice.

To use the toilet brush, you should wrap a plastic bag around its bristles. Use tape, a rubber band or something else to tie and secure the bag above the bristles into place. Plunge back and forth with the brush multiple times and flush the toilet.

Persist plunging with the toilet brush until the clog is gone.

Squirt Gun Toilet Drainer

The previous solutions might be tough to pull off if your toilet is filled to the brim. Draining a bit of water to use them without overflowing the bathroom or to get a better view of what is causing the clogged plumbing could be useful.

Using a plastic cup, sponge, and bucket could be a pretty slow-draining method. Instead, you can use any old squirt guns you have lying around.

To use your old squirt gun as a toilet drainer, you should use one that can draw water into its barrel. Empty the squirt gun of its previous contents, if any. Point and submerge its front end into the toilet. Draw out water into the barrel and then shoot it into a bucket or a nearby sink.

If the clog is not too deep, you could fill the squirt gun with hot water or another solution and squirt it directly at the clog.

DIY Wire Hanger Drain Snake

When it comes to extremely persistent deep clogs in your toilet plumbing system, you might have to resort to using a drain snake, as certified plumbers do… or make yourself one.

Pay a visit to your closet, grab a wire hanger and straighten it out, all except the hook. Attach a rag on the other end of the hanger, which will help you preserve the porcelain in your toilet as you push. Tape or tie it into place.

Hold the hook of the wire hanger on your end while pushing down and guiding the “ragged” end of it into the plumbing. Push into the clog until it has broken down or moved down the pipes.

Plastic Bottle to Create Water Pressure

As a final resort, before calling professional plumbers, you can use a two-litre plastic bottle to dislodge the clog. In advance, you will have to take out some water pooling in your toilet. Make sure to wear protective gloves and a mask if you have to because of possible splashes.

In order to remove the clog with a plastic bottle, you’ll have to fill a bottle with hot water almost to the brim. Put your finger on the bottle cap while lightly squeezing the bottle with the other hand.

With the bottle cap first, put the water bottle close to the clogged plumbing of the toilet. Unscrew the cap with one hand and squeeze with the other. The added pressure and the stream of hot water should remove the clog.

Conclusion

These are some easy DIY plumbing fixes whenever you wonder how to fix a clogged toilet without plumber gear. If your toilet is still clogged, consider calling a plumber since you might have a more complicated clogging issue.