What can I use to unstop a toilet?

Question

I believe one of those metal holders went down accidentally, and now it is sluggish. I bought an auger, but it wasn't long enough. I've tried a number of liquids and powders and nothing is working. HELP!!!

Pea7643229 · Answer

Buy a toilet plunger @ hardware store or any  big  box store.

Sherrie · Answer

Turn off the water and unscrew the toilet.  And lift it off.   You will need a new wax ring.  Sometimes no matter what you so the only way to unplug it is to take it apart and pull it out.  And clean it up and use a over sized wax ring and re install it.

Cindy Hagemann · Answer

Call a plumber and get them to snake the toilet. It does not cost very much and it is worth it to get it done correctly.

Donna · Answer

If you have a toilet that the back/bottom is shaped similar to the one in the picture, you may not be able to remove the culprit.  We had a sluggish toilet and I tried everything under the sun to fix it, to no avail.  We replaced the toilet, and just to cure my curiosity, I broke the curvy portion to see what was in there, and sure enough the item that was dropped in the toilet was wedged so that there wasn't any way possible to remove it.  You could plunge and the water would go out around the item for 1 or 2 flushes but if any toilet tissue was put in, it was back to plunging.  The new toilet works wonderfully.

Judy Taylor · Answer

Pore a cup or two of de-greaser (a lot of dish soaps are de-greasers), let stand 2-3 hrs, pore hot water & flush.

Becky9085 · Answer

Dawn dishsoap is a natural declogger

Sei11530553 · Answer

Call a plumber before it gets any further down

Pmi5896870 · Answer

The toilet paper holder is lodged in the toilet. The toilet will likely have to be pulled and the toilet replaced if they can not dislodge it.

Robert Stewart · Answer

This is not a DIY project unless you are comfortable with pulling a toilet. Dish soap will not dislodge this.

Dotti Boake · Answer

Dawn

Fal7520425 · Answer

It's not as difficult to remove the toilet as you may think. You can find full instructions on YouTube. Anything solid like that is not going to go down the drain.  If it did, you would end up with a lot worse problem than you have now.

Johnchip · Answer

Falls is right. If it went further than the bowl/unit itself, you would have clogged up and be overflowing.  Take the toilet off floor and you will find it is clogged in the unit itself. had the same problem last year with a shampoo cap. DIY will cost $10 for new wax ring, plumber likely $100-$150 for half hour job.

Gag10829421 · Answer

Try a vacuum shop vac! You never know you may get lucky

Teresa · Answer

there are times when it is wise to Call A Plumber

Sheila Kelley McIntyre · Answer

TOILET SNAKE CAN BE BOUGHT FOR A REASONABLE PRICE IN ANY HARDWARE STORE..I KNOW FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE LOL

NancyMaria · Answer

Agree with Falls and Sherrie, and from my experience just remove the toilet if you are physically able.  It is easy.  My nephew, unknown by me, flushed a hair pick down the loo and the flush was slow and sometimes backed up.  Chemicals didn't work, a snake would not pass so we removed and turned the whole thing upside down outside and found the comb wedged at the lowest turn.  A snake would never have worked.
I have since replaced many toilets and it is a breeze...JUST DO IT.  Now I do all the plumbing and my hubby is in charge of electrical stuff.

Judy McCarthy · Answer

we had this problem with a child's plastic bracelet. Flushing was slow and plunging when stopped up wouldn't fix the problem. I had one of those plastic mini snakes designed to get hair clogs out of the bathtub drain and figured what could it hurt? It took some perseverance. I was glad I'd cleaned the toilet throughly before sticking my hand that far down but it hooked it out.  I'm glad I didn't call the plumber first.

Anniemj2006 · Answer

Thanks Theresa,  That's just what I did.

What can I use to unstop a toilet?

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What can I use to unstop a toilet?

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