Toothbrush stuck in toilet..what can I do?

One of my kids flushed a toothbrush down the toilet, and now the toilet clogs every time it's flushed. I have taken the toilet off twice. I ran a snake all the way through it, and that didn't budge it. THen I cut off a piece of garden hose, and pushed that down through it and pulled back and forth on the ends to try to unlodge it. That didn't work either. It is lodged in there on a slant and I just can't seem to get to it. Is there anything I can do to get it out, or am I going to have to buy a new toilet?

Thanks for any help.
Anne

 

What type of snake did you use? If it is one of those small (3/8" diameter) home owners snakes, it probably went right by it. You can rent a Closet Auger. This has a larger and heavier end on it and it may break the toothbush loose. Other than trying to get your hand to the obstruction (which is an option) or buying a new toilet, thats all I can offer. Good luck.

 

tell the kids to brush their teeth in the sink...not in the toilet.

 

I dropped a container of face tanner (expensive stuff too!) into my toilet when it was flushing, and away it went. Could not get it out - called the plumber. He had a heck of a time. Had to take the toilet completely off, and I had to help him snake it - too about 6 times till we finally were able to dislodge it. It was just the right size and shape to get stuck in the curve. Had he not gotten it - the only option would have been to buy new toilet.

My recommendation - call a good plumber.

 

I have any idea for you:

I think what you need to do is to PUSH the brush BACK out. You can undo the toilet and lay it on the floor side way. Use something that resembles a "noodle" that kids use in their swimming lessons to push the brush from the bottom outlet (or inlet in this case) of the toilet. The diameter of the noodle should be somewhat smaller than the inner passage of the toilet. If possible, round the tip of the noodle. Even better, genrously grease the "tip" with vaseline jell for less resistance.

You may try using your snake as the "pusher". Try to create a bally end so it would not miss the brush when the end hits it.

Alternatively you can try to lay the toilet upside down. Use the above pusher to knock the brush loose. Once that happens it might simply fall out from the bowl.

Good luck!

Hsiao-an Hsieh

 

I had a brilliant idea (if i may say so myself) today after i had a terrible idea (flush my college roommate's toothbrush down the toilet).
What i did was i took about a 3 foot length of plastic tube (about 1/2 inch diameter), fixed a balloon to the end of it with duct tape, pushed the tube down the toilet, so the balloon passed the toothbrush. Then i inflated the balloon and pulled out the toothbrush from behind.
I didn't have to call a plumber, i didn't have to pull the toilet, and it cost me 2 dollars.

 

Who says college doesn't pay off??

 

My daughter dropped a makeup brush down the toilet. A typical teenager, she didn't bother to tell anyone about it. It wasn't long before the toilet started to clog. I plunged, snaked (with a closet auger), and fished around trying to clear the clog. No luck.

I finally removed the toilet, tipped it upside down and used a mirror to see what was causing the blockage. Try as I may, I could not budge the jammed brush. I finally got it out with a sledge hammer.

I was not happy.

 

I had a similar problem recently. This is what I did.
1) Remove Toilet
2) Turn upside down (The Toilet, not you))
3) Plug in a soldering iron
4) Wait a few minutes till its really hot
5) stick in soldering iron to tooth brush until it melts on the soldering iron and pull out or toilet. Alternatively keep touching the iron to the plastic until you reduce the size of it till it will fall out when you turn the toilet over.

-- In my case it was the springy plastic toilet roll holder the fell in and got stuck, so i melted it until it was two small pieces

----
if removing toilet two important things to note.
use somthing to seal the whole in the foor while you are noodeling with the toilet or your house could fill with noxious gases from the sewer. Also you will probably need to by a new wax ring that goes between the toilet and the sewer also know as a Johnny ring. oh and don't overtighted the toilet bolts or you will crack the toilet. Hope this helps

 

Okay fixed mine in two minutes, flushed as water was low used wet vac, btw tucked plastic trash bag around hole when water was low enough - tooth brush, child's sock came out, as a mother of seven, I have to get pretty creative -- prob. Not what a plumber would recommend but took two minutes, just make sure water is in the s- curve

 

Glad your idea worked, we usually end up pulling the stool when a tenant flushes something like this.

 

I accidentally flushed a toothbrush down my toilet. I first tried a toilet auger and that did not work. This is what I did to remove it:

1. I tied a 1.5 inch "S" hook to about 6 feet of 1/8" rope.
2. I closed the open end of the S hook which I tied the rope to in order to secure the S hook to the rope.
3. I then flushed the S hook down the toilet while holding on to the other end of the rope. I knew the S hook had gone down because the rope was now sticking out of the toilet only about a foot or two.
4. I then slowly pulled the S hook out.
5. I repeated this several times and finally the toothbrush appeared and I just reached in and pulled it out.

Success!! Saved me big plumber's bill.

 

Thank you so much I was searching for a fix to this same problem and found this thread. I had the tubing already and some balloons so I thought it was at least worth a try. The tooth brush came right out. Thank you so much!!!