This can melt PVC piping and pipe seals, causing serious damage. In addition, using boiling water to clear a clogged toilet can melt the wax ring around the toilet, or even crack the porcelain bowl, leading to a pricey trip to your favorite hardware store.
Pour Hot Water into the Toilet
If you need to heat some in the microwave or the stovetop, you don't want it to reach boiling temperatures. Boiling water can cause toilet porcelain to crack. Allow the hot fluid to sit in the toilet for a few minutes to loosen the clog.
As HowStuffWorks explains, this is why pouring a cup or two of water in your toilet bowl won't generate a flush—it's not enough to fill the entire siphon and therefore cause the contents of your toilet to get sucked down. A couple gallons, on the other hand, will do the trick.
Soap and water
Add a half cup of dish soap to the toilet bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Flush to see if the soap cleared the clog. If the dish soap didn't do the job, add hot water. Pour the water in from about waist level—this will help create pressure and along with the dish soap, dislodge the clog.
Most of the time, accidentally flushing something down the toilet doesn't mean the object is gone forever. Usually, it's easier to retrieve your lost object than you may think. If you can still see the object at the base of the toilet bowl, then it's only partially flushed or didn't make it down.
Hot Water and Dish Soap
Heat up a gallon of hot water on the stove and pour some dish soap into your toilet while the water is heating up. When the water is extremely hot, but not boiling, pour into the toilet carefully. Wait for 10-15 minutes while the dish soap and hot water soften the clog.
Caustic Soda
Caustic soda is a nasty chemical that can burn, but it's very effective for unclogging toilets. To use this chemical, you need to get some rubber gloves and eye protection. You can pick up the chemical from the local hardware or grocery stores.
Mop the area with hot water and a mild detergent solution
Be sure to let the area rest for a few minutes before rinsing it off with the same solution and hot water. This will help to remove any remaining bacteria that could be causing the odor, while also disinfecting any surfaces.
Pour Water Into the Bowl
As counterintuitive as it sounds, dumping water into the toilet bowl simulates the effect of a flush and will force the majority of the water in the bowl down the drain. Fill up a 5-gallon bucket with about 3 gallons of water and pour it directly into the drain hole in the bowl.
You get one free flush after the power goes out with the tank that is already full of water. After that flush, the tank will not refill because there is no water flowing. Once you have flushed, pour the extra water supply into the toilet tank almost up to the overflow tube.
The Seals are Leaking
The standard toilet is designed with six seals, the largest of which is the one between the tank and the bowl. A break within this seal will cause a major leak within your toilet and may lead to water shooting directly upwards from the bowl each time you flush.
You can pour the water down the drain without removing the shower drain cover. Do not pour boiling water down PVC pipes, which can be damaged by the heat. This simple fix may or may not work, but it's worth a try. After the boiling water goes down the drain, run some water in the shower to see if the clog has cleared.
In modern houses some of the drain pipes are PVC plastic, and usually the boiling water will just flow through it without causing any damage. But if it goes through the pipe slowly the PVC could the deform.
If your drain is clogged with hair, baking soda can dissolve hair in a drain. To try this safe and easy method at home - first, pour a cup of baking soda down the drain. Then pour a cup of vinegar (white vinegar) down. Allow the mixture to sit for several minutes.
Using a plunger is one of the most effective methods used for unblocking a toilet as it can unclog a wide variety of waste pipes. Anyone unsure how to unblock a toilet at home should first use a plunger: Use the rubber end of the plunger to cover the outlet at the bottom of the bowl.
(Hot water helps break up toilet paper quicker and the soap lubricates the passage of solid material). If nothing has happened wait 10 minutes more. If still nothing has happened you will probably need to use a different method (or bail some of the water out and add more hot water/ soap).
If your clog is going to come out, it should happen in less than 10 minutes. If not, it's time to move on to a snake or call a plumber.
The toy may have passed through the pipes and into the sewer, which could cause a clog down the road. Consult with a plumber for advice. There are many things you can do to prevent your child from flushing toys down the toilet in the future.
Only flush the 3 P's: pee, poo, and paper (toilet paper). Toilet paper is specifically designed to break down in the water. Although paper towels, napkins, and facial tissue appear to be of the same material, they do not disintegrate in water the way toilet paper does.
So, when you flush the toilet, it needs water to fill up the tank. The toilet gets the water from the trunk pipe and, if you're showering during this time the shower will have less cold water coming from the trunk pipe. Therefore, the shower's temperature will heat up!