Unblocking a toilet - your tips and advice please

[TwitterQueen1]

Downstairs loo, draining very very slowly and not flushing away tissue. I've tried caustic soda a couple of times. I guess I'm going to have to get my hand in there aren't I? I've tried a bent coat hanger but it's not done anything. Upstairs loo is fine.

TIA

You could try posting in the property section.
But yes - use a small cup to get any liquid out that you can wearing long rubber gloves then see what you can remove.

Ok so big squirt of fairy liquid followed by 3 or 4 large jugs of hot (not boiling) water. Let it sit for 20 mins and then flush. Usually clears ours. Can repeat again if necessary.

m.wikihow.com/Unclog-a-Toilet
Wet dry vacuum is a clever idea I hadn't thought of but I think I'm too dramatic to consider ever using it again if I used it to unblock a toilet

Also the last time our downstairs loo drained slowly it was actually a blockage outside in the drains - so do lift the thing outside and check.

Another vote for lifting manhole covers - use food colouring in the loo/sink to track water flow, it helps if there is two, one to flush and the other to watch unless you can flush and run really fast.

A mop or plunger to get it moving

Wait until it's drained away.

Fill a bucket up with water, take to toilet and lift up as high as you can. Flush chain and DUMP the water in at the same time.

If it fills up repeat the above.

If it doesn't clear a second time then get the marigolds out.

Plunger
Always works

Rigorous plunging.

Put a plastic bag over a mop and use as a plunger ;) works brilliantly

use a plunger. Or pour loads and loads of boiling hot water in the bowl

Bucket of warm water, pour in from a height quickly (I usually stand on a chair)

Put quite a bit of washing up liquid down and leave for a few minutes, then get some boiling water and pour it down quickly but carefully. It cleared mine instantly.

What Gizlotsmum said!
It really works! Just have a bin bag ready to dispose of the plastic bags.
Think I saw it on wikihow or something like that.
Get it as far up the pipe as you can, create a seal and keep plunging till it starts sucking on the mop.

What always works for me is cutting the bobble bits off the base of an empty 2 litre soda type bottle (17p water if nothing else!) - you have to empty out and it is easier to take the lid off to cut off the base but then put the lid back on.

Then holding it by the lid plunge it down the loo, the air in the bottle forces the blockage to move. It has never failed even when my toddlers decided to put half a forest down there at once (okay slight exaggeration but you get the picture!)

pour loads and loads of boiling hot water in the bowl

Really, really don't. Not boiling water. That's an excellent way of cracking your loo.

I googled it once and they recommended the cup of washing up liquid, or more, leaving 20 mins and then pouring down hot water. Worked for me.

For Christ sakes don't pour boiling water down your toilet. A bit of common sense here.

Cover the top of the toilet in cling film, use several lengths to ensure a good seal, flush the toilet & the cling film will swell, press the centre of it down several times, the air pressure will force the blockage through the drain. If you are having regular problems, put some biological washing powder & hot water down last thing at night, this should dissolve any build up in the pipe.

A good old trusty plunger never disappoints

Somehow DS1 manages to block our loo at least weekly! I manage to resolve it 95% of the time by tipping a bucket full of water down at the same time as flushing it (from a height like a step if possible). The force and volume of the extra water will push everything round the u bend nicely.

On the rare occasion this fails, I have had to employ the mop technique. I wrap the end of a mop very securely inside a black bin bag, and then use this to shove the blockage down. Remove mop from loo and place the bin bag straight into another bin bag and dispose of it. This can be a bit grim, but hasn't failed me yet - unlike the expensive unblocking liquids and caustic soda stuff that not only failed to work but made me worry my loo would explode nor dissolve during use The bonus of the mop/bag method is that you don't have to touch anything grim or stick your hand down there at all.

Fill a plastic bag with paper, put it over a mop head and push into then pull it out. It should create a vacuum and clear what ever is blocking it.

I’ve had repeat successes with the washing liquid and very hot water combo. Pour water in slowly. Leave for 20 mins then pour in v hot water from a height and quickly. Then flush.

Toilet brush and pump it. Probably same as a plunger. Or a mop.

Thank you everyone. I emptied the water into a bucket and there was a lot of gurgling and air bubbles and it seems to be clear now. I stuck my hand down and couldn't feel anything - but there's a ridge just before the u bend so I can't get my hand in very far. The water is clear too. I wonder if the stuff I've been putting down it over the past few days has worked.

I was going to check the main drain and lift the manhole too, but I don't think I need to do that now.

Thanks again