There are a million ways to clog a toilet. And I’ve discovered a great way to clear them out, Hot Water.
Now mind you, this is not foolproof and only really works on, uh, large, um, movements, so to speak. And the corresponding toilet paper. Any other products or items and this is probably not going to be effective.
The Set Up: I’ve got a couple of young boys who clog the toilet when they poop. Anyway, after one horrible experience, I thought about the reason for the clog. Solid human waste, poop I’ll call it because it seems to be the least technical and offensive phrase I can think of. If you are a parent, this crap just doesn’t bother you anymore. Poop is the processed remains of the food we eat. There are lots of components to it and it behaves like a fatty substance. We have all seen that from cleaning diapers to picking up after our dogs.
A hot peperoni pizza is oily, but after its been in the fridge overnight the hot oil has congealed into fats. The simplified difference in fat and oil is simply solid verses liquid phase. Reheat the pizza and the fat melts and its considered an oil again.
Why not apply this to a clogged toilet? My eldest tends to hold his movements for a day or so. When they do come out, they are simply unbelievable that someone that skinny can produce something that huge. But I digress. He clogged the toilet. The plunger was not working because enough water was passing to make it ineffective. I used a snake, but the toilet curves prevented it from going up to the clog. So, crap, what next.
Hot Water. Melt the poop a bit and it will bend, break up, fold, whatever it needs to do to clear out the pipe and go on its way. I got a gallon container and filled it with hot water out of the shower spigot. Not cold water, not warm water, but the hottest water the faucet sends out. Now, you can use a cup, but it will take you forever. Use at least a 2 liter container or better yet the small bathroom trash can (6-8 liters maybe). For this to work two things must be achieved. The poop must be heated and that requires all of the cold toilet water to be displaced and ceramic toilet be heated. That will take two or three applications of water. And the large water dumping into the toilet will also act as a plunger pushing the clog out.
Summary, get a very large container and fill it with the hottest water available and dump it into the toilet. After a few times the clog should soften and be pushed out by the hot water pressure.
I’ve used it successfully several times. Let me know if it works for you.
Good luck,
CameraChemist
DIY Repair, Ideas, and Tips 