I used to work at a kitchen and bath store. At that time, TOTO was the only brand that glazed their entire waist pipe.
Just be careful to not get hold of the wrong end of the stick!
I found myself reading this thread out of sheer curiosity regarding the type of answers. Some are truly worthy of comedy. The parents of the 5 year old were priceless in their disbelief.
After reading the whole thread, I am concluding that it may be a combination of three things: 1. TP use (I’m a folder, the DH is a wadder; he clogs, I don’t.), 2. low flow toilets, that have just enough energy to flush the solids but insist on shredding the TP so that it performs some uniquely choreographed ballet in the toilet bowl and 3. there is an unknown object lodged in the toilet which also causes water flow issues.
In a house that I lived in, new at the time of purchase by parent, the master bedroom ensuite toilet used to work just fine until a visiting relative attempted to helpfully change the toilet roll and the inner spring that is an integral part of the tension-rod mechanism in most toilet-roll holders of that design, flew out and disappeared down the toilet which was in mid-flush. Those tension-rods are easily replaceable, but the toilet was never quite the same and while I did not have frequent issues with it, my DH, then boyfriend, did. I had to teach him to quickly remove the tank lid and hold the ball-cock to halt imminent flooding. I also acquired a toilet plunger for his bathroom.
In one of the rental places we lived in, there was cause to change the toilet and also replace the bathroom floor round the toilet (That replacement of the floor was advised by the plumber as he was working on replacing the toilet because he could tell there was something lodged in the toilet by the way the toilet paper was behaving and he could not access the object.).
We currently live in an over 35 year old home. My toilet (I have my bathroom, he has his.) has been replaced due to cracks forming in the porcelaine, but his toilet has not been replaced and is original to the unit. He has a plunger living in his bathroom. I hear, with enough frequency to recognize the sound, the shlork-shlork of plunging in progress. In any place in which we have resided, where we do not know the prior provenance of the toilet, the DH has had “issues” that required the use of the plunger, while my use of the same fixture has not required similar “treatment”.
Toilet clogging has something to do with toilet paper use/configuration and water flow issues.
I think that people who say they are not using too much toilet paper, are in fact using too much TP.
In my old farm house I still have the old toilet, a 7 gallon flush, broken base in one spot, but I will never give it up for a new one.
You can get water flow issues two ways, both from limescale. One is a narrowed exit space, and the other is plugged holes where the water flows into the bowl. The second can be corrected with a particularly muscle-bound de-limer called Santeen. The first means a new toilet, and possibly new pipes.
Installing a new toilet without prior experience is not very difficult, but for replacing the waste pipe (between the toilet and soil pipe), I’d call a plumber, and that’s advice from someone who once owned a house I could not have afforded if I have not been willing to tackle just about anything DIY.
I’ve replaced joists, rafters, and adjacent parts, several feet of vent, water heater filaments, water pump switches, copper pipes with PVC above stairs and down, installed new breakers (and I don’t mean replacing bad ones), installed new outlets when I removed a broken hard-wired appliance, and the new one plugged in. I have removed every kind of clog, installed a hard-wired and plumbed dishwasher where there previously had just been one of the rolling kind you connect to the sink, upgraded outlets to grounded, replaced sinks, including the J-pipe, in addition to the toilet replacement.
I would not take on the toilet’s waste pipe. There’re year’s of combined limescale and human waste, with various pieces of other flushed things, because no one wants to replace these pipes, ever.
My FIL was a general contractor, and he was willing to do this job, so bigger companies sometimes sub-contacted portions of bathroom jobs to him, so he’d replace the soil pipe. I have heard tales from soldiers and EMT that were not as gory.
I agree. They don’t think they are, because they are using as much as they need to get clean, but for some reason, their cleaning needs are unusual. They don’t know it, because when would they ever compare?
Somehow they have to be told, or figure out, to flush a couple of times during the wiping process, and not just at the end, because “not enough” for their butt is still “too much” for the toilet.
As someone whose poops frequently clogs his own toilet, may I heartily recommend that y’all invest in a Pro Power Super Plunger. They look like a giant caulking gun, but they’re HIGHLY effective.
A normal plunger NUDGES the clog. A super plunger SHOVES the clog.
I thought using hot water in a toilet was ill advised, because of the risk of weakening the wax seal.
You’re probably aware of it, but others may not be - there’s a great book called Bitter Pills by Stephen Fried about harmful medicines, which he researched and wrote after his wife had severe, possibly permanent side effects after taking only 2 (I think - it’s been a long time) doses of Cipro.
Cipro has saved me from horrible pain from raging bladder infections that could have moved to my kidneys. I’m allergic to Macrobid, and a couple of other possible antibiotics trigger IBS. My doctor has tried using things besides cipro, because he doesn’t want me to become allergic to it, but there doesn’t seem to be anything else I can take.
Fortunately, after a few years of infection after infection, a preventative came on the market, and I’ve had just a couple of bladder infections since I’ve been on it.
So, YMMV. Just didn’t want anyone who might be prescribed Cipro in the next few weeks to worry.
It seems that toilets are more prone to clog in the USA than here in the UK. These differences may well be due to different designs.
Most American toilets use siphoning or sucking action to forcibly draw the used toilet water through the toilet trap and into the attached sewer plumbing. The neck of the toilet hole is small enough to facilitate suction, a design choice that often necessitates the use of a plunger in the case of a clog.
European toilets typically utilize a wash-down flushing system in which water inside the toilet is forced out through water flowing from the rim of the bowl. The neck of the toilet hole tends to be larger so there is less of a chance of clogs, but the bowls may require more frequent cleaning from any leftover residue.
Read More: What Is The Difference Between American And European Toilets?
You are more likely to find a toilet brush beside a UK toilet than a plunger. This is there to remove any unpleasant residue from the bowl.
This is not to say that toilets in the UK never clog, but the culprit is usually something being flushed that shouldn’t be in there. Wet wipes are the main culprit and should never be flushed.
I haven’t heard of the book but I’ll check it out. I was in misery, both intestinally but even worse, with severe joint pain for several weeks. I went from a person that nearly everyday was running, walking, hiking, biking or weightlifting, to someone that had severe pain getting out a chair and was in enough pain it was difficult to sleep.
The OP claims it happens no matter what toilet he’s using so I doubt it’s these issues.
I’m glad it works for you, but enough people have bad enough reactions to Cipro (which aren’t always reversible) that i honestly think anyone who has never taken it and does have it prescribed ought to push back and inquire about other options.
I keep both next to my toilet. Although honestly, i rarely use either. I use the brief more than the plunger, though.
And I’m sure i use “too much toilet paper”, and almost never clog toilets. Too much paper may be part of the issue, but it’s not the whole story, and probably isn’t the most important way in which he differs from other toilet-users.
I wish I knew about it beforehand because I wouldn’t have taken it. While the elevated pain in a lot of joints has gone down, my “base” arthritis seems to be quite a bit higher in my knees, neck and shoulders.