Homemade Toilet Snakes

Most toilet clogs can be undone with nothing more than a plunger. Sometimes, though, a clog is more serious — and you'll need a serious tool to match. 

Using a toilet snake can be particularly helpful when unclogging a toilet. A drain snake features a retractable cable made of metal that can be pushed all the way down the drain. There will be a coiled hook or similar attachment on the tip that can be used to physically break up the clog until it's no more. Even though they're readily available from a home improvement store, you may be without a toilet snake in an emergency situation and need to consider other options. Fortunately, you can make a DIY homemade toilet snake pretty easily, which will work well enough in a pinch (though probably not quite as well as one you could get at the store). The most common homemade toilet snake is an old wire hanger, but there are a few other solutions you can try, as well. 

To use a wire hanger as a homemade toilet snake, you'll need to bend it until it's straight, while leaving the hook in place. You can then feed the hanger down your toilet. Once you encounter resistance, use the hook on the end to break up the clog. If you're successful, the water will start to drain again. 

A garden hose can also be used in place of a toilet snake. To use it, you'll need to push the hose down into the pipe as you would with the hanger and then use it to break up debris. Without a hook on the end, it may not work quite as well, but in many cases, it will do the trick. Meanwhile, if you don't have either of these materials available, it's worth mentioning that you can use a wet/dry shop vac to unclog a toilet as well. You'll simply need to cover the vacuum hose with an old rag or two to make a seal, and then place the hose inside the toilet. You can then use the vacuum to remove some of the water while also potentially dislodging any debris that's located further inside the toilet drain.

Remember to be careful when using any of these methods: Ceramic can potentially be damaged by either storebought or homemade drain snakes if you're too rough. Handle a hanger, hose, or homemade toilet snake with care. If a homemade toilet snake fails to work adequately, consider buying one from the store or hire a plumber to help with the clog.