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Will Dishwashing Detergent in My Toilet Help Unclog It?

There are plenty of articles available about how to unclog your toilet without a plunger and which DIY hacks to unclog your toilet are best, but are any of them really effective? And are there any dangers in trying these?

One of the most commonly reported ways to unclog a toilet without a plunger is to squirt dish soap into the toilet and then pour hot water in and let it sit for a few minutes. Supposedly, you can then flush the toilet and the clog will magically disappear. Supposedly, the rationale is that the dishwashing detergent lubricates your pipes to get the clog moving. We do not recommend trying this for several reasons:

  1. Unlubricated pipes are not what is causing the clog. Compacted waste or toilet paper are the most common reason for toilet clogs, and the degreasing power of dish soap may eventually work on these items to help break them down, but you’d likely have to leave them there for a very long time for that to work.

  2. Dishwashing detergent causes bubbles – lots of them. If you try this idea and it doesn’t work, it’ll make it much more difficult to plunge the toilet because the soap will suds up and create bubbles that make visibility difficult. The slippery nature of the soap may also make it harder to get a good seal against the floor of the toilet when plunging. Trying this could render plunging less effective (or possibly useless).

  3. Sources that recommend using dish soap on your toilet clog suggest that you should follow that up by dumping hot water into your toilet. However, pouring hot water onto a clog is a very dangerous thing to do! If the clog remains after you have dumped hot water in, you will need to wait for it to cool completely before trying to plunge or snake your toilet, otherwise you could seriously burn yourself. Even if you don’t heat the water to boiling, it can easily get hot enough to burn your skin when pouring it in or trying to plunge it afterwards, either from direct contact or secondary splatter.

  4. If your clogged toilet is full of water, the addition of soap and more water can cause an overflow, which is especially dangerous when you’re increasing the temperature of the water in your toilet. When clogged toilet water overflows, it creates an unsanitary and unpleasant situation. Keep your toilet water off your floor by opting to work on the clog using the correct tools instead of makeshift products.

We really need to caution that there is always a risk when you’re pouring something down your toilet that doesn’t belong there. This could be dish soap or a number of other items that are suggested in online DIY home articles, like baking soda, vinegar, Epsom salts, or CLR-style cleaner.

Your toilet is meant to handle water, toilet paper, waste, and mild cleaners. That’s it! So, if you start pouring kitchen ingredients, harsh chemicals, or anything else crazy down there, you may cause a serious home plumbing problem. The espoused “natural toilet clog solutions” found online typically treat your toilet like a science lab, relying on reactions between components to occur and bust through clogs. Unfortunately, these reactions can quickly go awry, resulting in irreversible damage to your toilet and home plumbing. Trust us, calling a local plumber to come unclog your toilet is going to be a lot cheaper (and more pleasant) than calling an emergency plumber to have your toilet replaced after you’ve cracked the unit and water is leaking everywhere.

Additional resources:
Should You Plunge a Clogged Toilet?
Ways Plumbers Unclog Toilets
Drain Cleaning - Do This, Not This!
Snaking a Clogged Toilet
Should You Call an Emergency Plumber?
Do You Need to Replace Your Toilet?
What Does a Plumber Charge to Replace a Toilet?
Should You Do Your Own Plumbing Work?
Does Lime Out Remove Clogs?
Sewer Rodding FAQ
The Cost to Replace a Toilet Seal
Can a Plumber Fix My Toilet Problem?
Does Bleach Unclog a Toilet?