Keeping toilets unblocked

CruisingSaver

A handy trick that I've used once or twice is to put a mop inside a plastic bag (carrier or bin bag) and use it as a plunger - works a treat!


Make sure the bag doesn't have any holes or tears though!


CS

HappyMJ

pogofish wrote: »

Give it out to him one square at a time - in advance!

My partner would leave me if I did that. We stayed in a hotel a little while back and she used an entire roll in one night. I go through one roll per week.

Premium paper does break down it just takes a little longer. Switching from supermarket paper to premium paper you've got to cut down the number of sheets per wipe and she doesn't get that and still uses the same as if she was buying budget paper which does break down very fast including in your hand when you're wiping (if you get what I mean).

LameWolf

Greyhound9 wrote: »

Yes my OH goes through toilet roll like there's no tomorrow. There is no telling him!

Ration it to three squares at a time - one up, one down, one polish,:D

Joking aside, ours blocks depressingly frequently - no idea why, we use @ldi loo paper, don't flush anything that shouldn't be flushed, and we're economical with the amount of loo paper we use.
We just keep a plunger handy, seems to be nothing else for it.

Greyhound9

However all the plungers about seem to have really shorts handles! Need to find one with a long enough one.

suki1964

Having a septic tank soon teaches you what can be flushed or not

Nothing other then bodily waste or white loo roll gets flushed here

I've even got to keep on top of the shower waste, hair going down soon blocks the outlet pipe

pigpen

Greyhound9 wrote: »

However all the plungers about seem to have really shorts handles! Need to find one with a long enough one.

swap the short handle for a broom handle.

I dose mine with harpic fairly often (daily) and it rarely blocks.. it is flushed an awful lot though and often without paper in at all.. I think its a matter of keeping the water flowing.. to wash away sticky particles ... a bucket of water every day should help or extra flushes.. these newer toilets don't seem to have the same power behind their flushes

trolleyrun

Years ago I lived in a fairly dingy and old flat with a loo that blocked easily. Turned out the was a small crack in the pipe and the loo paper was snagging in it. Possibly worth investigating if you can?

VfM4meplse

Greyhound9 wrote: »

However all the plungers about seem to have really shorts handles! Need to find one with a long enough one.

Agreed. You don't want a:


You need a good old-fashioned:


B&Q was my first port of call, and failed miserably. This is where small hardware stores come into their own.

ETA: mine blocked once after nearly 15 years, and its not an experience I want to repeat!

allybee101

As others have said, only toilet paper and bodily waste should be flushed.
If there's nothing else being flushed then it could be limescale build up, or the drain may have collapsed in and be causing problems.


My work relates to water quality and I have visited various sewage treatment works. Cotton buds are one of the prevailing items that people flush and they are always found on the screens at the start of the works. I have also been down one of Joseph Bazelgette's Victorian storm sewers in London. These are brick lined and one of the major issues is cotton buds getting stuck in the gaps between bricks. Wet wipes then snag on these and then any fats and grease in the water accumulate which produces 'fatbergs'. Only google these if you have a strong constitution!
False teeth, phones and jewellery are regularly recovered when the engineers do maintenance!

You could perhaps try some limescale remover if you think limescale is a problem. Just make sure that you don't mix chemicals if you try several things - this can produce ammonia gas.

pennypusher

Sometimes when it is blocked but water is getting through you can tip a bucket of water down fairly quickly, that can be just enough to help the blockage on its way. For some reason it has more force behind it than a normal flush.