toilet plunger goes "inside out" - cannot plunge toilet

October 31, 2016 3:42 PM

Help, I broke my original plunger (which I found out is a sink/shower plunger) so I bought the most expensive flange plunger the store had. I fill plunger with water, get a good seal (I think, can't see), and push down slowly, but when I come back up the plunger has partially popped "inside out" if you know what I mean and breaks the seal so I can only do one plunge at a time. I have had no luck googling. What do I do? How do I unclog this?

There is ONLY toilet paper (plus human stuff) clogging it, no toys or menstrual items or anything like that. The water is up to the rim. I am trying to avoid calling the landlord For Reasons.

posted by AFABulous to Home & Garden (31 answers total)

Get a new toilet plunger, or plunge very, very gently many times and see if that will do it.

In my experience, paying more for a toilet plunger means better quality.
posted by nosila at 3:51 PM on October 31, 2016

Best answer: I know you already bought a plunger, so take my response with a grain of salt, but we have an accordian-style one that works really well. It is not the old-school plunger style. It looks like this. Good luck!
posted by onecircleaday at 3:52 PM on October 31, 2016 [3 favorites]

Googling suggests that you only partially fill a flange plunger with water and leave some air room.

Caveat, I've never used a flange plunger and just a regular old style cheapo and never had a problem and just left it full of air.
posted by TheAdamist at 3:54 PM on October 31, 2016

Best answer: What onecircleaday said. Our apartment building seems plagued by cloggy plumbing; we found that the "accordion" style of plunger worked a whole lot better than the rubber-cup style. More volume per plunge, plus it doesn't do the inside-outy thing. Works best if you tilt it before the first plunge to let the accordion fill with water. Cheap at Home Depot etc -- this is the one we have.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 3:58 PM on October 31, 2016

if it's tp + human stuff only, i'd wait a while (like, overnight) and then try again (pee in the shower).
posted by andrewcooke at 3:59 PM on October 31, 2016 [2 favorites]

This lady doesn't seem to fill hers with water, just pushes it into the water.

Here's another video with the technique I'm familiar with.
posted by Squeak Attack at 4:00 PM on October 31, 2016

I don't think you're supposed to plunge it all the way down. Whenever I plunge a toilet (using a SimpleHuman brand toilet plunger), I have to repeatedly and vigorously do little plunges. (Motion like this.) If your toilet bowl is already full, this may mean that gross water gets splashed out and you will have to clean that separately.
posted by ethidda at 4:01 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

I have much better luck with a flange plunger filled with air. It's the accordion style that does better when filled with water.
posted by quince at 4:01 PM on October 31, 2016

I've used flange plungers successfully before and never knew you were supposed to do anything different with them like filling with water or have the flange thing sticking out, so if the "right" way isn't working I'd try using it just like the other kind of plunger.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:03 PM on October 31, 2016 [2 favorites]

You're going to have to unpop the plunger before you use it again. You can pull it over the toilet bowl edge to unpop it, then try plunging again.
posted by ShooBoo at 4:05 PM on October 31, 2016

Response by poster: ShooBoo so nothing really gets plunged. It's the upward motion that sucks the clog back out. I can't make the upward motion because the thing is popped, thus it has lost its seal.

Squeak Attack, tried those.

Every downward stroke I make just inverts the top of the plunger. Here's a very bad drawing.
posted by AFABulous at 4:20 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

In the meantime, put a squirt of dishwashing detergent in the toilet. Then pour in slowly one gallon of boiling water. Wait a while and give it some time, and see if the toilet water level goes down. If it did then give it a flush, and do that whole thing again.
posted by Oyéah at 4:25 PM on October 31, 2016 [2 favorites]

That's not how a plunger works. Basically, the jolt of air and water pressure from each plunge pushes on and breaks up the clog. Nothing gets sucked out. The upward motion doesn't do anything but release the pressure so you can compress it again.
posted by muddgirl at 4:25 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: muddgirl so by upward motion you mean taking it out, there is no other upward motion I can do because it is inverted

Let me try to make this real simple for everyone

1. I put the plunger in the toilet, trying to make a seal
2. I push down. Slowly, rapidly, sofly, hard, MAKES NO DIFFERENCE
3. the plunger inverts.
4. the seal is lost
5. pulling upward just pulls it out
6. I un-invert the plunger by tapping it against the rim of toilet
7. go to 1
posted by AFABulous at 4:28 PM on October 31, 2016

Best answer: Here is my advice: Don't plunge gently. IDK WTF WRT a plungerful of water, I've always used an accordion-style one with just air pressure. If you have a partial blockage in your pipe, slow plunging may not be enough to fully break the clog. It may reseal or have enough space to let the slow plungerful of air through without really taking care of the block. Get in there and PLUNGE-A-PLUNGE-A-PLUNGE-A-PLUNGE-A-PLUNGE as hard and vigorously as you can. This helps with keeping a tight seal between plunger and bowl as well. Call a Trusted Friend if you can't vigor-plunge. Buy them dinner.
posted by boo_radley at 4:28 PM on October 31, 2016 [5 favorites]

OK can't explain the plunger but can explain a good nonplunger unclog method that has worked for me a few times when I had bad clogs. Pour about a third or half bottle of dish detergent in the bowl. Follow with a half bucket of very hot water. Let it sit for half an hour. Flush. Repeat if it doesn't work the first time. The bonus is besides unclogging, toilet is then gleamingly clean. There are several videos about this online but that is essentially it.
posted by madamjujujive at 4:32 PM on October 31, 2016

So with your update, it sounds like you got a bad plunger. Where did you go to buy it? The grocery store doesn't have the really good ones. I had to get mine from Bed Bath and Beyond (assuming one such is near you).
posted by ethidda at 4:33 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

AFABulous: "5. pulling upward just pulls it out
6. I un-invert the plunger by tapping it against the rim of toilet"

Man, this kinda sounds like a rum plunger.
posted by boo_radley at 4:34 PM on October 31, 2016 [2 favorites]

Sounds like a closet snake (aka "toilet auger") might be a better tool for this situation? I don't know if you can get your hands on one of those easily.
posted by rmd1023 at 4:34 PM on October 31, 2016

Try manually draining some of the water from the toilet bowl (I know it's gross) until it's halfway full or so. If the toilet is full to the rim, I suspect when you are plunging down the water above the cup is breaking the seal.

Also, visually inspect the rubber and look for any tears or cracks that could be letting water out and breaking the seal.
posted by muddgirl at 4:37 PM on October 31, 2016

I would return plunger and get the old cheap kind. Then I woul drain some of icky water, add vinegar, baking sofa, and dish soap- however not too much..because the BS and vinegar are going to rumble, then add boiling water, and finally plunge again.

This is my routine for bad clogs. It works or it doesn't , if something besides paper and poop are causing a problem. Good luck.
posted by cairnoflore at 4:49 PM on October 31, 2016

Don't push it in until it pops! Push it *shallowly*, repeatedly, quickly. Good luck!
posted by Specklet at 5:00 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

Don't pour really hot water down it, you'll melt the wax sealer ring!
posted by mareli at 5:03 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

I suggest getting a Korky Beehive plunger, sold at The Home Depot. It fits standard and newer keyhole toilets. It is forms a very tight seal regardless of hole shape and creates a lot of pressure.... I speak from experience.
posted by walkinginsunshine at 5:40 PM on October 31, 2016

mareli, I used just tap water hot in my method. The detergent lubricates the clog; the hot water helps to deliver the detergent, push it down. It may not work in this case but since I learned it I've passed trick on to 5 or 6 others it has worked for. I fail at plunging.
posted by madamjujujive at 5:41 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

I vote for defective plunger. If you want to increase the effectiveness of the seal, take some detergent and run it along the edge of the plunger (where it touches the bowl) and see if that helps...
posted by NoDef at 5:46 PM on October 31, 2016

yeah, you're not trying to suck anything UP from the toilet-- you're trying to push it PAST the U-bend with quick gurgling thrusts of water. The whole cartoon-image of a toilet plunger being like a suction cup is kinda erroneous.
posted by The otter lady at 6:00 PM on October 31, 2016

Response by poster: okay I have used 3 plungers - bellows, beehive, plunge it. I hav tried baking soda and vinegar and boiling water. I have tried a zip it. it is just toilet paper ffs. now what. plumber? random handy person from craigslist? will they come over at 8:30 pm?
posted by AFABulous at 6:20 PM on October 31, 2016

I know this won't help renters very much, but just a note to say that after about 8 years of living with toilets often in need of plunging, we replaced all three of them early this year with new Gerbers and have not had to plunge since then. Basically, in the 90s toilet manufacturers put out a lot of crappy models that were low-flow in terms of saving water, but poor flush in terms of engineering the outflow. They have that puppy tamed now. Your investment of a couple C-notes into a new toilet means you may never plunge again.
posted by beagle at 6:24 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Crisis over. Lots and lots and lots of vigorous plunging with the bellows plunger did it. Like LOTS. VIGOROUS. LOTS.

Thanks everyone, sorry I was cranky, got some unrelated bad news.
posted by AFABulous at 6:49 PM on October 31, 2016 [13 favorites]

Plumbing always makes for cranky. Glad you resolved it.
posted by Vaike at 7:02 PM on October 31, 2016