A clogged toilet is an irritating problem to have especially if you’re not the one who causes the problem but you’re the one left to solve it. Nothing can grate on a person’s nerve more than using a toilet then finding out it’s clogged. But these things do happen. There are many factors that contribute to a clogged toilet, but whatever it is, fixing it is not a very pleasant experience. But if faced with this problem here’s how you deal with it.
First and foremost, you should look at the toilet before you use it. If you notice that the toilet bowl has way too much water then it could be a sign that the toilet is clogged. Flushing it at this point may just result in the bowl overflowing, which is a separate, messy and stinky headache in and of itself. If you see the toilet bowl in this condition definitely don’t use it. You can use a plunger to remove the blockage.
After you use the toilet, check out how the water flows when you flush. How the water flushes can tell you a lot about the state of the toilet. A strong and forceful flush means there’s no clog in the toilet. If the water slowly dissipates then you know that there is some blockage there. If all the solid waste goes down the chute and water dissipates eventually until it gargles, then it’s a blockage that you could probably fix itself over time – maybe with a few more flushes. But if the water doesn’t seem like it is dissipating then you will definitely need to use a plunger to remove the clog. This could get messy so get a bucket and a cup to remove the excess water. Don’t forget to bring rags well to sop up any water that may spill or splash on to the bathroom floor.
The best plunger to use are those that have an tapered inner lip because it creates a better seal for suction. Using a plunger can get messy if there is a lot of water in the toilet bowl. You can remove the excess water with the cup. But leave enough water to cover the plunger so that you can create a better seal.
Using a plunger is easy. Just place the plunger on to the toilet bowl hole, make sure that it is placed in such a way that it creates a seal then push firmly so that the plunger goes down towards the toilet hole. Do this repeatedly in an up and down motion, until you notice that the water is starting to flow down to the hole. Remove the plunger and you’ve fixed the problem. Flush to make sure that you’ve totally unclogged the toilet.
Photo from home.howstuffworks.com