Reply #7: Plunger, toilet snake, check pipe slope; then consider removing [View All]

Remember that plunger action includes the suction stroke, as well as the push stroke

Toilet snakes do a great job. Buy one with a half-inch cable; the 3/8" ones can spring around themselves and double-wind if they are pushed too hard. Spray the cable with a spray lubricant before you put it away, to keep it from rusting.

There's a small round opening at the base of your toilet, where everything flows into the waste pipe. I've seen cases where objects get lodged against that opening, and can't be removed except by taking the toilet off and physically pulling it out. Cotton swabs, tampon cardboards, little straws- the toilet snake goes past them and clears the clog. Then it clogs up again. Clear it out, and it clogs again.

I work at an old-fashioned San Francisco building materials store. I try to steer people away from Home Depot and towards their local businesses.