Blocked Toilet - Help Please!

[wintersdreams]

Lovely topic for a Sunday evening but in need of some mumsnet wisdom!

I have had guests over this evening, one of which has managed to block my toilet- they noticed that the toilet cleaner block thingy that sits on the toilet rim had fallen into the toilet and rather than
a) fish it out
b) ask for help
They ever so kindly decided on option c) flush toilet FIVE times and hope it would go away. Queue a now very blocked and very overflowing toilet. I’ve tried unblocking with my hands but can’t even feel it and also tried the plunger to see if it would dislodge it a bit however I think it’s rather stuck in there.

Trying to avoid an expensive plumber call out! Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated

Let it go down and use the plunger again when the water level has gone down.

Or you'll need to scoop water if it doesn't.

I stopped using those blocks after this happened.

Also have a stern work with relative.

Wire coat hanger to have a fish around?

Mop worked with ours, wait till water level drops or scoop and then use like a plunger. Works every time

Thanks all, I’ll persevere with the plunger and hope for the best. No wire coat hangers unfortunately- just plastic ones.

Said guest has left and won’t be getting another invite in a hurry!

This happened to me a few months ago, I had to get a plumber out to take the loo off the wall. I tried all the tricks here and it just ended up further down 🤦‍♀️ hope you have more luck than me!

Ah no, was it an expensive job @thehillswerebright ?

It will dissolve, eventually, won't it? Pour a kettle of boiling water in (once you've lowered the water level a bit) to speed it along?

Pouring boiling water on it whilst not much water it could crack it !
Also if plastic you want it out out not pushed down where toilet paper will clog it up in no time.

Sorry, should have said- it’s one of the blocks which have a plastic casing that hooks onto the toilet rim.

I thought using the plunger might have dislodged it so it would fall back to a place I could grab it which has unfortunately not been the case. I don’t know how far back it’ll have been pushed with initially getting flushed five times.

Currently sitting on the bathroom floor with a gin pondering my next move- does life get anymore glamourous than this?!

Maybe. Leave it until the morning and hope it floats back up it’s a shame, because I have some EXCELLENT poo/toilet roll dislodging methods. Nothing for plastic though

@wintersdreams we are in a council house so luckily the council Plumber came. If you are handy though you could take the toilet off at the back yourself, just make sure you have something down for the water coming out.

There’s something with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda that makes it all fizzy, that might fizz it out. Alternatively do you have anything that eats through plastic?

@thehillswerebright I’m the most unhandy person you’ll ever meet. I think if I tried that my bathroom would end up more a disaster than it already is ha

@TheGirlWhoLived I appreciate your optimism! What’s the chances of vinegar and bicarbonate of soda suddenly being able to dissolve plastic overnight?! 🙏

This definitely works, have done this many times.

Squirt a load of washing up liquid into bowl. Pour hot water. Leave 15-20 mins and flush.

It's a miracle cure!

You need a deep cup plunger.
Like what plumbers use.

My toilet would not unblock for a week.
I tried EVERYTHING and the deep plunger was the only thing that finally released the blockage.

I had this.

I poured buckets of water down, filled it up to the rim, plunged it for several tries, flush, more buckets of water, plunge always when water was up to the rim, flush, repeat, flush repeat.
Think the force of the water and the constant plunging finally managed to dislodge it and it eventually bobbed back up into the toilet bowl.

I'm just flabbergasted that someone thought it was a good idea to flush one of those plastic cages down the loo.

If you haven't already, put long rubber gloves on and see if you can pull it out.

Knitting needle?

Try and use something with a hook on the end which will grab the slots on the cage. Even a screwdriver might work.

I keep a wire hangar in the garden for things like this....very useful....gloves and hand should find it....

Tried trying to locate it by hand but its In deeper than I can reach unfortunately. I’ve plunged it LOADS and it’s now draining by itself which I’m not sure if that’s progress or if it’s just lulling me into a false sense of security.

I know it’s in there somewhere so I’m going to go to the shops tomorrow and try and find a wire hanger/better plunger/anything else to try and locate the flipping thing.

Have to say, won’t be purchasing those cleaning rim blocks again. It’s turning into the worst 20p I’ve ever spent

I would try a neighbour to see if they had a wire coat hanger. Someone near you must have one. That is best thing to use as you can bend it to go around bend and leave hook bit to hook out plastic thing.

@TheGirlWhoLived

There’s something with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda that makes it all fizzy, that might fizz it out. Alternatively do you have anything that eats through plastic?

@TheGirlWhoLivedthegirlwholived. Are you for real? Have you anything that eats through plastic. Such a product would make the developer millions. It would clean up the seas. It would consume all our plastic waste. It would deal with the millions of tonnes of stuff that goes to landfill

Wire hangers won't reach very far, what you really want is a plumbing snake thingy like this one: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09FKJK3H1/ref=sspa_mw_detail_6?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8. (Sorry this particular item seems unavailable but just to give you the idea).

Putting a carrier bag on a mop makes a fantastic plunger. Got this trick off YouTube once