Toilets are one of the often overworked and underappreciated systems in our homes. We don’t think about our toilets until they need cleaning or emergency unclogging. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you knew how to prevent toilet clogs before they happened? Find out how to keep your toilets clog-free and functioning at peak performance with these plumbing pointers.
Toilets are beautiful in their simplicity. They work with several essential parts like the water pipe, water tank, flush mechanism, toilet trap, and toilet bowl. There are at least 20 different toilet models, including dual-flush toilets, pressure-assisted toilets, and low-flow toilets, with the most common being the two-piece toilet.
Many factors contribute to a clogged toilet drain or unexpected toilet trouble in the average household. This in-depth article covers the most common problems you’ll likely encounter. Discover helpful solutions to keep your pipelines clear of clogs and your bathroom amenities in good working order.
How to Avoid Clogging Your Toilet
The toilet is essential to any modern home, requiring specific special considerations to function safely and efficiently. What happens if you have sensitive plumbing lines or the toilet isn’t working as it should? Learn how to care for your commode by using our helpful tips and tricks to guide you.
Find out how to minimize the risk of clogging your toilet by doing these simple deeds to keep your toilet system running smoothly. Find out what you should flush and what to avoid, all while picking up impressive plumbing pointers.
We’ve even included a few easy-to-follow DIY drain cleaner recipes to help keep the waterways clean and clear. It’s time to repay the favor after all your toilet does for you.
Be Careful What You Flush
The first rule of toilet care and proper maintenance is to be careful what you flush. Your toilet drain is sensitive and can only safely accommodate water, human waste, and toilet paper; everything else should go in an easily accessible bathroom garbage can.
Avoiding clogging your toilet means paying particular attention to everything you toss down the drain. Don’t flush makeup or baby wipes, sanitary products, or commercial packaging, even if it says “flushable” on the label.
Those items only dissolve quickly and effectively under absolutely ideal plumbing conditions, and even then, they still manage to cause problems.
Foreign objects are one of the leading causes of toilet trouble, so it’s best to keep the lid closed after you finish in the bathroom. Invest in an inexpensive toilet lock to prevent kids or pets from dropping things into the toilet tank or bowl for extra protection and peace of mind.
Use Less Toilet Paper to Prevent Clogs
Believe it or not, too much toilet paper can cause severe toilet blockage. Toilet tissue is designed to break apart, but that’s supposed to happen in the sewer, not your toilet vent. A buildup of partially dissolved toilet paper stops the toilet from flushing entirely and creates a stubborn buildup that could require a visit from your local plumber.
Learning about how to prevent toilet clogs not only prolongs the life of your plumbing, it saves on costly repair and maintenance bills in the future. If you have sensitive plumbing, try to conserve toilet paper or choose specialty toilet paper designed for that purpose.
Never use a paper towel as toilet paper, and supervise young children as they learn about using the proper amounts of toilet tissue.
Regularly Check the Water Level in the Toilet Tank
Modern toilets run on a pressure system, so minor clogs cause major problems. When your toilet tank is low on water, the plumbing cannot build enough pressure to expel whatever is in the toilet bowl, causing backup and eventual overflow.
Knowing the proper water level for your toilet model is a big part of preventing toilet clogs. The ideal water level for most toilet tanks is one inch below the opening of the overflow tube. Anything below that level means you’re at risk of toilet clogs and surprise overflows.
If you check your toilet and notice low levels, correct the problem by adjusting the fill valve float. This device moves with the water level, opens the tank to refill the water after flushing, and shuts off the flow once the tank is full. Find out what type of fill valve your toilet has and adjust it according to the manufacturer’s directions.
How to Prevent Toilet Clogs With DIY Drain Cleaner
When the toilet keeps clogging, it’s time to look at drain cleaning options. Learn how to make a natural drain cleaner recipe with baking soda and a few pantry staples you can use whenever you hear a telltale gurgling sound from your toilet bowl.
Preventing toilet clogs is easy with baking soda, dish soap, and white vinegar; pour half a cup of fresh baking soda into the toilet bowl, then a few drops of mild dish soap and four ounces of distilled white vinegar. Plug the toilet drain and let it sit for about 60 minutes.
Pour a pan of warm water down the drain and follow up with the toilet plunger to push air and water through the toilet vent. Use hot water but not boiling, which could crack the toilet bowl. This helpful trick should clear most clogs and even break down hard water deposits inside your plumbing.
Preventing Toilet Clogs With a Toilet Snake
A plumber’s snake, also called a toilet snake or a toilet auger, is a skinny, retractable metal cable designed to loosen difficult toilet clogs that you can’t dislodge with a regular plunger. Learn how to avoid clogging your toilet by using a toilet snake to clear the lines of buildup and debris regularly.
Before you begin, place a few old towels around the toilet’s base to catch any splashback from the unclogging process and keep harmful bacteria from coating your floors. Set the end of the toilet auger in the bowl and down the drain, cranking the handle clockwise.
The cable winds down the drain, forcing its way through the blockage and clearing the path for consistent water flow and drainage. Retract the snake by twisting the handle counterclockwise. You should notice the water level in the toilet returning to a manageable level, ready for continued use.
If the toilet is already clogged beyond the help of the toilet snake, follow our easy steps to unclog a toilet on your own with simple steps and home remedies.
Try This Homemade Drain Cleaner Recipe
Everyone should have a few plumbing tricks up their sleeves. A clogged drain has the potential to become a big expensive problem without time, attention, and an effective drain cleaner that is easy to make and even easier to use.
Start by pouring a quarter cup of table salt and Borax into the toilet drain, followed by two cups of distilled white vinegar. Use a toilet plunger to help work the mixture into the pipes, then let it sit for an hour.
Follow up with four cups of hot water and plunge again; this should release the clog and return the water level to normal.
Call a Professional Plumber for Tough Blockages
Although you may be an ambitious do-it-yourselfer, sometimes it is best to contact a plumbing service in cases of extreme blockages, water backup, and flooding; the last thing you want is water damage from an overflowing toilet.
A professional plumber will perform the necessary work while adhering to industry safety standards. They’ll flush your plumbing system, check for leaks in your pipelines, detect faults in your appliances, such as your low flow toilet or water heater, and install new domestic or commercial plumbing fixtures for future use.
Your local plumber can also check the sewer line for hard water buildup. Hard water means an excess of minerals accumulating quickly, causing blockages and buildup, leading to severe problems.
Call your local professional plumber and book an appointment if you feel overwhelmed. They’ll even have great tips on how to avoid sewage smells in the bathroom and ways to stop clogging your toilet.
The more you know about your toilet, such as the make, model, and mode of operation, the easier it is to handle any problems, such as low water pressure or internal blockages. You don’t have to be a professional plumber to put this article to work in your bathroom; remember these tips.
Keep a watchful eye on your flushable items. Don’t put baby wipes, period products, or commercial packaging down the drain. Don’t forget to check the water level in your toilet tank, as this regulates the ideal water pressure when flushing.
Be aware of how your toilet works; learn whether it’s hooked to a septic tank or the sewer system. It is vital for any homeowner to learn how to prevent toilet clogs and identify plumbing problems before they get out of hand. We hope these tips help prolong the life of your plumbing, sewer, or septic drainage system and keep your toilet working for years.
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