Can You Use Drano in a Toilet?

Most people treat toilets as garbage bins that can digest any waste. It doesn’t feel like a problem until it becomes one, and that’s when homeowners start thinking about the right way to unclog a toilet.

That’s how we get to Drano.

You probably know it as one of the most popular cleaning products for kitchen sinks and showers, but should you use Drano in a toilet? No, you shouldn’t use Drano in a clogged toilet because cleaning bathroom drains is not its purpose.

There are a few nuances and exceptions, but we’ll address them in the following chapters.

Does Drano Work on Toilets: What Does the Company Say?

There’s no need to guess or make predictions when we can read the company’s guidelines about using Drano. So what does the company say about it?

The manufacturer is straightforward — Drano will not unclog a toilet, and you should never use it for this purpose. Even Drano Clog Remover isn’t the product that can help your toilet because it only unclogs sinks, bathtubs, and showers.

Here’s how they explain it: The only form of Drano product for use in a slow toilet is Drano Max Build-Up Remover. But this product will not open a completely clogged toilet.

According to the manufacturer, the configuration of the toilet trap stops Drano products from reaching clogs and waste accumulations. In other words, Drano doesn’t work in your toilet.

What Makes Drano Bad for the Toilet?

We’ve just mentioned the issue of trap configuration, but that’s not the only reason why Drano is bad for your toilet. Let’s see other factors that make Drano inefficient:

Inefficient Elements

There are two ingredients in most types of Drano products — bleach and lye. These compounds shouldn’t be used in a toilet because they can badly corrode the trap.

Besides that, we know that bleach can’t remove toilet clogs in the bathroom throne. It makes a precious cleaning product, but its purpose is not the break toilet blockages. 

On the contrary, bleach only makes things worse because it adds to the clog and makes it bigger.

Drano Generates Heat

When you pour Drano into the toilet, it starts a chemical reaction that cleans greasy substances and soap scum. However, it also begins generating heat, which you don’t want to see in your toilet.

Heat will soften PVC pipes and even create toxic fumes. Heat is not good for metal pipes either, so you better use Drano only for sink drains and other bathroom elements.

It Harms Porcelain

Your toilet has an S-shaped trap that plays a couple of roles. Firstly, it’s a part that helps the siphon jet to flush the waste down the toilet drain. Secondly, the trap makes a seal that stops bad smells from rising into your bathroom.

However, toilet traps are made of porcelain — a material that cannot withstand heat. If you use Drano in the toilet, its heat will make porcelain expand and crack. When this happens, your toilet bowl starts leaking, and you have to replace it.

Drano Poses a Health Risk

There’s another problem with Drano staying trapped in the pipes without removing a toilet clog — it poses a serious health risk. As your toilet remains clogged, you will need to use a different unclogging method.

You will soon face Drano in the toilet trap, and it might even splash you in the process. It would be terrible because caustic or oxidizing chemicals in Drano cause skin burns, jeopardizing your health. 

How to Remove Toilet Clogs Without Drano?

We explained the problem of using Drano in your toilet, so you should start thinking about finding an alternative. It’s much safer to use other tools or a chemical drain cleaner.

Solution 1: Try With Natural Enzyme-Based Cleaners

Our advice is to go for a natural enzyme-based cleaning product like Seventh Generation Toilet Bowl Cleaner. This product is awesome for cleaning your toilet and unclogging it.

Besides that, it is fume-free, non-toxic, and leaves no bad residues. That’s much better than risking your health and still failing to remove clogs from the toilet with Drano. 

Solution 2: Use a Flange Plunger

A flange plunger is the most efficient way to get rid of clogs near the toilet bowl’s outlet. It is affordable and easy to handle — all you need is to follow a few simple steps:

• Grab the top of the tool with your hand
• Put the head of the plunger in the bowl to form a vacuum seal
• Start plunging by moving it up and down
• When you feel pressure, pull up the plunger and release it quickly

This should be enough to decompose most clogs, but you can repeat it several times to deal with stubborn toilet blocks.

Solution 3: A Toilet Auger Is Even Better

A toilet auger is a more advanced tool that cleans deep clogs from a toilet. Augers have a long handle and a cable with a corkscrew at the end — push it inside the bowl and twist the handle to make it dig deeper.

When the toilet auger reaches the clog, it will stab and break the waste ball. Most debris will run to the sewer line, while the toilet snake will pick the remnants as you pull it out.

Solution 4: Use Dish Soap

Dish soap may not look like your average clog-breaker, but it doesn’t have to be. Its purpose is to lubricate clogs and make them flow out to the sewer.

You just need a small cup of liquid soap and a bucket of hot water — pour them into the toilet bowl and wait for about an hour. After that, flush the toilet and let the slippery clogs slide through the plumbing system.

The Bottom Line

Using a product like Drano in the toilet is bad because it damages the PVC pipes, harms porcelain, and threatens your health. To make things worse, it doesn’t even break clogs.

You can use Drano for cleaning a kitchen sink and a shower, but other tools are much better for unclogging. Keep it in mind the next time you wish to pour Drano in the toilet.

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