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All this talk reminds me of cheap vs expensive toilet paper.
Once my husband and I were walking through the grocery store and I said "Oh, we need toilet paper!" and reached for my usual pick. My husband said, "OMG, we spend that much on toilet paper? Look at this single ply toilet paper - let's try that." I said, "OK - but you won't like it." He HATED it. The next time we went to the grocery store, he picked up the more expensive toilet paper. Ha!
At the beginning of COVID, during the TP shortage, I was forced to buy some one ply because that was all that was available. Fortunately I only had to use one roll before some of the good stuff was back in stock. Donated the rest to a food drive.
At the beginning of COVID, during the TP shortage, I was forced to buy some one ply because that was all that was available. Fortunately I only had to use one roll before some of the good stuff was back in stock. Donated the rest to a food drive.
I feel ya.
It was horrible. HORRIBLE. I am so spoiled.
I kept thinking about the woman who was imprisoned in China in solitary confinement for decades and she was only given two squares of one ply toilet paper per day. PER DAY. My gosh.
We’ve had to replace our plungers (regular old fashioned) with a different style. We’ve replaced all of our toilets with chair height elongated versions from Kohler. The old style plunger doesn’t work because it can’t seal the opening enough to push the water down the drain (just sloshes around in the toilet). So hopefully these new behave looking things will work (says it will)..
The open halfdome plungers are for use on SINK and SHOWER DRAINS, not modern toilets!
Toilet plungers now do look like a tapered beehive. They work well. Make sure you seal all the other bathroom drains first, before plunging, and plunge enough times before flushing.
I also follow up with a second plunge after the water has refilled the bowl and tank, even though the toilet water is clear. Gravity and water pressure help push the old junk the way they should flow.
I saw informercial for these toilet clog cannon, where you stick the curved "mouth" of the unit into the toilet hole and it fires off a strong beam of water (or air?) to force the clog thru the channel.
Does this work well? I imagine for something softer it's OK (informercial uses a piece of cloth). But if it were something hard, like a Thomas train toy, could this be disastrous?
All those "water cannon" things sound like a good way to cause unanticipated problems. Like: cracking a plastic or tile pipe; finding out the clog's downstream of another drain and blowing raw sewage all over the kitchen or bath tub; finding out there was a rubber-boot repair somewhere in the line by blowing the rubber boot apart; etc.,etc., etc.
Just snake the SOB out of there and be done with it. I think every homeowner needs to own:
- Plungers to fit each toilet, sink and tub drain in the house
- Closet auger
- Small snake
- Long snake
- heavy elbow length rubber gloves
I have a 100 footer that I only take out about every ten years, but it'll go clear from the cleanout next to the house to the main line in the alley, and when you really need it (like, tree roots) nothing else will do the job.
All those "water cannon" things sound like a good way to cause unanticipated problems. Like: cracking a plastic or tile pipe; finding out the clog's downstream of another drain and blowing raw sewage all over the kitchen or bath tub; finding out there was a rubber-boot repair somewhere in the line by blowing the rubber boot apart; etc.,etc., etc.
Just snake the SOB out of there and be done with it. I think every homeowner needs to own:
- Plungers to fit each toilet, sink and tub drain in the house
- Closet auger
- Small snake
- Long snake
- heavy elbow length rubber gloves
I have a 100 footer that I only take out about every ten years, but it'll go clear from the cleanout next to the house to the main line in the alley, and when you really need it (like, tree roots) nothing else will do the job.
A closet auger and small snake will do 90% of clog clearing. When a long snake is needed, then a power snake is generally required. Those are cheap rentals from a big box store and don't take up space for storage. Gloves? Gloves?? We don' need no steenkin gloves, we are the Federalies! If a clog is bad enough to need elbow length rubber gloves, a shower is indicated. Better some cheap utility gloves that give better protection from the twisting metal of the snake without worrying about punching a hole in a glove.
I totally agree with you about the pressurized "solutions." "Gee, we have a giant bolus of excrement clogging an old pipe that may have a weak joint or corrosion. I know! Let's pressurize that sucker and see what happens!"
"Fire in the hole!"
"Uh, hon? You know your model railroad layout in the basement? It has some new additions. Emma the dinosaur is going to need to pull the track cleaner for a while, and the boys at the roundhouse are gawking over the new big boy that was just delivered."
We recently had a clog in in the utility room toilet which has low pressure, and tried the big bucket of warm water dropped from up high - worked like a charm!
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