OK fine. I ADMIT it. I flushed a *few* paper towels down the toilet.
I was cleaning it at the time.
Anyways, long story short – the toilet clogged and over flowed.
We needed a solution FAST that didn’t include phoning out one of those truly expensive all-night plumbers.
We Googled it.
- Empty out as much water from the bowl as you can
- Poor a half cup of (good quality) liquid dish soap. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes
- Boil a large kettle or pot of water
- Poor the boiling water into the bowl. Let sit another 10-15 minutes.
- Plunge as usual
- Flush and VOILA. The clog will be gone.
As a side note, do not put ‘Liquid Plumber’ into toilets. It says so right on the package, but last night when I made the run for dish soap I bought a bottle, just in case. I didn’t read it until I got home (who reads labels anyways. . . . 
having installed toilets i can tell you why liquid plumr is a toilet no-no
there is a big wax ring that seals your toilet to the drain pipe.
liquid plumr will eat that wax ring.
then, every time you flush about half the water will make it down the pipe and the other half will leak out across the floor from under the base of your toilet.
sounds like personal experience?
fortunately, no.
but i HAVE put regular dish soap (the kind you use to wash dishes by hand) in the dishwasher and had a very brady-bunch moment when suds overran my kitchen.
Thanks for that Brahnamin. . . .
and liquid dish soap in the dishwasher, that is hilarious!
Wow. Thankfully I haven’t had any recent clogs I couldn’t plunge out within a few minutes. The continually rising water is scary, though. You’re like “please God, go down. Vishnu, I know I made fun of your many arms, but please make it go down. Buddha, I know you’re not a ‘god’ per se, but little help?” And when it stops at the rim, you wonder, “how am I supposed to plunge it?” But thanks for the tips, they may come in handy some day–though, hopefully I’ll never need them.
And brahnamin, thanks for the info. Putting “do not use in toilet” doesn’t do much good. But, “using in toilet will result in fecal matter and urine up to your ankles” is what I would consider a warning worth heading.
Also, we never used the dishwasher at home so when I was in college and out of dishwasher soap I used dishsoap. I knew you weren’t supposed to use it, so I didn’t fill it up. I filled it less than halfway. Needless to say, the dishwasher was leaking water and suds for a long time. Again, had they used a better warning label, that may have been avoided. “Using this product in a dishwasher will result in enough suds in your kitchen to hold an all-night bubble rave. Unless there are jello shots, glow sticks, and nearly-naked coeds nearby, do not use in dishwasher.”
Wow. And who knew google could be so handy?
On a total segue… we recently moved to washable, reusable microfibre cleaning clothes, and they are one of the best investments we’ve ever made. Use it with just about any cleaner (but don’t mix them on the cloth) then throw ‘em in the wash when you’re done. Works like a charm, and less goes into the landfill.
OK – I’m done making my sales pitch now
I heard a news item on the radio a while ago that quoted a poll of plumbers on the incidence of toilet overflows. The study showed a large spike in such incidents on November 26th, the day after Thanksgiving. I’ll leave the “why” to your imagination! That, I’m sorry to say, is my only contribution to this discussion.
New Hoosier, although I agree a more ‘colourful’ disclaimer might be a good idea, I think making it more than 5 words will surely loose the attention of students. Dish soap in dishwasher bad.
Cin, thanks for visiting my blog. I’ll keep that in mind with the shammies. I buy a ton of them because I wear glasses. . . . .
Penseroso, Miss you!!! I wonder if there is a spike in October after Canadian thanksgiving too?
Thanks so much for this tip! i clogged my toilet and no matter what i did i couldnt get it unclogged – i even went and bought a auger to snake the drain and it still didnt work. i gave your tip a shot and it totally worked. i owe you a drink sometime. thanks again
That soap and boiling water trick worked great! Who the heck would have thought of that?
Nov. 20, 2007
I was really worried when my toilet wouldn’t flush and overflowed (at one time) when my 3 yrs. old threw in one of those sturdy paper cups in them. when i read about the liquid soap and hot water thing, that man is a genius!!! it really works!…anybody who will find the same problem i suggest you try this one. thanks again for the help!
AWESOME! Thank you so much for this!! We struggled with the stupid clog for hours, and since there’s only one toilet (for 3 people), we were all about to relieve ourselves behind trees in the yard! But this TOTALLY WORKED. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Do the suds go away on their own?
so… I don’t know why that worked but it did! WOW…. anyone out ther eknow why is works?
I was skeptical but desperate — the dish soap & hot water trick worked like a charm! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Doesn’t the toilet crack when the hot water hits it
Maybe if the toilet is frozen first.
I’m going to try this trick right now. Thanks for the tip!
Wow, that was amazing! I’ve been dealing with a slow-draining toilet for several days and thought I’d tried everything (including the nasty chemicals you aren’t supposed to use–I was desperate). I’ve plunged and plunged to no avail. But dish soap and boiling water, and voila!
Thank you so much–this is a tip I will remember.
Haven’t ever used any fancy stuff for doing this.
The following works for me:
1. Empty out as much water from the bowl as you can
2. Apply the thing to the hole so that it covers it completely
3. Push it down as much as you can and release (3-5 times)
4. Try #3 again if it didn’t work
Let the pressure do the job for you
My three year old granddaughter flushed a plastic RX pill bottle down our toilet. I’ve tried to auger it, but the toilet isn’t flushing right. It will empty, and gurgle and fill really slowly. Any ideas?
WOW, dude, your my hero, this worked awesome! thanks a bunch!
I didn’t believe this would work, but I read it on a couple of websites and lots of people who said it worked, and these were the best directions.
I had serious doubts b/c our clog was feminine hygiene-related — I mean, really. That’s an instant call to the plumber. But this WORKED. Lots of suds at first, but it worked. I was stunned. And overjoyed.
Thanks.
I just tried the dish soap/hot water thing to clear a clogged toilet and it worked beautifully! This is after I plunged and plunged to no avail. Follow those directions posted exactly and you’ll be in business. Thank you, thank you.
WOW! i can believe it worked. the day my toilet was clogged, i was going out of town for a few days and hoping it will fix itself by the time i get back home. unfortunatly it did n’t. after struggling fot hours and finaly tried the dish soap and hot water trick, IT WORKED. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH FOR THE TIPS.
just poured a liquid soup; am now boiling the water. will update after half an hour. =)
it worked! hahaha. i actually heard the vacuuming and sucking noise from underneath. wuhoo, thanks a lot!
Thank you SO much. My toilet was clogged with condoms, and I was FREAKING out because nothing was working. But this did, THANK YOUUUUUUU!
Wow! This totally worked, and now my bathroom smells like apples to boot! Thanks so much!
after a houseful of people this holiday weekend, the cause of our clogged toilet was a mystery. but there’s no mystery about this amazing solution, which worked like the proverbial charm. i have recited the cure to my teenagers, and made them pledge to memorize this for their lives going forward! thank you!!
Wow. My wife cloged things up with feminine products. Worked on it for an hour with a hanger and plunger. No dice. Tried the hot soapy water approach and VIOLA! No clog. Amazing. Thanks for this tip.
wow, thank you.
my toilet was draining slow for about a week because of my wife’s hairs. i tried plunging tirelessly, bought the plunger snake and even tried one the liquid drainer. needless to say none of those worked, then i tried the hot water and soap thing, it worked like a charm.
THANK YOU!!!!
This really worked, i was trying to plunge my toilet for about an hour and it still was not goin down, I came across this remedy and the toilet was fixed in no time
great idea.
Our toilet has been clogged 4 about 4 days now, I just googled “clogged toilets” and I found this. My godmom and I just tried it and it worked. I must say it was a relief. We went to the store and bought a whole bottle of Drano, It didn’t work needless to say. So thanks to the person who figured this out, It does really work. Thank You! God Bless!
This is a scam period….useless option…..
I hadn’t even noticed my toilet was slow – no problems until this morning I flushed and it just leaked down very slowly. Tub is right next to it so I filled tub half way and then pulled the plug, thinking that would flush it out, not really. Plunged, no real improvement. Thought about Liquid Plumbr and then decided against it after reading forums. Tried dish soap and boiling water and voila! There was a fantastic noise in the pipe and now all is working perfectly. Yay!
Tried this…plenty of plunging over an hour and the soap\hot water trick…THEN…scooped out the water again and it was Wet\Dry VAC to the rescue…took seconds to pull the clog back…then the disinfecting started.
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[...] When Your Toilet Gets Clogged « joey moggie Jun 27, 2007 … Thanks so much for this tip! i clogged my toilet and no matter what i did i couldnt get it unclogged – i even went and bought a auger to … joeymoggie.wordpress.com/2007/06/27/when-your-toilet-gets-clogged [...]
Thank you so much for the tip! It worked like magic for a stubborn clog!
This is awesome!
I just flushed the toilet every few days at first, then I bought a plunger but I think I just pushed the clog further back. Finally the other toilet backed up. We have the newer, .5 gallon flush, jet action flush toilets that aren’t supposed to clog – myth. This worked on them, I didn’t boil the water, just used a tea kettle per toilet and 1/2 of a large bottle of dish soap ($1 at dollar general). I get to return the $8 bottle of drain o and not tell my husband I broke something
.
I just tried the remedy you suggested and it worked great!!! I just wanted to thank you for the helpful information.
My toilet is clogged and I want to try this, but I heard bad things about doing the soap method while living in an apartment complex. Anyone have any insight with that?
it doesn’t work. not at all. i followed every single direction. it doesn’t work.
My husband and I just tried this, after my husband tried flushing uncooked cauliflower,cherry tomatoes and cut zuccini down the toilet. The toilet had been plugged up for about 4 days, we even tried the kleen drain with the co2 cartridge that costs about $30.00 that did not work at all, so we decided to try this before taking the toilet apart and it did the trick we didn’t think it would work with all them vegetables but it did.Thank You so much for the wonderful tip.
it worked for me, unreal!!!
This method helped…
This worked for me too. Best of all, IT’S NOT A SCAM….because I didn’t spend a dime and I have no more clogs!
I had a nintendo ds game stuck in my tolet for 3 days now I snaked it and used coat hangers ect.. for like 2 day of hell!! I came across this site I really had doubt but I was despret IT really work I was In total shock.. it flushed! I still can’t believe it worked!! THANK YOUUUUUUUU..
My son threw rocks down my drain. After about two weeks, it got to the point it will not flush AT ALL. I just got done trying this method…MY TOILET FLUSHES! Now I know the rocks are probably still there but at least I can flush my toilet! Thank you so much!
Excellent tips and I love the additional information shared in the comments. I have been using the dish soap trick to clear clogs for a while and have always been happy with the results.
I used to try all of the different chemicals and pretty much all of them are a joke, especially drano, it doesn’t work at all. I also found that this http://mycloggedtoilet.com site has a lot of good information.
Thanks for the tips!
Wow!! It worked – I’ve been plunging on and off for several days and was ready to call a plumber!! Thank you so much!!
Just wanted to say that I’m another who was very pleased to find that the dish soap/hot water method does work! Our trial wasn’t exactly scientific, so I can’t say for sure that any one of the three steps (emptying the bowl of water, dumping in dish soap, or pouring in boiling water) might be the real trick to this method. But since it costs nothing except a very little bit of time and effort, I’m happy not to examine it too closely. I’m just thrilled my toilet is working again. Thanks for this post!
well… ive been trying to unclog my toilet for the past 2 hours… its so bad that when i plunge the toilet all the poop and waste comes out of the drain in the bath tub… I hope to god this works
My toilet is clogged too right now. I think it’s because a few days ago, I was trying to unclog the bathtub drain – I lifted the hairy gunk out with an old pen, and threw it (sans pen) into the toilet and flushed. I noticed later that the toilet was flushing slowly, or not refilling all the way. Well, today, it clogged, and now I have a poopy mess sitting in the toilet. I just tried a bottle of ammonia-based drain cleaner (don’t remember it’s name). It didn’t work. Now, I’m boiling up some water, hoping that the fumes won’t kill me when I pour it into the chemical/poop mess. I’m gonna skip the dishwashing soap since I already think I have enough chemicals in there. Hope it works!
Well, I think I’ve finally cleared the obstruction. The hot water alone after the drain cleaner stuff didn’t work, so after attempting to use the plunger, which proved just too disgusting, I tried Pamolive + hot water. All the while, I was quite scared that everything I read on this site was just a practical joke to get gullible people to fill up their bathrooms with suds. Nevertheless, I poured in a quarter cup of the soap and waited a while. Then I poured in a pot of boiling water. Nothing much happened, except suds forming – I was afraid my suspicions were coming true. Still, I decided to keep pouring in buckets of hot water from the bathtub. The water in the toilet was going down, so it seemed like the reasonable thing to do. After a whole lot of water, the water in the toilet was much cleaner, persuading me to go for the plunger again. I did that for a couple of minutes, and then went back to pouring in hot water. Finally, I heard the gurgling noise of the water rushing down through the pipes. I became confident enough to flush, and I’m happy to report that things went back to normal. Phew!
(I still have to clean the bowl – I think the ammonia stuff really stained it badly, and I’m not comfortable using it again yet.)
Just wanted to add one more thing…
As a chemical engineering student, I’ve been speculating about why this trick may work. I don’t really think the soap works to dissolve anything down there – because if so, why wouldn’t the drain cleaner work? I think that since dishwashing soap is so slippery, it goes down and coats the obstruction, somewhat lubricating it and thus making it easier to dislodge.
With the hot water, mass transport is increased due to the higher temperature (in transport phenomena, heat transport can enhance mass transport).
Meh, this is a good enough explanation for me.
Very help full, Thanks!