Your home has a lot of drains, and at one point or another, you will find yourself dealing with a clogged drain. The drain that all homeowners will keep free of clogs is the toilet area drain. When you have a clogged toilet, it will often be the start of a chain of events that can be very unpleasant. It starts with identifying the cause of the clogged toilet to remove the clog. Sometimes if your clogged toilet is so clogged that you may need the equipment and services of a professional plumber. Before we get to this step, there are a few things homeowners can do themselves to unclog the toilet.

Before you start working on the clogged toilet, be sure to wear rubber gloves and safety glasses because fixing a toilet that contains objectionable material, such as human waste, requires a few precautions, just as you would when handling hazardous substances. Once you are protected, the next step is to determine what is causing the clogged toilet. Although you probably don’t want to, you can look in the toilet to see if you can see what’s causing it or even use your gloved hand for a manual inspection.

Sometimes this situation can be caused by something as simple as a small object like a cell phone or small toy falling down the toilet and getting partially caught in the overflowing drain. It could also be caused by a child putting a stuffed animal, washcloth, or even a towel down the toilet and trying to flush it. If you see an object, you can remove it and try to flush the toilet and watch the flow of the water. If it shuts down slowly or remains clogged, there could be another blockage in the drain system further down the line.

In this case, you would need to use a plunger. You would also need to use it if you don’t see what is clogging the toilet. Place the plunger over the opening in the bottom of the bowl and push down as hard as you can on the stick or handle to force an increase in water pressure into the drain. I hope this dislodges the clog so the water can run freely. Sometimes when you pull back on the plunger, a vacuum is created which could also help dislodge the clog. It could take several plunges before the clogged toilet works again.

If you are unable to unclog your clogged toilet, you will need to call a professional plumber as they have the knowledge and special tools that are necessary to unclog clogged toilets.