Toilet clogs are a pervasive plumbing issue experienced by most homeowners. Sometimes, it is an awful situation to find yourself. One that leaves you feeling awkward and outrageous as you stare at a toilet that won’t flush and without a toilet plunger to salvage the mess. Must you have wished for the problem to resolve itself?
A blocked toilet will typically unclog itself after a while. Most clogs are water-soluble, eventually breaking up in the toilet water. The weight of a flush is sufficient to clear the pipes of any blockage when given enough time.
Nevertheless, some things to consider before letting a clogged toilet unclog itself. Read on
Table of Contents
What Factors Can a Toilet Unclog Itself?
Before you let your blocked toilet fend for itself, consider these two factors:
- The cause of the clog
- How significant is the blockage?
What Would Cause The Clog?
The substance causing the clog must be organic and biodegradable for the toilet to unblock itself. Unfortunately, the bathroom won’t clear itself if you flush others apart from the human waste and tissue.
Things like diapers, feminine hygiene products, and flushable wipes can cause a clog and, worse, back up your septic system because they are non-degradable
These items require a plunger if they’ve blocked the toilet. You can stop flushing them all the same for your septic’s sake.
How Big Is The Blockage?
You need to assess how significant or vital the clog is. If your toilet backs up and drains gradually, it indicates you have a partial clog, meaning the clog will clear quickly and thus most likely unblock itself after some time.
Contrary, if the clogging is severe, there is no drain. As a result, the chances of unclogging itself are close to zero. Therefore, you would rather be safe by immediately fixing the issue using a plunger or other options, as discussed in our subsequent topics.
How Long Should You Wait For The Toilet To Unclog Itself?
If you’re wondering if the duration to let your toilet battle for itself before taking action, 30 minutes- 1 hour is adequate to liquefy the easily degradable clogs. Although if you fill, you should wait a bit longer, as long as 24 hours is enough to dissolve the most abundant organic toilet blockages.
If your toilet doesn’t unblock even by extension of time, you require further action to get it fixed.
What Can Happen When You Don’t Unclog Your Toilet?
Waiting to handle a toilet clog after some hours is harmless. All the same, longer waits can lead to issues you would want to avoid, such as:
Overflows- If your toilet contains a minor leak that runs continuously and it has clogged, allowing it some time to unclog will lead to a surge despite you not flushing.
Smells- Clogged toilets emit unpleasant smells when left for a few hours.
Bacteria growth- The dirty water in your toilet, if allowed to sit around over time, will enable bacteria to multiply, posing a health threat in case of an overflow.
Worsening clog- For non-solvent materials become more compact and worse over time. Sometimes, clogs may seem to have resolved themselves but turn into partial clogs.
Under the circumstances, the water-solvent bits break away from the water-insoluble parts creating a high chance of new clogs from the stuck substances.
How to Avert Your Clogged Toilet from Overflowing
Whether you will wait for your toilet to unclog itself or you have called a plumber to fix the problem, the goal is the same- prevent an overflow until a solution is found.
For this reason, ensure you keep your toilet tank from refilling while trying to get it unblocked. Nonetheless, the first important thing and quicker is not to flush a clogged toilet.
How to keep your tank from refilling
The simplest way is to cut off the water supply to your toilet by checking the toilet’s shutoff valve (switch behind the bathroom), tank float (rubber ball within the tank), and tank flapper (rubber disc inside the tank).
The shutoff/Toilet water valve allows water to flow into the tank. Hence, turning it off to the right will cut the toilet tank’s water supply, preventing an overflow and eliminating the need to use the tank flapper and float.
However, if the shutoff valve is no longer turning, you must resort to the tank flapper and floater for assistance.
Raise the Toilet float– The tank float’s role is to notify the tank to fill with water. When the level float in the tank goes below a certain level, you can stop it from topping up by holding the float up to stop the tank from filling.
The tank flapper regulates water flow to the toilet bowl, so holding it down with a finger or an object will help.
Turn off the Home’s mains- it is likely to be found near your water heater, either in a basement, a maintenance closet, or a garage. You can turn it off to restrict the water supply.
How to Clear Your Clogged Toilet without a Plunger?
There are different options you can unblock your toilet with the things that are right under your roof, such as
Toilet Brush
Even though the toilet brush may not drive as much water through the spouts with the same pressure as a plunger, it can produce sufficient force to get rid of the minor clogs.
Dish Soap
The slipperiness of the dish soap will assist in lubricating the clogged while allowing any lodged debris to slip down easily. Pour about a half-cup into the toilet or alternative. If you have no dish soap, chop hand bar soap into small chunks and drop them into the bathroom to ease the clog.
Baking Soda Mixture
Take a cup of baking soda and two cups of vinegar and pour the mixture down your blocked toilet. Allowing it to fizz for half an hour will dissipate the clog. If it doesn’t work, then try with a hot water method.
Hot Water
After all the above options and your toilet still, drain slowly, then pouring some hot water down the drain will aid in solving the clog.
It is not advisable to use boiling water because its shock could cause your toilet to crack. Instead, get some hot water from the shower or sink and pour it right in. However, do it cautiously to avoid an accident overflowing.
Sometimes, a toilet will unclog itself if natural materials like toilet paper and feces block your bathroom. This process will take an hour to 24 hours. As shared above, if you can’t wait to unclog the toilet, you can use other solutions to clear clogs. Most significantly, prevent clogs by ensuring you flush only biodegradable items down your toilet drain.