Frequently Asked Questions about Blocked Toilets

The recipe is 1 cup of baking soda and 2 cups of vinager. If you don’t have either of these or would prefer to use them for cooking, you could try a good squirt of dishwashing liquid. Give both methods a bit of time to work – about 20 minutes to a half hour. These remedies will do nothing for a serious blockage.

That depends on what is blocking the toilet. Things that are soluble, like toilet paper will break down over time, with the proviso that the more paper, the longer the time. A toilet blocked with a lot of paper will eventually unblock, but who wants to spend a couple of weeks or months or even longer waiting?

All sorts of things can block a toilet, but the most common is simply too much toilet paper. Tissues and wipes are also major offenders. The tablets of scent and disinfectant hung under the rim can sometimes come loose and cause a blockage too.