How to unclog a toilet clogged with tampons: Tips to unblock a toilet

We would like to begin this guide with some very important advice – tampons should not be flushed down the toilet. They must be disposed of properly because within hours of being flushed, they can clog the entire sewer pipe and make their way back to the house.

Your clogged toilet should be an unforgettable learning for you to stop flushing tampons. One tampon is actually enough to clog the toilet. Imagine what might happen if we keep flushing them day after day and month after month!

How to unclog a toilet clogged with tampons

Our default response to a clogged toilet is a plunger but in this case, it will not work. A snake will not do the job for you either because it may break the tampon. The smaller pieces are just as troublesome as a whole tampon. The only choice remaining is to pull it out (as gross as that sounds). 

We have enlisted the steps to enable this without problems. Kindly go through them carefully:

1. Clear the water from the bowl either by flushing it or manually removing it. Use rubber gloves that cover the entire length of your hand.
2. Now, bring out the plumbing snake and push it down the toilet as far as it goes. Try to catch the tampon and pull it out. If it doesn’t work the first time, give it another go. A couple of tries should help. This process may also move the tampon enough to unclog the toilet, which is the second best solution.
3. Another way is to reach down the bowl by hand, all the whole wearing thick and long rubber gloves, to pull the tampon out. If you are unable to find it, it may be in a hard to reach place.
4. The final option is to cut the water supply and remove all the excess water. After that, you should disassemble the toilet to expose the P-trap, where the tampon is likely stuck.

Tampons may be biodegradable but they take up to 6 months to degrade. That’s plenty of time to make matters bad for you in the toilet. Once you unclog it using the guide above, we hope you never flush another tampon. ☺

Conclusion

Some lessons are learned the hard way but that’s okay! We think this was quite an important one. If none of the aforementioned steps help you, we recommend calling a plumber and seeking professional help. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out.