I live in an old house, and renovations are just not an option for me. Being savvy is the best thing we can do until our toilets have no choice but to be replaced.
Here's how you fix all your common toilet troubles. The best part is for most of them you don't need to leave your house to buy anything new!
1. Clean the bowl without a brush
It comes as no surprise that your toilet bowl is full of stains. It's where we do our business, so we want to make sure it stays clean.
Kool-Aid is perfect to remove the stains without using harmful chemicals that can get into your respiratory tract. Pour the powder inside the bowl and let it soak overnight before you flush in the morning.
2. Weak flush
You can waste a lot of water by flushing over and over again, but luckily the fix is simple.
All you need to do is find the float in the toilet tank, which is either a black rubber ball or a black piece on a long rod, and adjust it higher to allow more water to fill the tank.
3. Clean clogged jets
Those pinkish lines that appear in your toilet bowl are a sign that the jets responsible for flushing and rinsing the bowl are clogged. This happens to everybody as minerals and debris build up over time.
If the discolored lines are prominent and a toilet brush can't fix the problem, you may need to take drastic action. The best thing you can do is to duct tape the jets, and pour vinegar in the tank to soak overnight.
Plumbers say people complain the most about these next toilet problems...
4. Broken handle
Your toilet handle will give out eventually. All you need to do is lift the lid of the tank and tighten the screw at the back.
5. Unclog pipes
Flushing your toilet to unclog the pipes is never a good idea. You'll be swimming in toilet water in no time.
Instead, combine hot water and dishwashing detergent and pour it into the toilet bowl. Give it at least an hour to allow the mixture to break down the blockage and allow that obstruction to get flushed with ease.
6. Find a leak
If your toilet is flushing by itself or you think there's a leak, use food coloring or Kool-Aid to identify where the leak is coming from.
Put a few drops of food coloring or Kool-Aid powder into your tank and wait 15 minutes to see if the color in your toilet bowl changes. If it does, your toilet has a leak. You'll have no choice but to call a plumber for this one, but at least you figured out the problem!
7. Wasting water
Put a small plastic bottle filled with sand or rocks in your tank to save water every time you flush, without compromising water pressure.
I've saved a lot of time and money knowing how to fix these next common toilet problems...
8. Running toilet
I've called the plumber way too many times to deal with this issue, but it's actually really simple to fix on your own.
Go to your local home improvement store, or Walmart, and buy a new flapper. It looks like a rubber sink plug, and it's attached to a chain.
Turn off the water, flush the toilet, and remove the water from the tank. Follow the instructions on the back of the flapper packaging to fix your running toilet in no time!
9. Sewer smell
If your toilet smell has nothing to do with a sewage problem in your neighborhood, you'll need to find creative ways to deodorize the odor.
To get rid of that lingering odor, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil in the toilet tank, instead of the toilet bowl.
10. Unclog the toilet
Every toilet will have some sort of blockage at some point in its lifetime and will require you to use a plunger to remove the obstruction and get the water flowing again.
If your toilet bowl is full of water, remove half of it, and fill the toilet bowl if it's half empty. Cover the plunger over the opening, push down, and thrust.
If the clog is caused by stool, and a plunger doesn't work, you may have to use a poop knife.
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