Need to unblock a toilet fast, but don’t have a plunger to hand?
The team at Lanes has you covered! In this article, we explain five different ways to unblock a toilet without a plunger so that you never get stuck with a blocked toilet.
These methods also don’t involve the use of aggressive drain-unclogging products such as caustic soda and bleach, as these can often cause more damage than benefit to your drains. Find out why you shouldn’t use caustic soda to unblock drains here.
You can also discover more information on toilet unblocking in our article ‘What to do if your toilet is not flushing’.
At Lanes, we’ve seen a wide variety of unusual items found in drains and sewers, some of which you would not believe. While we find our fair share of strange items, we also get a lot of common culprits that cause toilet blockages, such as sanitary towels, industrial blue roll, baby wipes, nappies and cleaning wipes. Wipes should never be flushed down the toilet; only wastewater, toilet paper and excrement (solid and liquid) can safely be flushed down the toilet.
Our drainage habits survey shows that the top three damaging items people admit to flushing down the toilet are:
So next time you prepare to flush one of these items, think about the damage you could be causing to your toilet system and the UK sewers.
If you’ve discovered that your toilet is blocked and you don't have a plunger, here are five DIY toilet unblocking options that don't involve the use of harsh chemicals. Before you try any of these methods, don't forget to turn off your water supply to avoid the risk of flooding.
Try flushing away whatever is blocking your toilet with a combination of a gallon of warm-hot water and some washing up liquid. Be careful not to use boiling hot water as this could crack your toilet.
If you’re willing to remove the blockage manually, always put on a pair of rubber gloves and have a towel and bucket to hand to place any items causing the blockage. Then manually remove any blockages from around the U-bend.
If you don't have a toilet snake, you can make your own DIY version using an unravelled coat hanger and an old rag tied and taped tightly around one end of the coat hanger. You can then use the covered end to remove whatever is clogging the toilet.
If your toilet is definitely blocked and you don’t have a macerator that could just have something caught on it then you could try using a pressure washer and a pipe cleaning kit to pressure wash the blockage out.
To prevent a toilet drain blockage from happening again, it's important to clean and maintain your toilet drain regularly to prevent the buildup of waste and limescale.
You must also avoid flushing anything that belongs in the bin, such as wet wipes, hygiene products, cotton swabs and paper towels.
Don’t allow your toilet to build up with too much toilet paper or waste before flushing, as this may block your toilet and close the lid so nothing can accidentally fall in and cause a blockage.
Still unsure of what you can and can’t flush down your toilet and drains? Find out in our article ‘What can you flush down the toilet and drains?’.
If you’ve found yourself in a tough situation, Lanes can help. We have a reputation for quickly and efficiently handling domestic drain blockages such as blocked toilets.
At Lanes, there are no callout fees, and we only charge for the work we do. Contact us today to find out how we can help you remove a stubborn blockage.
While we are happy to act as your first port of call when you have a drainage problem, we’re equally committed to educating all drain users, because we all know that prevention is better than cure.
Visit our Help & Advice section to learn more about drain maintenance and unblocking.