Using Baking Soda To Unclog Toilet Patched | UPDATED |

There is a meditative quality to it. You stand in the bathroom, armed with a box of Arm & Hammer and a jug of Heinz. The toilet glowers at you, full of murky water. You pour. It fizzes. And for a moment, you are a scientist, a plumber, and a sorcerer all at once.

Do not be shy. Pour it directly over the drain hole at the bottom of the bowl. Let it sink. It will feel like it is doing nothing. Trust the process. using baking soda to unclog toilet

I spoke with a master plumber in Ohio who asked to remain anonymous. He told me: “Look, if you call me for a clog and I find out you used Drano, I’m charging you double because I have to wear gloves and goggles to even touch your pipes. But if you tell me you tried baking soda and vinegar? I’ll probably just talk you through it over the phone. It doesn’t hurt anything. Worst case, you wasted 50 cents.” There is a meditative quality to it

When you pour baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) into a toilet bowl, nothing happens. It sits there like wet sand. But when you add vinegar (acetic acid) or citric acid, the world changes. The two compounds swap atoms. The result is sodium acetate, water, and—crucially—carbon dioxide gas. You pour

Then you flush. The water drops. The bowl is clean. The crisis is averted.