I have a serious case of toilet clogging, it’s been 2 days already. Yesterday I used some chemical stuff called Tong Le. It’s supposed to free drains and toilets. I followed directions exactly. It didn’t solve it at all, in fact it looks like a big mess now… at least the stink is gone.
Does someone know if there’s anything stronger than Tong Le?
Would Coca Cola work? Or is that a myth?
Mod note: Title edited for clarity.
Did you try a plunger first? They work better than chemicals.
http://www.diybasics.co.uk/HowToUnblockToilet.html
Or see if your hardware shop has a plumber’s auger.
Tong Le etc. are barely effective on grease and hair to begin with. I don’t think they can handle massive amounts of toilet paper etc.
long skinny flexible arms work best. (you may feel the need to rinse in alcohol afterwards.)
does Tong Le mean “it hurt”? or these are “magic tongs for poo-removal”?
that folded square toilet paper is best disposed of in the bin rather than down the toilet via flushing, as it is often a much tougher paper and is not ripped apart by moving water. the crap wrap on a roll is much softer (shorter staple, if that makes any sense to you) and can be safely disposed of in the flush, as the paper disintegrates in the first rush of water.
when you have a lot of paper that won’t be torn up by the tiny trickle of water that the flush is reduced to, then your problem starts to compound. the recommended solution is a mechanical one, not a chemical rinse. get a plumber’s mate (long spring coiled up on a drum) and force that down the S-bend and work it back and forth, baby.
Definitely go for a pump-style toilet plunger. A couple of years ago I dropped a truly legendary load that absolutely refused to be flushed either by Drano or by a cheapo toilet plunger but which this pump-style plunger could handle with aplomb. I got it at a B&Q.
Thanks. I just gave it a second round of Tong Le and bleach, and no success. I must use one of these more rigorous methods you are suggesting… Damn what a mess. And damn those Taiwanese toilets always! Taiwanese engineering sucks!!
Talk about mixed metaphors. Never put engineering and Taiwanese together.
The two are mutually exclusive!
Please don’t put any more of that horrible polluting stuff down the toilet! It is completely unnecessary! I agree, a plunger is better. You need: 1. A decent plunger. 2. Proper plunger technique.
Re 1: Most plungers on sale are pathetic and useless. You need a good stout rubber one. One place you can get one is at the little hardware store on the Red Theatre square in Ximending.
Re 2: The key is repeated vigorous pumping to get build up a rhythm and dislodge the blockage.
I am pretty good with a plunger. If you can’t do it and you live within reasonable range of me (near Minquan West Road MRT Station), I will go round and to it for you. You just buy the beer and peanuts.
I have the tools - plunger and manual snake. If they don’t do the trick, get a plumber to use a power snake.
In situations like this - being a product of 1980s TV - I ask myself: What would MacGyver do?
Well, I can’t vouch for Dean, but I would take apart a coat hanger and use it to unblock the impasse.
Oh yeah…thats it…do it…do it good…unnnhhh…uh uh uh…sploooosh!…ahhhhhhhh
[quote=“almas john”]In situations like this - being a product of 1980s TV - I ask myself: What would MacGyver do?
Well, I can’t vouch for Dean, but I would take apart a coat hanger and use it to unblock the impasse.[/quote]
I am also on the verge of becoming very creative, as I’m not wanting to blow a wad of cash on more Taiwanese or Chinese made ‘gadgets’. That clothes hanger idea might even work… or something similar perhaps. But something tells me the biggest mess is yet to come. :s
So… what did you eat?
Ecto -
Be careful with clothes hangers. Its not unheard of for older pipes to get rather brittle. Poking a hole through one with a clothes hanger can and has happened. Metal or plastic piping.
Solved! 
I found a plunger at Carrefour for really cheap. Just a basic one, no pump. I had to thrust 2 or 3 times and it opened up. Screw Tong Le!!! :fume:
[quote=“Ectoplasma”]Solved!
I found a plunger at Carrefour for really cheap. Just a basic one, no pump. I had to thrust 2 or 3 times and it opened up. Screw Tong Le!!! :fume:[/quote]
Great! and now start re-counting the little kittens in the house 
[quote=“Ectoplasma”]Solved!
I found a plunger at Carrefour for really cheap. Just a basic one, no pump. I had to thrust 2 or 3 times and it opened up. Screw Tong Le!!! :fume:[/quote]
Basic plungers are the best first recourse. That’s why they’re ubiquitous.
The Tong Le or Drano are very dangerous for pets. We found out the hard way… My wife put some in the drain of her bath tub to sit overnight, and one of our cats drank some of the water that wasn’t draining. Marmalade ended up on IV the next day. The word was that she could have suffered kidney failure…
Luckily, within 48 hours and proper veterinarian intervention, she recovered. It burnt her lips and her mouth, too.
That stuff is banned from our house since then.