this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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YSK how to unclog a toilet (content.artofmanliness.com)
submitted 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) by SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works to c/youshouldknow@lemmy.world
 
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[–] wabafee@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

I would not brush my teeth on that sink ever.

[–] dgriffith@aussie.zone 37 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (7 children)

Australian here.

Step 1: design your damn toilets so they do not clog.

Step 2: there is no step 2.

Seriously, half a century of toilet use here in Aus and I've never caused - or discovered even - a blocked toilet at home.

Clearly the fact that I can buy a toilet plunger from the local hardware store indicates that this can happen here. But it seems that every American household has a toilet plunger and poop knife on standby and many articles are devoted to what clogs, and how to unclog, American toilets.

There are better designs for both toilets and plumbing out there guys, maybe you should look into using them.

[–] nexguy@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

It's not the toilets that clog, it's the pipes beyond. Thick toilet paper and tampons and tree roots breaking into pipes...etc are the culprits.

[–] MeatPilot@lemmy.world 16 points 17 hours ago

Maybe it's American diets and not the plumbing.

[–] Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 17 points 20 hours ago

sh itjust works

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 2 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Dude we put a pack of (not) flushable wipes and a dozen tampons down the drain, and all our shops have free public toilets

Good luck..

[–] Atropos@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

You've got it all wrong. We've got the exact same toilets! They just struggle with the compressed remains of my three brunch big macs....

[–] ScreamingFirehawk@feddit.uk 5 points 15 hours ago

You don't, American toilets are weird and siphon the bowl out before filling it with water. The better design dumps water into the bowl from the cistern and flushes everything through.

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[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 66 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Note to Australians. Your sewerage pipes are double the width of the USA's weak, inferior pipes. You may never need a plunger in your entire life.

Also, wet wipes are NOT flushable ANYWHERE, and if we didn't live in fake democracies ruled by corporations any company that labelled them as such would have been sued into bankruptcy decades ago.

[–] overload@sopuli.xyz 2 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Also see our traffic crossings, currency (notes), and preferential voting system for other things Australians do better than most of the rest of the world.

[–] prex@aussie.zone 16 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

That expains it. Never owned one, never needed one.
Thanks!

[–] last_philosopher@lemmy.world 12 points 17 hours ago

Be careful with the hot water. A friend cracked his toilet that way.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 27 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Hol up... You're supposed to heat the plunger up first? I can only assume it's to loosen up the rubber so it compresses better, but I've never felt like it was too stiff to not work.

[–] pg_jglr@sh.itjust.works 8 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

This was the part that I wouldn't do just because I view the sink as mostly clean and plunger as mostly dirty. So unless I were to sterilize the sink afterwards I wouldn't put a plunger in the sink.

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[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 15 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

It's to reduce the chance of it cracking as rubber gets brittle at lower temps; especially a shit batch of cheap dollar-store rubber. If it cracks it's useless.

[–] Signtist@lemm.ee 12 points 21 hours ago

I've never had a problem starting on step 4 and repeating a few times.

[–] ButWhatDoesItAllMean@sh.itjust.works 16 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

What about the poop knife?

[–] huquad@lemmy.ml 3 points 17 hours ago

Just one step. Superior really. Plus is that corn I see?

[–] ohellidk@sh.itjust.works 15 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

DO NOT use hot water to help unlog a toilet. I've had the porcelain crack from the heat, had to replace the toilet entirely. Lesson learned.

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 7 points 17 hours ago

Doesn't "hot water" refer to what you can get out of the faucet, so like 60 °C (140 °F), not boiling water?

[–] reattach@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

My kid flushed a rubber ball down the toilet before - it was exactly the right size and squishyness to get stuck. After trying many things, I was able to get it out by removing the toilet and pouring in boiling water - it softened the ball enough for it to be flushed out.

It sounds like I got lucky. It was a warm day iirc - maybe that helped with the thermal stress.

[–] MeatPilot@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Similar issue, my wife knocked the kids rubber ducky into the toilet well flushing it. A complicated maneuver because she hit it with her elbow knocking the ducky off the top of the tank exactly as she hit flush. Had to auger it to the bottom of the toilet and than unbolt it from the floor and yank it out from the bottom hole because it wouldn't go past the lip where the toilet met the drain. Honestly probably better it didn't go into the pipes and get jammed somewhere else I suppose.

Guess I did all the way up to step 7?

And, yes I remind her of this folly regularly.

[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 14 points 23 hours ago (3 children)

Real men just reach in there and pull the blockage out.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 13 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I thought the first image in the thumbnail was flicking the turd!

[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

Is that like flicking the bean?

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 4 points 21 hours ago

Only rectally

[–] xylol@leminal.space 3 points 21 hours ago

You do one then the other

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[–] Ceruleum@lemmy.wtf 1 points 14 hours ago

That's gay.

[–] JustJack23@slrpnk.net 5 points 22 hours ago

Or use a straw...

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

You will never clog a toilet if you get a bidet. Putting tons of TP in is how you get clogs.

[–] Scolding7300@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

You don't have to use that much tp regardless of the bidet, and not use "flushable" wipes

[–] Apepollo11@lemmy.world 8 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (4 children)

Yikes. What are you flushing down your toilet that you need a auger to unclog it?

[–] FurryMemesAccount@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

This is for Americans. Many of them are dumb enough to flush wet wipes.

[–] fahfahfahfah@lemmy.billiam.net 9 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Canadian here, recently had to get the toilet auger out because no one else in my house seems to understand you can’t flush wipes, no matter how much I tell them

[–] TheEntity@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago

European here, I just had a particularly nasty shit this afternoon. The auger was my hero.

[–] Olap@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

They are unclogging it next time then surely

[–] fahfahfahfah@lemmy.billiam.net 5 points 22 hours ago

You know what, you’re god damn right they are

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[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

There is always the possibility the clog isn't in the toilet itself but further down the drain. You can test this by running faucets and seeing if the sinks drain properly

[–] mattd@programming.dev 1 points 6 hours ago

Yeah, I recently learned that if you use a plunger when the clog is down the drain pipe, then it can blow the wax seal on the toilet, leading to bigger problems later

[–] Crazyslinkz@lemmy.world 5 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Step 1 sounds funny to me. I would think it's turn the water off, not remove top tank.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 7 points 23 hours ago (17 children)

Top of the tank, as in the lid, so you can close the flapper and prevent the bowl from overflowing.

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[–] saltnotsugar@lemm.ee 3 points 21 hours ago

A cheap method to unblock anything:

  • Remove any loose material.
  • Now pour 30 gallons of jet fuel in the area.
  • Ignite it but stand back at least a few feet.
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