Will a toilet eventually unclog itself?

Upfront:

As long as everyone in the house is doing the right thing, not flushing what’s not allowed down the drain, then know that the only things in your clogged toilet are toilet paper and poo. 
This kind of toilet blockage can unclog itself when left after some time.

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Do you know that, at times, all you need to unclog a blocked drain is time? We all talk about the many techniques of unclogging a drain. You can check some of those techniques here. 

And many have hyped the all-mighty plunger. Legends say it can even unclog a clogged city sewer line. Alright don’t take my word for it.

But one question we’ve not given due attention to is: Will a toilet eventually unclog itself? What if you just leave the clogged toilet, go for the day’s activities and return at night. Will you find your toilet free and flushed on its own accord?

To answer this question logically, let’s see what causes toilet clog and how time can help the unclogging process.

Let’s dive in!

What causes toilet clog?

Put simply, clogging occurs when items get’s stuck in toilet bowl, the toilet traps, or somewhere along the drain line.

It is an indication that the water pressure was not sufficient enough to push the obstacles. Some times it is due to reduced water pressure. Many times it is becauses the obstacle is bigger that what the water was meant to flush.

What are toilet water meant to flush?

1. Human waste (pee and poo)
2. A little amount of toilet paper (tissue paper)

What toilet water are not meant to flush:

1. Flushable wipes (don’t mind the name, its a deception)
2. Food waste
3. And every other thing.

But you might be surprised to know that, many times, the things causing the blockage, are actually things that were meant to be flushed.

The number one culprit in this regard is the toilet paper. Although tissue paper, as it is sometimes called, was meant to be flushed, it can cause real blockage when used in large amount. How much is too much, we can’t say, but only the minimum amount to clean your underside, and a little more. 

Also when you eat heavily, and often accompanied with drinking little water, you will likely pass hard, long excrement into the toilet. 

This kind of excrement can get stuck in the toilet trap or even in the bowl itself.

And once an item gets stucked, it stops other items from going down, resulting in a bigger and stronger blockage.

So here’s the catch: 

As long as everyone in the house is doing the right thing, not flushing what’s not allowed down the drain, then know that the only things in your clogged toilet are toilet paper and poo. 

This kind of toilet blockage can unclog itself when left after some time.

Here is how it works!

How toilet unclogs itself

So the assumption now is that the cause of the blockage is a large amount of tissue paper and some hard-faced, no-smilling excrement.

1. As long as tissue papers are submerged in water, they will disintergrate (scatter to pieces)
2. Hard poo will eventually assorb water and breakup or float out.
3. If you have toilet clogs of this nature, simply leave the toilet as it is.
4. Ensure that there is water in the bowl (usually there is)
5. Ensure no one else uses the toilet during this time (this is common sense, but still need to reemphasize it)
6. Leave the clog for several hours.
7. You can simply go about with your other activities.
8. If you go to work, the time spent at work will be a fine opportunity to leave the toilet. Another option is to leave it overnight.
9. At the end of your wait period, return to the toilet. You should see floating tissue and/or excreta.
10. This is now the perfect time to perform a flush.
11. For better result, employ the use of a bucket. Load an 8 – 10-liter bucket of water
12. Pour this into the bowl with enough force (raise the bucket enough and pour a large quantity of the water at once). This will create more pressure than your standard wc flush system.
13. At this point the blockage should break up and the toilet flush of its accord.
14. Repeat the flush this time with the wc tank. This should help to clean up sediments or pieces of waste from the bowl.
15. Clean the rest of the bowl with a porcelain cleaner, and 
16. Hurray! Your toilet is good to go.

Many of the toilet flush fall into this category. The only problem is, people panic at the site of a blockage, and begin some despirate measures to unclog the devil in the toilet.

When in reality, all that was needed was time and a bucket of water.

How to resolve a recurring toilet clog

Again, the assumption is that nobody is flushing the wrong thing down the drain. But if you keep getting annoying clogs after recent successful unclogging attempts, here is what you should do.

1. I’m sorry to say this, but the first place to check is you. Check your eating habit, and ensure you drink more water during and after meals. Let’s just accept the fact that our water cannot flush our hard poos down the drain
2. Clean your toilet jet. It is likely that the jets are clogged with dirt and mineral deposit from your water source.
3. Keep a bucket handy. Bucket flush can create more pressure than wc’s tank flush. (remember to raise the bucket high and pour out a large amount out of the bucket)
4. Check for stuck items in the trap or drain. A stuck item in the toilet will keep causing repeated clogs until it is removed.
5. If everything else fails, please call a plumber. He is in the best position to diagnose the problem and fix it once and for all.

Conclusion

Not all problems need to be solved. Sometimes just ignore them and they’ll resolve themselves. Toilet clogs are a fine opportunity to apply this rarely applied principle.

So when next your toilet gets clogged, and you’re sure nothing fishy was flushed down the drain (by the way, do not flush literal fishes down the drain), just stay calm, go about your other activities, and let time do its job.

At the end of the day, you’ll thank me for saying that, ’the best healer of toilet clogs is time’.