How to Clear a Toilet Clogged With Gel Caplets

Remove clogs from your toilet's plumbing through manual pipe clearing.

Eliminating gel caplets by flushing them down the toilet is never a good idea, as the caplets can break open and cause the gel to clog the toilet's plumbing. Once clogged, the toilet is unable to properly push waste and water through the pipes and can cause a backflow of water. Fortunately, manually clearing the toilet's pipes is possible through plunging for slight clogs or using a toilet auger for thick clogs.

Things You'll Need

• Ball plunger
• Toilet auger

Instructions

1. Insert the ball plunger into the opening of the toilet, and hold the plunger's handle tightly with both hands.

2. Push the handle down and up repeatedly to create a forceful suction. The suction action loosens the caplets in the plumbing by pushing and pulling the caplets through the pipes.

3. Flush the toilet to test its flushing performance. Insert the corkscrew end of the toilet auger into the toilet if the toilet remains clogged, and turn the auger's handle clockwise to push the auger through the pipes.

4. Turn the auger handle to the left to unscrew it from the toilet's pipes, and plunge the toilet with the ball plunger to loosen any remaining caplets.

5. Flush the toilet to clear out the toilet's pipes.

References

• Ace Hardware: Unstopping Clogged Drains, Toilets and Sewers
• Good Housekeeping: The Complete Household Handbook