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Step 1
Buy a plunger before you need it. There is nothing worse than having your toilet clog up and not having a plunger on hand to fix it. If you need some motivation to go to the store, just imagine that you have a houseful of guests. You excuse yourself to use the bathroom. Then, you run out of the bathroom, tell them you'll be right back and return in ten minutes with a brand new plunger. Not embarrassing at all, right?
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Step 2
Know your plungers. Believe it or not, there are actually two different types. A sink plunger has a rubber cup with a flat rim and no flange. It's most often used on sinks, showers and bathtubs. A toilet plunger has a flange in the middle of the rubber cup. The flange is designed to fit inside the bottom of a toilet bowl.
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Step 3
Decide which type of plunger—toilet or sink. You may want to think about size, too. There are different sizes of rubber cups and some plungers have longer handles than others. The longer the handle, the more "powerful" the plunge. Hopefully a regular-sized plunger is adequate for your needs.
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Step 4
Go to a hardware store and find the plunger section. You may want to pick up a few other things, too. Running up to the checkout line with only a plunger in hand is a little embarrassing—people will definitely give you weird looks. Of course, if you want to avoid this entire situation, just buy your plunger online.
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Step 5
Pay for your plunger and take it home. Hopefully you'll never have to use it!
