We have all been guilty of flushing something down the toilet that we shouldn’t have at one point or another. Myself included. I have flushed dental floss, paper towels, and food just to name a few things. Not because I didn’t know not to, but because I was being lazy.
Just the other day my wife flushed 2 baby wipes down the toilet with a little bit of poop in it, and it clogged up the toilet. She called her favorite Emergency Plumber In San Diego : Me. Lucky for her, my fee was a good dinner, and a beer which she later provided. I found it incredible though that these 2 small baby wipes were enough to clog the toilet.
The one product that caught my eye, which inspired me to write this article was Dudewipes. I found out about it from my friend at Pipespies in Littleton, CO. Products like Dudewipes, baby wipes and feminine products all claim to be flushable products. However speaking from experience they are not. I have been on countless calls where I have had to come out and auger the toilet. The “flushable” product did not make it through the bend in the toilet, the power from the water gravity flush itself is not enough to push it up through the internal trap in the toilet and back down.
Even in the rare case that these “flushables” will make it through the toilet and into the drain pipe, they will usually get stuck in the main sewer line somewhere in your front yard. The flushable itself usually won’t be enough to clog the pipe, however it will get stuck in a low or rusted out section of the old sewer pipe, then toilet paper, tree roots and any other solids will start to build up on it, which will lead to a main sewer clog.
The only thing we recommend to put town the toilet is………………………
Toiletpaper!
We do not recommend flushing large amounts of toilet paper at once either. This can still clog the toilet. We recommend to make multiple flushes with not much toilet paper to play it safe. Even with the advances in technology to the newer low flow toilets, they still are not powerful enough or have a trap way large enough to remove large balls of toilet paper or waste.
If you don’t feel like looking for an emergency plumbing service in San Diego to help you unclog your toilet, and you feel you want to tackle it yourself, we suggest you use a toilet auger such as this one, over a plunger. Plungers often times will create enough suction to pull loose the wax seal at the base of the toilet. This wax seal, which acts as a gasket from the toilet bowl to the drain or floor flange on the floor, must be water tight to avoid toilet water leaking on the floor.
Using a toilet auger can be a little bit of a trick if you have never use done. There is a rubber coating at the base of the auger. This prevents the steel cable from scratching the toilet bowl. You want to have the auger at about a 45 degree angle while auguring the toilet. This will best help to avoid scratching the bowl. You will need to turn the handle with one hand, while holding the middle of the auger with the other, all while pushing the auger down. It can take some time and finding the right angle to force the cable through the bends of the toilet.
You will want to push all of the cable through. This will push whatever solids that are in the toilet bowl into the drain, if the spring at the end of the cable doesn’t attach on to it. You can flush the toilet with the auger still in the bowl to test out and see if it was a success. If you do see the water in the bowl rising, then quickly shut off the water to the toilet. You can also manually close the flapper in the tank of the bowl. This will quit letting water into the bowl.
TOTO is our favorite brand of toilet. They have a 100% glazed internal tramway. This helps the solid to flow easily through the trap and into the drain. You can read more about our TOTO toilet review here.
Augering a toilet can be tricky. If you don’t feel like tackling it, we are always here. You can schedule service at 619-838-1322