There is nothing worse than going to the toilet, finishing up your business, pushing the lever, and then seeing everything rise up. Poop, water, toilet paper…everything. So, if this is you, and you wonder how to unclog a toilet with poop still in it, we have 13 effective ways.
It’s a huge flooding mess that won’t be flushed away. And if it happens while at someone else’s house, it just becomes an absolute nightmare of panic and embarrassment.
Flushing, again and again, will often just make the problem worse, and not everyone has a handy plunger by the side of the toilet to help fix the problem. So what can you do? Open a window (if you can), take a deep breath to calm down, and get to work.
Before you resort to calling a plumber, there are plenty of easy hacks you can try out to unclog the toilet. Most of them use items that you will almost certainly have on hand at home, and they shouldn’t take long to fix the problem.
Here are the top 13 easiest tips for how to unclog a toilet with poop still in it: (choose whichever is the easiest for you, and if it doesn’t work you can always start working your way down the list until something proves effective!)
Baking Soda and Vinegar
This is one of the best-known ways of unclogging a toilet. You just need to take one cup of baking soda and pour it into the toilet bowl. Then you take a cup of vinegar and pour it into the toilet bowl slowly.
As both ingredients mix inside the bowl, a chemical reaction will occur. This will help loosen up everything clogging up the toilet, and should hopefully allow it to be flushed away!
If the clog is bad, you might have to repeat this a few times, as it might take a lot more loosening before everything is able to be flushed away. Another way in which you can use baking soda and vinegar is by mixing them both in warm water, with one cup of baking soda, and two of vinegar.
Then pour the mixture into the toilet bowl, and leave it overnight. Next morning, flush the toilet, and hopefully, everything should go away!
Baking Soda and Plastic Foil
Another way in which you can use baking soda to unclog your toilet is with the help of some plastic foil. For this hack, start by pouring some warm water down the clogged bowl. (Make sure it’s warm, and not boiling hot!)
Right after you need to add some baking soda. Then you take the plastic foil and cover the toilet bowl. This will trap and increase the effects of the baking soda!
Leave it for around an hour or so, and then flush the toilet. Hopefully, everything should be flushed away!
Baking Soda, Epsom Salt, and Detergent Mixture
Baking soda can be used in many ways, but you can also try mixing it with Epsom salt and detergent for the ultimate toilet unclogging mixture. Mix all three components in a bowl, and then pour it down the toilet.
This will create a chemical reaction that will help break down the poop and clogged-up materials, which in turn makes them a lot easier to be flushed away as they will no longer be blocking the exit!
Coca-Cola and Plastic Foil
Apart from being a nice fizzy drink, Coca-Cola has proven itself to be quite useful for home hacks, especially those to do with cleaning or solving a mess. So it’s no wonder that it can also come in handy for unclogging a toilet!
For this, you will need an unopened bottle of coca-cola, a half-liter one should do. Pour the entire bottle down the toilet bowl, and then immediately cover the bowl with some plastic foil.
Leave it be for around an hour. The gas from the Coca-Cola, trapped by the plastic foil, will pressurize the inside of the toilet bowl and should help the poop finally go down.
After an hour flush the toilet, and hopefully, that should be the end of your troubles!
Commercial Chemicals
There are a few different options for products that are specifically designed for unclogging a toilet, as they contain the right mix of commercial chemicals needed.
You can buy them at some grocery stores, and at most hardware stores. And they work by disintegrating the poop and anything else clogging up the toilet so that it can be easily flushed away! Just make sure to follow the instructions on each specific product.
Dish Soap
Dish soap is another surprisingly useful way to solve a clogged toilet, and it’s something you will definitely have within the house! Just pour some of the dish soap down the toilet bowl and let it settle for a while.
As dish soap is supper slippery, it will get in between the toilet surface and the stuck poop and should help make it easier for it to get unstuck and be flushed away.
You might have to repeat this process a few times before it works, but it should hopefully do the trick!
Hotter Water and Detergent
As unlikely as it seems, some hot water and detergent can be the solution to unclogging a toilet full of poop, so here’s how to do it.
Start by pouring some dishwasher detergent into the toilet bowl. (If you don’t have any, you could instead use some tiny pieces of hard soap.)
Then, use hot water (not boiling hot though!) and pour it into the toilet bowl, leaving both elements to mix. Leave them be for around 20 minutes or so. The mixture should slowly help soften the poop so that it begins to dissolve and unsticks from the toilet.
After a while, flush your toilet and hope for the best! If it doesn’t work at first, you can try repeating the process a couple of times, until everything clogging up the toilet is sufficiently loosened to be flushed away.
Household Bleach
Bleach is a must-have product at home, as it comes in handy for all sorts of cleaning. And it can also help unclog a toilet full of poop if need be! Bleach, is very slippery so that helps in the same manner as soap or detergent. This is an especially useful solution if your toilet is seriously clogged up.
Pour some bleach into the toilet bowl, and wait for it to take effect. It should help dissolve the clogged-up poop. After a while, flush the toilet several times in a row, and the problem should be solved!
Plunger is How to Unclog a Toilet with Poop Still in it
A plunger is specifically designed to help unclog toilets, so this is a pretty obvious solution. If you have a well-equipped bathroom, you should definitely have a plunger on hand.
To use it, place the plunger inside the toilet bowl and push it up and down repetitively. (Make sure you’re pushing it gently, or else you’ll be splashing yourself with the poopy water, which is definitely not ideal.)
You can also press the plunger against the exit hole, blocking the way and causing a vacuum. Once you remove it, everything will instantly rush to be flushed away.
The process might take a few tries, so just keep using the plunger until everything has been flushed away, and the toilet is unclogged.
Shampoo
A bottle of shampoo is a pretty common item to have in your bathroom, and it can actually help solve the clogged toilet issue!
To use this hack, just pour some boiling hot water down the toilet bowl. Then add some shampoo.
This will help soften and loosen the poop and whatever else is clogging up the toilet, and the water should gradually go down as things are able to be flushed away.
Just let it do its thing and come back to check on it after a while. Although be warned, this is usually a trick for toilets that aren’t clogged up that badly, so the results depend on how bad your situation is!
Toilet Auger
A toilet auger is a tool specifically designed for dealing with clogged-up toilets, and it is likely what the professionals will bring in if called. But if you happen to have one, why not use it yourself?
You have to insert it into the toilet and twist it so that the cable gets in as deep as possible. This will break up the poop and the rest of the clog into smaller pieces, so that they can all be flushed down a lot easier.
And as it’s a tool for toilets, there is no risk of it harming the toilet whatsoever! Just be gentle with it so that it doesn’t end up splashing you with the contaminated poop water.
Coat Hanger for Clogged Toilet
If your toilet is seriously clogged up by poop, and the usual hacks aren’t working, you might have to go in a bit deeper. (Definitely wear a good thick pair of gloves for this one.)
Use a plier to unwrap the hanger and to shape it so that it ends up looking like a medium-sized hook. Then wrap it in some cloth, rag, or plastic, so that the sharpness doesn’t damage the toilet by scratching it.
Then you’ll have to insert the hook you’ve created into the bowl, and keep pushing it so that it follows the exit hole.
Keep going until it makes contact with whatever is blocking the toilet, then push harder. Hopefully, this will push the obstruction out, so that it’s flushed away and the toilet is functional once more.
Vacuum Valve
Using a vacuum can be a very effective way to unclog your toilet, but you shouldn’t use your normal vacuum cleaner for this (for obvious reasons).
Instead, use a wet-dry vacuum. If you don’t have one you might be able to borrow one or rent one from nearby!
First, you have to empty the toilet bowl of all the water, and you can do so by using the hose. Then you create a seal, by wrapping the hose with a rug or similar material with good rubber backing.
Finally, push the vacuum a few inches into the toilet hole and then turn it on.
This should create a powerful vacuum effect and flush everything right down, so the blockage is gone. Please wear gloves while doing this, just in case!
In Conclusion
If your toilet becomes clogged with poop and water, there’s no need to panic.
There are quite a few hacks that you can try, using items that you are likely to already have at home.
Try them multiple times, or work your way down the list of solutions. And hopefully, you should have a functioning toilet again in no time, without the need to call in a professional!