How to Unblock a Toilet, With or Without a Plunger

Most blocked toilets are a plug of paper or wipes sitting in the bend just behind the bowl, and most clear in a few minutes with the right technique. The important thing is not to flush again while the water is high.

Short answer: Do not flush. Use a toilet plunger with a flange that fits into the outlet, pushing down gently first and then pumping firmly ten to fifteen times. Without a plunger, add washing-up liquid and a bucket of hot (not boiling) water and wait 20 minutes, then try a toilet brush or a cloth-wrapped wire hanger. If other drains in the house are also slow, the blockage is further down and a plunger will not reach it.

First: stop it overflowing

If the bowl is close to the rim, take the cistern lid off and lift the float or turn the isolating valve on the supply pipe a quarter turn, so it cannot refill. Put old towels around the base. Rubber gloves are worth wearing for every step that follows.

With a plunger

A toilet plunger has a flange, a soft cup with an extra lip, that seals into the outlet; a flat sink plunger does not seal properly. Make sure the cup is under water. Push down slowly at first to push out the air, then pump firmly in and out, keeping the seal. After ten or fifteen strokes, pull it away sharply. When the water level suddenly drops, the blockage has moved. Flush once to check, with the cistern lid off so you can lift the float if the water rises again.

Without a plunger

1. Washing-up liquid and hot water. Squeeze in a generous amount of liquid, then pour a bucket of hot tap water from waist height. The weight of the water and the soap help soften and slide the blockage. Give it 20 minutes.
2. The toilet brush. Push the brush head into the outlet and work it in and out like a plunger. It is less effective, but often enough for a paper blockage.
3. A wire coat hanger. Straighten it, wrap the end in a cloth so it does not scratch the glaze, and feed it gently around the bend to break up the blockage.

What not to do

• Boiling water: it can crack the pan.
• Repeated flushing: each flush adds water to a bowl that cannot drain.
• Mixing chemicals: if an unblocker or bleach is already in the bowl, do not add another product, and take care plunging, because it splashes. London Fire Brigade’s advice is to rinse one chemical away before using another, and to leave and call 999 if fumes are produced.

When it is not the toilet

If the bath, shower or basins are also draining slowly, the toilet gurgles when they empty, or water rises in the pan when another fitting is used, the blockage is in the shared drain, not the toilet. Our guide on how to unblock a drain covers that, and if the toilet is overflowing and will not clear, our overflowing toilet service can help.