Do you have any ideas on how to unclog a toilet without calling a plumber?
Jes from Calhoun City, MS
First, you could try pouring a bucket or two of water in the toilet to see if that will dislodge the blockage. Second, try a plunger to unclog the blockage. Every home should have one.
Third, rent what is called a snake. That is a wire that is fed into the toilet.
Fourth, if none of those work then take out the toilet and clean out the discharge pipe and the toilet. If you call a plumber, he will do steps 2 through 4 in that order.
By Harry
You are all my heroes - this worked like a charm, and saved me (a new, single homeowner) the expense (and embarrassment) of having to call a plumber! Thanks! (10/21/2008)
By Lindsay
Even though you have to do it a few times (plunge, pour, wait, repeat), it totally works! I have been trying to unclog my toilet all day and it finally worked after I tried the soap/hot water solution. You have to have a bit of patience, but stick with it, this will definitely help. Thank you so much for whoever came up with this! (10/23/2008)
By Unclogged At last
Thanks, a bucket of hot water and dish washing soap worked for the toilet clog.
(10/25/2008)
By Ontario guy.
Okay, so I am a college student living in a college apartment. I have my own room and bathroom. Yesterday there was this sweet little homeless kitty begging outside my door for food. I took it in because I felt so sorry for it (even though we have a strict no animal policy) so instead of taking the poop out to the garbage I flushed it down the toilet...yeah stupid idea but I was desperately trying to hide my kitty.
Toilet clogged. It would sort of flush but really slowly and just the water. So I went to the store bought the most promising and most expensive liquid plumber stuff, didn't make a difference. I plunged and plunged until I couldn't anymore.
Desperately trying to find something to free my toilet (while I am dying to use it I might add), I looked here. Soap worked miracles, saved my kitty (who now has a new loving home), and saved my butt from the managers. Phew! Good old dish soap is amazing!
(10/31/2008)By Katie
Dish soap worked perfectly, didn't even need to use hot water! Thanks! (11/02/2008)
By Kimberly
Just tried it and it worked the first time. I didn't have Dawn liquid, but used Palmolive and about a gallon of hot water. (11/02/2008)
By Brenda
Well, I put the soap in, poured in some hot water, and plunged. Honestly, I thought I was going to have to be the first party pooper (pun intended) and tell you guys you were full of it (stop me). But lo and behold, it worked! Thanks!
P.S. I promise never to use the toilet to clean out the cat box EVER AGAIN
(11/05/2008)By ldmidwife
All I have to say is it works! Soap and water. I used one cup of a no name brand liquid dish soap and boiled a pot of water (pour it in slowly, plunge, pour little more plunge...repeat one more time). Everybody in my house was surprised.
Note: The clog I had was from low pressure and a lot of tissue down the drain. It flushed and drained slowly. Whoever initiated this. Thank You!
(11/07/2008)By Mr. Singh
Holy Moly! So I basically read everyone's response on how this works. So I decided to try it. I thought at first the only good I was getting out of it was a shiny toilet bowl. I cried and cried, and cried some more. So then poured a little more water down the toilet and THERE IT WENT! After over an hour of plunging and blisters on my hands, it finally went down. Who would have even though of dish soap! Thank you!(11/07/2008)
By Kate
This worked for me too! I too was wrestling with a clogged toilet. Had tried using the plunger for almost 30 minutes with no luck. Then I found this website. I started to boil some water, and then figured, while I'm waiting for the water to boil, let me put a few squirts of liquid detergent soap into the toilet. So I did that, used the plunger again, and it all went down! I didn't even need the hot water. It was weird seeing the suds in my toilet, but heck that is just fine. It certainly beats the alternative! Thank you all so much! (11/08/2008)
By Kathy
I have spent three days and about forty dollars on Drano, snakes, and new plungers. Guess what? All I needed was a dollar bottle of dish liquid and a pot of boiling water and what I haven't been able to fix in three days was fixed in the length of time it took me to boil the water. I am so glad I looked here before calling a plumber who would have charged me more than I have already spent this week. Now I know a new cheap secret. And my nephew can come over again now that I know how to fix this problem, LOL. (11/12/2008)
By Tiffany
OMG! I just tried the dish soap in my toilet that wouldn't flush all day. A couple squirts of some dawn, let it sit for 10 min, gave it one more plunge and down it went! I cant believe it! What a great tip! (11/12/2008)
By Kelly
My husband and I and six children just recently bought a house with a rental apartment over our garage. Our tenants called with a stubborn clog. I did not want to have to keep them waiting until my husband got home from work. I looked online and found this link about Dawn and hot water. I told my neighbor to try it. She did and it worked right away. As all of you know, that is really good news! Thank you for sharing. I will pass it on. (11/13/2008)
By Colleen
I was skeptical, but desperate. It totally works. I used about 2/3 cup Dawn and 2 teapots full of boiling water. Then a mighty couple of churns with the plunger and down it went. (11/13/2008)
By Jennie
I never had a problem with unclogging a toilet with a plunger. I didn't want to spend money for Drano or something like that. I saw this on this site and figured it couldn't hurt! I started to boil that water and I squeezed 3 squirts of dish washing liquid, I tried to unclog it without the hot water, but it didn't budge it just made a lot of bubbles! :-)
I then waited for the water, put the boiling water into the toilet and started to plunge, it didn't budge. I decided to give it a flush and I plunged as it was filling with more water and it unclogged. I was so happy! I am definitely doing this next time, and I know there will be a next time. This works, takes time, but works!
(11/15/2008)By Jane
At my work the toilet frequently gets clogged. I squeezed in 3 big squirts of dish soap, I aimed at the back of the hole and squeezed HARD hoping it would really get down into the pipe.
I let it sit a minute and flushed.. POOF it all went down. No hot water needed. (11/15/2008)
By Ariela
I must say that this is the first time I have personally clogged a toilet in about 8 years. I actually don't even own a plunger! Boy was I scared now...because to make things worse I couldn't go to the store 5 miles away because I didn't have my car, wife is out of town for a week with it.
Well, I came up with a plan based on a few different tricks from this website. I poured a half gallon of bleach in the bowl and let it sit for an hour or so and then used a wire hanger, since water still wasn't going down. Put in a few squirts of dish soap. Poured a gallon of steaming hot water in from tea pot...let sit a few minutes. Then dropped in about a half gallon of water from high up to give it some pressure and woosh! It all went right down. I didn't think I was gonna get that to go down without a plunger.
(11/16/2008)By Phil
The dish washing liquid really did the trick. I've been fighting with a clogged toilet for the last two hours. I looked on the internet to avoid having to call a plumber. I put about 2/3 cup of Dawn in the bowl and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then I used the plunger and plunged vigorously about 30 times and voila...the water finally went down and my clog is gone. I'd recommend this idea to anyone before calling a plumber. (11/17/2008)
By tboogie.
The soap and warm water really works! (11/17/2008)
By UNPLUGGED
It really does work, it took a few tries before I could get my toilet to unclog. Thanks for the tip! (11/19/2008)
By jOy
FINALLY! After 3.5 hours of frustrating plunging, snaking and cursing, I decided to google a stuffed toilet and viola! Ya'll had the answer right there. Dawn and boiling water, who would have figured! I can say now I have the cleanest septic lines in all of SW Washington! (11/19/2008)
By Joe
WOW! I had the worst clog for a whole night. I was about to call a plumber, but the soap and hot water COMPLETELY worked just now! I am SOOOO happy! I poured half a bottle of dish soap and let it soak for a few hours (I had to go to a class), and then when I got back, I boiled water in a pan and then poured it in the toilet. Immediately after, I plunged for about 10 reps, and then all of a sudden, everything went down. Amazing! Thank you so much, this TOTALLY works! (11/21/2008)
By KJJ
My husband made the mistake of dumping kitty litter in the toilet and--surprise--clogged it. For two hours we fought and threatened divorce (ha ha). We drove to the store to pick up Drano and it did nothing. Turns out the easiest and least expensive solution was right under our sink! Dish liquid and hot water saved my toilet, and my marriage. Unfortunately, the ornate vase that I keep in our bathroom did not survive the ordeal. (11/21/2008)
By Dana & Chris
I was cleaning my bathroom and unthinkingly threw paper towels in the toilet, resulting in a horrendous clog. I tried everything from using a snake to plunging until my arms were exhausted. I was on the verge of calling a plumber and decided, as a last ditch effort, to see if there were any easy solutions online. Fortunately I stumbled across the dish detergent / hot water solution. This really worked and saved me a ton of money. (11/22/2008)
By Stephanie
This did not work! I had heard about this before and tried it to avoid having to use a snake after clogging the toilet with paper towels and repeatedly trying to plunge and eventually experiencing overflow. I poured in a ton of dish soap and let it sit and then poured in hot water. My husband then plunged as hard as he could and we only wound up with piles of bubbles! Luckily we had a wet vac to clean it up. He's trying the snake now. (11/22/2008)
By Kalley
Hot water *better if boiling* and dish washing liquid does work, but must use plunger! If it didn't unclog, pour more hot water in and plunge continuously (10 plunges max) and flush, it should go down. If it doesn't, repeat. THIS definitely works! (11/24/2008)
This is a great tip! My toilet isn't shaped well for use with a plunger, so I just tried the dish soap + hot water. I put in the equivalent of 1/2 cup dish detergent and let it sit for an hour. I poured in 5 pots of boiling water to no avail. I then put in another 1/2 cup of detergent, and let it sit for 1/2 hour. Another pot of hot water, and within minutes, whoosh! It takes some time, but much cheaper than calling a plumber. Be persistent!
PS. I used a snake before all this for about 15 minutes, but the clog was beyond the reach of the snake.
(11/24/2008)By Bruce
Thank you, thank you. You saved me a plumber bill and a good scolding from the girlfriend! She will be coming over later. I was being a typical bachelor and flushed the two paper towels when I finished cleaning the sink. I had done it hundreds of times and did not realize not to. I plunged, cussed, yelled, sweated and said unmentionable things about the toilet before it occurred to me someone else may have done the same thing. Thanks you guys, you're the best. (11/26/2008)
By Guy in KS that flushed paper towels
It worked like a charm. We had family in town for turkey day and my toilet was clogged by the end of the day. The soap and water really works. It took about 20 min vs. 3 hrs. of me and the plunger. (11/29/2008)
By Matthew
It worked for me, after about an hour of using a plunger. Nothing was coming into my mind other than calling a plumber, but the dish soap and hot water made the trick. Thanks. (11/30/2008)
By PF from NY
So my boyfriend is famous for clogging toilets and this time it was the worst! The water wouldn't drain at all, even when we let it sit over night. So yesterday I tried this (after plunging, a snake, and the bucket trick) and it didn't work, at first. I think the trick for super bad clogs is letting the soap sit for at least 2 hours. I put in the soap and then immediately chased it with boiling water and it didn't unclog when I tried plunging. So I went and watched a movie and then added another pot of boiling water, plunged and it was fixed! Thanks to whoever came up with this idea. (12/02/2008)
By Mary
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