How to Unclog a Toilet Safely

Knowing how to unclog a toilet starts with stopping the water before it reaches the floor, then using the right plunger the right way. Most clogs are a wad of paper or something that never should have been flushed, and they clear in a few minutes. This guide covers the safe order of fixes, from a flange plunger to a closet auger, and the signs that the real problem is your main sewer line.

TL;DR

If the bowl is rising, take off the tank lid and press the flapper down, or close the supply valve behind the toilet by turning it clockwise.
Use a flange (toilet) plunger, not a flat sink plunger. Seal it over the outlet and work it with steady push-pull strokes.
For a stubborn clog, add a generous squirt of dish soap and a pot of hot (not boiling) water, wait about 10 minutes, then plunge again.
If plunging fails, a closet auger reaches deeper without scratching the bowl.
If tubs, sinks, and floor drains also gurgle or back up, stop using water and call a plumber or your sewer utility.

Why Toilets Clog
Symptoms and Likely Causes
How to Unclog a Toilet, Step by Step
What Not to Do
When to Call a Professional
How to Prevent It
FAQ

Why Toilets Clog

Every toilet has a curved channel built into the porcelain called the trapway, and its tight bends are where most clogs lodge. Knowing what is stuck there tells you which fix to try first.

Wipes and Other Things That Don’t Break Down

Toilet paper is made to fall apart quickly in water. Wipes, paper towels, facial tissues, cotton swabs, tampons, and dental floss are not, and American Standard lists several of these as common clog causes. They snag in the trapway and catch everything flushed after them.

Wipes sold as “flushable” are no exception. The National Association of Clean Water Agencies describes a field test in which toilet paper had broken apart after 30 minutes in a real sewer while a “flushable” wipe was still whole. Wastewater utilities, including the City of Greenfield, Indiana, list wet wipes among the top causes of blockages.

Too Much Paper in One Flush

Even toilet paper can jam the trapway if a large wad goes down at once. This type of clog usually responds well to plunging.

A Solid Object

Toys, phones, toothbrushes, and pen caps end up in toilets more often than anyone admits. Korky, a toilet-parts maker, advises checking for an object first and pulling it out by hand with gloves if you can reach it. Plunging can push a hard object deeper, where it is harder to remove.

Older Low-Flow Toilets

Federal law has required new toilets to use 1.6 gallons per flush or less since the Energy Policy Act of 1992. According to the EPA, some early-1990s low-flow models with small tanks often needed more than one flush. If your toilet dates from that era and clogs often, the design may be part of the problem.

Today’s EPA WaterSense-labeled toilets must pass a tougher test: clearing 350 grams of test media in at least four of five flushes. A modern efficient toilet that clogs constantly usually points to what is being flushed or to a drain problem.

A Blocked Main Sewer Line

Sometimes the toilet is fine and the blockage is in the sewer lateral, the pipe that carries all of your home’s wastewater out to the city main. Greenfield’s wastewater utility lists the warning signs: slow drains throughout the house, gurgling drains or toilets, odors, and backups in several fixtures at once.

If only your bathroom sink is sluggish and the toilet flushes fine, that is a separate problem; see our guide on why your sink drains slowly and how to fix it.

Symptoms and Likely Causes

Symptom	Likely cause	DIY or pro?
Bowl fills high, drains slowly over a few minutes	Partial clog of paper or waste in the trapway	DIY: plunger
Bowl won’t drain at all after plunging	Wipes, a wad of paper, or an object deeper in the trapway	DIY: closet auger
Clog came right after a child was in the bathroom	Toy or other solid object	DIY if reachable by hand or auger; pro if stuck
Same toilet clogs every week or two	Habitual wipes or heavy paper use, an older low-flow design, or a partial blockage downstream	DIY changes first; pro if it continues
Tub or shower gurgles or backs up when you flush	Blocked main sewer line or lateral	Pro
Sewage coming up in a floor drain or the lowest fixture	Main line or city sewer backup	Pro and utility, right away
Strong sewer smell with slow drains	Main line or lateral problem	Pro

How to Unclog a Toilet, Step by Step

Tools and supplies: a flange toilet plunger (the kind with a soft extension sleeve below the cup), rubber gloves, old towels, liquid dish soap, a pot for hot water, and a closet auger (also sold as a toilet auger) if plunging fails. A bucket helps if the bowl is very full.

Safety notes: Wear gloves, since toilet water carries bacteria, and wash your hands well afterward. Keep the water supply off while you work. Don’t plug in a wet vacuum or other electrical tool while you’re standing in water.

Step 1: Stop the Water From Rising

Don’t flush again to see if it clears. American Standard specifically warns against repeated flushing, since each flush sends another tank of water into a bowl that can’t drain.

If the water is climbing now, lift off the tank lid. Delta Faucet’s advice is to push the flapper (the rubber seal at the bottom of the tank) down so it closes, or pull up on the float so the tank stops refilling. Then turn the oval supply valve on the wall behind the toilet clockwise until it stops.

Step 2: Protect the Floor and Check for Objects

Lay old towels around the toilet. With gloves on, check the bowl; if you can reach a toy or other object near the outlet, pull it out by hand rather than plunging.

If the bowl is filled to the brim, bail some water into a bucket so it is about half full. You need enough water to cover the plunger cup, but not so much that it splashes over the rim.

Step 3: Seal the Flange Plunger

Fold out the soft flange so it sticks down below the cup. Korky suggests lowering the plunger in at about a 45-degree angle so the cup fills with water instead of trapping air, which cuts down on splashing.

Fit the flange into the outlet hole, then bring the handle upright so the cup fully covers the opening. Without a tight seal, you’re just stirring water.

Step 4: Plunge With Steady Strokes

Push down gently on the first stroke to push out any remaining air, then work the handle in firm, controlled push-pull strokes. Korky notes that the pull is what creates the suction that loosens a clog, so don’t just jam downward. Keep the seal on the whole time.

Pause after several strokes and see whether the water level drops. American Standard says a tough clog may take 5 to 10 minutes of plunging and several rounds. If the water drains but slowly, plunge another round.

Step 5: Try Dish Soap and Hot Water

If the clog won’t budge, squeeze a generous amount of liquid dish soap into the bowl. Follow it with a pot of hot tap or stove-warmed water that is not boiling, poured from waist height so it doesn’t splash. American Standard recommends this combination and specifies water that is hot but not boiling.

Let it sit about 10 minutes. The soap makes the clog slippery and the warmth helps soften paper and waste. Then plunge again.

Step 6: Use a Closet Auger

A closet auger is a short, crank-handled snake built for toilets. Its cable is shorter than a sink snake’s and runs inside a bent housing that, as Lowe’s explains, keeps the cable from damaging the porcelain finish. A regular drain snake has no such housing.

With the supply valve off, pull the handle up to draw the cable into the tube. Set the curved end in the outlet with the bend aimed toward the back of the bowl, as Lowe’s instructs, and keep the metal tip off the porcelain.

Push the handle down to feed the cable in while turning the crank clockwise. When you feel resistance, keep cranking to bore into the clog or hook it. Once the water drains, retract the cable fully before lifting the auger out.

Step 7: Test, Then Restore Normal Use

Turn the supply valve back on counterclockwise and let the tank fill. Flush once and watch the bowl drain at its normal rate.

If you pushed the flapper or lifted the float in Step 1, check that the chain isn’t tangled and the float moves freely. A kinked chain can keep the flapper from sealing, which leaves you with a different problem; our guide on how to stop a toilet from running walks through that fix.

What Not to Do

Don’t keep flushing a clogged toilet. Each flush adds water with nowhere to go.
Don’t pour boiling water into the bowl. The manufacturer instructions we found call for hot, not boiling, water.
Don’t use a flat-bottomed sink plunger. It can’t seal into the curved toilet outlet.
Don’t put a standard drain snake or a wire coat hanger into the bowl. Bare metal can scratch the porcelain.
Don’t reach for a chemical drain cleaner as a first step. If you try one, use only a product labeled for toilets and safe for your system, follow the label exactly, never mix it with another cleaner, and never plunge or auger afterward. Lowe’s warns that leftover chemical in the bowl can splash onto you.
Don’t keep running water anywhere in the house if several drains are backing up. You’ll only push more wastewater toward the blockage.

When to Call a Professional

A plunger and a closet auger handle most toilet clogs. Call a licensed plumber, and in some cases your sewer utility, if you notice any of the following:

The toilet is still clogged after a full round of plunging, the soap and hot water method, and a closet auger.
An object is stuck and the auger can’t hook it or bring it back.
Flushing makes water rise in the tub or shower, or other drains gurgle when the toilet runs.
Several fixtures are slow or backing up at once, especially floor drains or a basement shower.
You smell sewer gas. Korky advises opening a window and calling a plumber.
The same toilet clogs repeatedly even though only toilet paper goes down it.

If sewage is coming up into the house, stop using all water right away. The City of Wentzville, Missouri, advises shutting off water use, calling the city’s wastewater line so crews can check the public main, and contacting a plumber for the private service line. It also recommends calling your insurer promptly, and it warns of shock and contamination risks in a flooded basement.

Cities such as Wentzville and Greenfield maintain the public sewer main but leave the lateral from your house to the main to the property owner. Renters should call their landlord or property manager first.

How to Prevent It

The simplest rule comes from the wastewater industry itself: toilets are not trash cans. Flush only toilet paper and human waste.

Put a small lidded trash can next to every toilet for wipes, tissues, floss, cotton swabs, and menstrual products.
Treat “flushable” wipes like any other wipe and put them in the trash.
Flush partway through if you use a lot of paper, rather than sending one big wad down.
Keep cooking grease out of all drains. Greenfield’s utility notes that grease builds up and blocks the sewer lines your toilet drains into.

If an early-1990s toilet clogs constantly, replacing it may be the lasting fix. American Standard suggests upgrading older, weaker-flushing toilets to a newer high-performance model. Look for the WaterSense label, which means the model passed EPA’s flush performance test while using less water.

A sewer smell that lingers after the clog is gone is often a separate issue, such as a dry trap in a rarely used drain. Our guide on how to get rid of drain smell covers the common causes.

FAQ

How do you unclog a toilet when the water is almost to the top?

Don’t flush. Press the flapper closed, shut the supply valve, and bail the bowl down to about half full before plunging.

How do you unclog a toilet without a plunger?

Try a generous squirt of dish soap and a pot of hot, not boiling, water, then wait about 10 minutes. This can loosen a soft clog of paper and waste on its own. If it doesn’t, a closet auger is the next tool to try.

Will a toilet unclog itself?

A slow-draining clog of toilet paper may ease as the paper softens, which is why the soap and hot water soak helps. Wipes, paper towels, and solid objects won’t break down, so they need a plunger or auger. Either way, don’t flush again until the bowl has drained to its normal level.

Can I use Drano or another drain cleaner in a toilet?

Some drain cleaners are labeled for toilets, but they’re a last resort, not a first step. If you use one, follow the label exactly and do not plunge or auger afterward, because the chemical can splash onto your skin or eyes.

Why does my toilet gurgle when I run the shower or sink?

Gurgling across several fixtures often means the main sewer line or lateral is partly blocked, so air and water are being pushed back through other drains. Utilities list gurgling, slow drains throughout the house, and backups in multiple fixtures as warning signs. Limit water use and call a plumber to inspect the line.

How to Unclog a Toilet: Plunger, Auger, and When to Call a Pro