The worst thing about dealing with a clogged toilet is, hands-down, the mess. With a plunger and a little elbow grease, you can unclog the toilet and get on with life. But how does the toilet get clogged in the first place? Your innocent children would never commit such a crime, would they?
The Real Culprit
Children, especially little ones, are fascinated with the swirling action in the toilet bowl when it flushes. What’s more fun to play with than a bowl of water? They love to drop seemingly innocent but damaging items into the bowl of water and watch them disappear. From your perspective, however, this innocent fun can turn into a costly problem.
According to Family Feud, the game show that compiles data, these are the six top items kids try to flush:
- Toys: Action figures, toy cars, rubber duckies—you name it, and kids will try to flush it.
- Fish: Children may try to give their fish a new home in the toilet, which already looks a lot like a fish bowl.
- Pets: Yes, parents have testified to walking by their bathroom only to find a whimpering dog or cat caught in the toilet by someone with tiny hands and an inquiring mind.
- Food: You might think food is safe to flush down a toilet, but it’s not. Water-soluble foods, such as rice, expand when they sit in water.
- Jewelry: Lost your favorite necklace? Your toddler probably tried to give it a good cleaning when he dropped it down the toilet.
- Paper: Another expanding offender, paper can grow when it becomes wet, getting lodged into the toilet’s inner workings.
The list above may include the most popular items, but there are even more. Don’t think your tech gadgets are immune to sticky fingers. How fun is it to see if a smartphone or gaming device can float like a boat! Is nothing sacred?
Not everything kids try to flush comes from outside the bathroom. Kids can make a lot of trouble with one seemingly innocent item: toilet paper. Or rather, too much of it. It’s delightful to drop square after square of toilet paper into the toilet. It doesn’t take too much wadded and balled up toilet paper to form a clog.
Dealing with Clogs
The best way to avoid dealing with a clogged toilet is to make sure your kids never again flush a strange item. Show them how much toilet paper is appropriate to use, and teach them to layer the paper, instead of balling it up. Finally, use single-ply toilet paper instead of double-ply products. If all else fails, there’s no shame in getting a toilet lid lock.
If you find yourself staring at the toilet bowl in disbelief because of a messy clog, grab the plunger, and go to work. But if the toilet keeps clogging, call a plumber to get to the bottom of the problem.
For answers to your questions, contact the Pink Plumber today.
Image source: Flickr
