The only thing more anxiety-inducing than blocking your own toilet is clogging someone else's. It’s awkward enough having to use the toilet when you’re not in the comfort of your own home. But clogging the toilet in the process is the stuff nightmares are made of. Before panic sets in, here are a few emergency tactics you can try (without leaving the bathroom) when you’ve clogged someone’s toilet and are too mortified to tell them.
The first step is to take a good look around the bathroom and take stock of what tools you have on hand. Look under the sink, next to the toilet and in the shower. You want to keep a mental note of things like liquid soaps, shampoo, toilet brush, small bin, plastic bags, rubber gloves, bath bombs, cleaning liquids, a coat-hanger behind the door, cleaning rags, even a curtain rail could come in handy.
It’s important to note that there might be some casualties when using these methods. You may get away with blocking the toilet, but the host could be left wondering why all their expensive Aesop hand soap is gone, or why the curtain and curtain rod has mysteriously disappeared. It’s up to you to choose the lesser of two evils.
1. Striking gold - A plunger
The best case scenario is you stumble across a plumbing plunger hiding under the sink. This is your get-out-of-jail-free-card. If the toilet is almost full, you will need to remove some of the waste before you start plunging. This is where a small bathroom bin can come in handy. Use the bin to remove some of the waste from the toilet bowl, insert the plunger into the toilet, pushing down to release some of the air. The goal is to get the best seal possible and maintain this tight seal throughout the plunging process. Using rigorous movements, start plunging up and down keeping the plunger vertical.
It can take a few minutes for plunging to work so keep at it. Once the toilet is working again, empty the excess water from the bin bucket back into the toilet, flush away the evidence, rinse out the bin and you’re done.
2. Next best thing - Hot water and soap
Chances are there is no plunger, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this article in the first place. If there is no plunger in the bathroom and maintaining secrecy is paramount, this next trick is a great one to have in your toilet unclogging repertoire.
Run the hot tap and get it as hot as possible. While the water is heating up grab whatever liquid soap you can find. Hand soap, toilet cleaning liquid or shampoo will all suffice. Pour a generous amount of your chosen liquid into the toilet bowl. It will act as a lubricant, assisting in the toilet unblocking process. The bin bucket comes in handy again here. Fill it up with hot water and pour it into the bowl. If there is no bin, use the toothbrush cup holder to pour hot water into the bowl.
Let the hot water and soap sit in the bowl for at least 10 minutes. Hot water can help to break down toilet paper and waste more quickly than room temperature water. Hopefully, after the time has passed the water level will start to go down. Once this happens try flushing again. You can repeat the process a few times. However, if the toilet bowl is just getting fuller and fuller… stop adding water! Remove some of the water and try the next trick.
3. Make a plunger with whatever you can find
I know someone who accidentally blocked a toilet at a wake - definitely not the place where you want this to happen. They ingeniously managed to unclog the toilet using the toilet brush like a plunger. The toilet-brush-plunger-method works best if you can tie a plastic bag around the end, or cover the end with a rubber glove. This is because you will be able to get a better seal over the toilet drain opening.
If there is no toilet brush and you’re getting desperate, you could use a curtain rod or a coat hanger (depending on what you can find in the bathroom). You need to tie some sort of cloth around the end. If there is a small window covered with a small curtain held by a small rod - bingo! You could also use a hand towel or a face washer. Again, if there is a plastic bag in the bin or a rubber glove you’ll want to tie the cloth to the end of the stick, and then cover it with the bag or glove so that you can get a better seal.
Once you have your makeshift plunger, repeat the steps from above. That is, remove excess water, get a tight seal then start plunging up and down forcefully until the clog is dislodged. Hide all the evidence, put your poker face on and rejoin the party as though nothing has happened.
4. Saved by a bath bomb
If you’ve ever done a google search on how to unclog a toilet DIY style, you would have come across the bicarb soda and vinegar method. The chemical reaction created by adding these two substances together creates a fizzing motion which can unblock minor toilet clogs.
A bath bomb works in a similar way. Most bath bombs are made from a base of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate. Fragrances, detergents and oils are then added to this base. The ingredients are stable when dry, however, when in water the chemical reaction is activated causing it to fizz. If it’s a big round bath bomb, don’t put the whole thing in at once. Break a chunk off and place it in the toilet and see what happens. Add more if required.
5. Last resort - Stick your hand in
It’s not pretty, but if you really don’t want the host to know that you clogged their toilet, try reaching your hand into the toilet drain to dislodge the clog. This method is only recommended if you’ve found some rubber gloves when doing your bathroom inventory stocktake. In fact, if you’ve found gloves wear them when trying any of the above methods as things can get messy. If there is no gloves, you could stick your hand into the plastic bag from the bin and start pocking around down the drain hole and see if you can get the clog to move along.
6. Time to tell the host
If none of these methods are working it’s time to bite the bullet up and quietly tell the host. They will most likely be understanding and empathetic.
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