‘How do I unblock the toilet’ – a dreaded phrase that Google sees a lot of.

Although not a particularly glamorous skill, knowing some DIY methods to un-block a toilet will no doubt come in extremely helpful at some point.

If your toilet is blocked, don’t keep flushing it! If you continue to flush a blocked toilet it will quickly overflow and make the unblocking task significantly more unpleasant.

If your toilet is blocked but not overflowing you can try these steps:

• Firstly put some paper or towels down. Unblocking a toilet can get messy no matter how careful you are.

• Squirt dish soap or shampoo into the toilet. Add very hot (but not yet boiling) water to the bowl. Wait a few minutes and the water should start to break up the toilet paper and the soap should help it to move down the pipe.

• Use a toilet plunger to attempt to dislodge the blockage. The plunger should be completely submerged. The vacuum created by the plunger can cause water to spray out of the toilet so start by lightly plunging until you create a tight seal and then you can continue to plunge with more elbow grease.

• If plunging is causing your patience to run thin and your toilet is still blocked then you may have to invest in a plumbing snake (available in home improvement and DIY stores). This long flexible coil can reach places your plunger can’t and may be able to break through or dislodge the blockage.

Hopefully one of the above methods will result in your toilet flowing and flushing freely again!

If you have no luck, or your toilet is overflowing, contact a professional plumber such as Maroochydore Plumbing who has the knowledge, tools and experience to get to the root of blockages and un-clog your toilet in no time!