How to quickly and effectively clear a clogged toilet?

The problem of clearing a clogged toilet drain periodically arises for any resident of an apartment or house. Therefore, the question of how to unclog a toilet is practical information that will allow you to get rid of the blockage yourself. There are several tools and products that can be used to clear a clogged drain:

plunger;
acid;
alkali;
improvised means;
industrial products;
cable;
other tools.

We use what we have at home

You can clear a clogged toilet yourself using the products that are available in every household - vinegar, vinegar essence, baking soda or caustic soda. It should be said right away that vinegar and soda can only remove minor contamination or help soften the waste plug for its subsequent mechanical cleaning with a plunger or plumbing cable.

Mode of application:

pour 150 grams of baking soda into the toilet (about 5 tablespoons);
pour in 1 liter of 9% vinegar or 130 ml of essence;
wait for the reaction to pass;
pour in a large amount of boiling water.

If after this the water leaves in full, then nothing else needs to be done. If the water stagnates and does not drain well, you need to use a plunger or a special cable to break through the blockage.

Advice

If you clean the toilet with vinegar and soda from time to time as a preventive measure, then dirt will not accumulate in the drain system and you will not have to use strong chemicals or call a technician.

Caustic (caustic soda, caustic soda) – strong alkali. It more effectively fights sediment in the sewer system.

How to clear a clogged toilet using caustic soda?

Prepare the solution in a large non-aluminum container: cold water - 5 liters, caustic soda - 2 kg.
Pour it into the toilet.
Wait from 5 minutes to several hours. The time depends on the severity of the blockage and the location of the blockage. It will dissolve faster in the siphon, but it needs to be given more time to clog in the pipes.
Fill in a large volume (up to 10 l) of hot water.

Before making a solution with caustic soda, you need to take precautions - wear work clothes that cover the surface of the body as much as possible, and rubber gloves.

How to clean a toilet with a plunger?

The most common method to clear a toilet drain yourself is to pump it with a plunger. Both a regular and a pneumatic plunger are suitable for this. The difference is in their application - the pneumatic one creates a hydraulic shock of greater force, so it copes with pushing the mud plug faster.

If the toilet is clogged, it must be cleaned in the sequence described below.

Check for visible debris, and if there is any, remove it.
Install a plunger over the drain. Make sure that the rubber edges fit most tightly to the drain neck, blocking the access of air.
Press the handle of a mechanical plunger or the piston of a pneumatic plunger several times.
Pull out the plunger sharply.
Do this procedure several times (when using a mechanical model).

If several procedures do not help, the water in the toilet does not flow well, which means that a serious blockage has accumulated in the pipe. Perhaps a foreign object got there, or the accumulated fine dirt was compressed and firmly stuck to the walls.In this case, you need to move on to more radical measures - the use of strong chemicals or a plumbing cable. You can combine these two methods and supplement chemical cleaning with mechanical cleaning.

Chemicals

There are toilet cleaners available in different price ranges. The most expensive composition is not always the most effective.

Let's consider what products are presented on the Russian market.

“Mole” is one of the products in the budget segment. Despite the low price, it removes clogs in the toilet well. It contains caustic soda, but its effect is enhanced by surfactants and other additives. Available in powder and gel form. Dissolves grease and biosolids, including hair and fish scales, caught in the drain system. Does not destroy plastic, cast iron and steel pipes.
Vortex Draft is a more expensive option and comes in liquid form. The main active ingredients are caustic soda, active chlorine (labarrack water), surfactants. It has the same effect on blockages as “Mole”. Safe for all types of pipes.
Tiret has a similar effect and composition to Vortex Draft.

Advice

To clean plastic sewer pipes, give preference to liquid or gel. Undissolved powder particles can get stuck in joints and corrode rubber seals, and the liquid leaves when washed with water without staying in one place.

How to break through a blockage with a cable?

A plumbing cable is a twisted spring made of several layers of steel wire, equipped with a Z-shaped handle. Each layer is wound in the direction opposite to the previous one, which allows you to transmit torsion and provide the necessary flexibility.The maximum length of such an instrument can be 100 meters. For domestic needs - to break through a blockage at home - buy a cable with a length of 2.5 to 5 meters.

How to unclog a toilet with a cable?

The end of the cable is lowered into the toilet and pushed until it stops.
The handle is turned in one direction until the cable is rotated to go through the bend. When rotating the handle, hold the cable with your second hand.
After the cable hits the plug of dirt, you need to continue turning the handle.
If you have any doubts about what the end of the cable rests on - another bend in the pipe or a blockage, you need to remove it by turning the handle in the direction opposite to the original one. If there are lumps of debris at the end of the steel wire, you need to remove them and repeat the procedure.
If you feel that the plug has moved, you should not stop, you need to move on, pushing the plug into the wide drain pipe.

Advice

To clean drains with plastic parts, plugs are put on the ends of the cable so that it does not damage the pipes. If this is not done, cleaning the sewer yourself may end badly - you will have to change part of the drain system.

Which method is better to use?

What to do if the toilet is clogged: use chemicals or mechanical cleaning methods? The answer to this question depends on why the water does not drain or drains poorly. If a foreign object gets into the toilet, it can be pushed with a cable or a plunger further into a wide sewer pipe (septic tank). If a plug has formed from hair, grease and waste or deposits on the walls of the pipe, then removing it yourself using chemicals will be effective.You can combine cleaning using special means and a cable - then the result will be clean drain walls, to which small debris will not cling.

There are also contaminants that cannot be removed using the above means. For example, if during repairs the remains of various plaster and putty solutions were poured into the toilet, then no chemical will cope with them. Theoretically, it exists, but in practice, what dissolves such garbage will also corrode the pipes themselves. Be careful not to allow foreign objects or mixtures with insoluble residue to get into the toilet, do not forget about preventative cleaning of the drain, then you will not have to clean a clogged toilet in emergency mode, when the water does not drain at all.