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Life doesn’t always go the way we want it to, and chances are you will, eventually, end up accidentally flushing something down the toilet. Kids are fascinated with flushing anything from toys to keys, and adults sometimes just have a bad day. Whether you’re trying to retrieve an object like jewelry or a wallet, or just prevent it from clogging your sewer main, here’s what to do instead of panicking.
Start with a plunger
If your object is larger, chances are it hasn’t made it very far down the drain—you might get lucky and get it to come back out before it causes a blockage. Make sure to seal the plunger around the toilet bowl drain and plunge up and down carefully for a few pumps. Keep your eyes peeled between thrusts for signs of your flushed item so you don’t accidentally push it further down. If you have a friend, you can have them glove up to catch the rogue object if you see it so it doesn’t slip back into the drain.
Try a wire hanger or a hook
Straighten out a wire hanger and shape the end into a hook, then slide it into the toilet’s drain to see if you can grab the object with your hand-made fishing device. You can also use a flexible grabber tool to carefully retrieve your flushed object. Don’t push too hard, either on your hook or your grabber, to avoid damaging the porcelain of your toilet or the seal between the toilet and the drain pipe.
Use a magnet
If the item that’s been flushed is keys, or something else ferromagnetic, you can try using a magnet to retrieve it. You can use a magnetic retrieval set, but if you don’t have one of those, you can try a magnet on a string, using gravity to feed it down the drain. Whatever you do, make sure your magnet is well-secured: The last thing you want to do is add to your problems by dropping a magnet in after your flushed keys.
Remove the water from the toilet and try again
If you still don’t have any luck, turn the water off to the toilet using the shutoff on the wall directly behind it. Then, use a container to empty the toilet bowl and tank of water. Once the bowl is empty, you can try using a wet-dry vac to pull water up out of the drain. You might be able to get a smaller item like a piece of jewelry out of the drain using this method. You can also try using a siphon pump to pull water up out of the toilet drain and see if you have any luck. Repeat the first two steps once the water is gone if you get no luck with a siphon or vacuum.
Try a toilet auger
If you’re not concerned with retrieving your flushed item, but now have a clog caused by the accidentally flushed object, you can try a toilet auger to unclog the drain. Note that using the augur doesn’t guarantee that you’re not just moving the clog further down the drain, so make sure to do a test before overflowing your toilet by scooping water out of the bowl before trying to flush. Never use a regular, unshielded augur on your toilet to avoid damaging the seal or the toilet itself. The one designed for toilets has a protective sleeve to keep the metal parts of the snake from coming in contact with your fixture.
Try an augur at the cleanout cap
If you have a basement or crawlspace, or any access point to your main sewer pipe before the pipe leaves your house, you likely have a cleanout cap. You can find it by following your smaller drain lines to your larger, main sewer line. The cleanout cap will be a split-off from the main sewer line that you can unscrew. Once you find and open it, you can try using a drain auger inserted into the cleanout pipe to clear the clog.
Call a plumber
If none of these things work, or if you have sewer water backing up into your home, you should call a plumber. While DIY solutions are always my favorite, as they’re cheaper and give me a sense of accomplishment, there are many times that a plumbing problem requires a professional plumber. Sewage water backing up into your home can cause damage if it’s left too long and can be a health hazard, so keep that in mind when tackling your accidentally flushed item.
