Quick answer
If you are buying a plunger for a toilet, get one with a flange or beehive head, and for most bowls that is the Korky Beehive MAX Heavy Duty Toilet Plunger (model 96), rated 4.5 stars across 6,149 Amazon ratings. Its listing says the beehive head fits older toilets and newer high-efficiency bowls, and the T-handle telescopes so it can be stored under the sink. A flat cup plunger is for sinks. If the bowl is rising, do not flush again: push the flapper down inside the tank and turn the supply valve behind the toilet clockwise before you plunge.
Buyer's Guide
What to know before you buy.
First, Stop the Overflow: Flapper, Valve, Then Plunger
When the bowl is rising, the first job is to stop more water coming in, not to clear the clog. Do not flush again, because every flush sends a full tank, up to 1.6 gallons on a toilet made for the US market since 1994, into a bowl that cannot drain. Lift the tank lid and press the flapper, the rubber seal at the bottom of the tank, down onto its seat. Then turn the supply valve on the wall or floor behind the toilet clockwise until it stops. If that valve will not turn, lift the float inside the tank to stop the fill valve, and use the main shut-off for the house if you have to. With the water off, lay towels around the base, and only then start plunging.
Flange, Beehive, Cup or Accordion: Which Head Fits a Toilet
The outlet at the bottom of a toilet bowl is a curved hole in sloped porcelain, so the plunger has to reach into it to seal. A flange plunger has a soft rubber sleeve below the cup that slides into the outlet. A beehive head, like the Korky, narrows in rings so one of them seats in outlets of different sizes, which helps on newer high-efficiency bowls. A flat cup plunger, the classic red sink plunger, is made for flat surfaces such as sinks, tubs and shower drains; on a toilet it rocks on the curve and leaks air. Accordion plungers use a stiff plastic bellows that moves a lot of water per stroke but takes real force to seat on a curved bowl; none of the listings shortlisted for this page was an accordion model.
How to Plunge a Toilet Without Spraying the Bathroom
Check the water level first. You want enough water in the bowl to cover the plunger head, roughly half full, so bail some into a bucket if it is near the rim. Put on rubber gloves. Tip the plunger in at an angle so the head fills with water rather than air, then seat the flange or beehive tip in the outlet. Make the first push slow, because it drives out the air left in the head. After that, pump hard and fast about 15 to 20 times while keeping the seal, and finish with a sharp pull. Break the seal and watch the water. If it drains, turn the supply valve back on, let the tank refill, and flush once to test with your hand ready to push the flapper down. Never plunge after pouring in chemical drain cleaner, since the strokes can splash it onto your skin and eyes.
When to Put the Plunger Down and Use a Toilet Auger
Three good rounds of plunging is a fair limit. If the water still will not drain, or if something solid went down, such as a toy, a phone or a pill bottle, a plunger can push the object deeper into the trap where it becomes harder to reach. That is the job of a toilet auger, also sold as a closet auger. Its cable runs through a rigid tube with a rubber-sleeved bend, so the steel feeds through the trap without scratching the porcelain, and it can hook or break up what a plunger cannot move. A drain snake meant for sinks is the wrong tool, as its bare cable can mark the bowl and kink in the tight bend of the trap. If the auger reaches the end of its cable and the bowl still backs up, the blockage is past the toilet and in the drain line.
Who Should Not Reach for a Plunger
A plunger fixes a clog in one toilet. It is the wrong tool when the problem is further down the line. If the tub or shower fills when you flush, a floor drain gurgles, or several fixtures back up at once, the main sewer line is blocked, and plunging just pushes waste up through the lowest drain in the house. Stop using water anywhere in the home and call a plumber or sewer service. The same goes for a toilet that overflows again and again without a visible clog, a home on a septic system that is slow everywhere, and a bathroom where water has already come through the ceiling below. In those cases you need the line cleared and the wet ceiling, subfloor and walls checked, not a better plunger.
Overflow Water Is Dirty Water: Cleanup and Drying
Water from the bowl is never clean. The IICRC S500 standard that restoration companies work to classes a bowl overflow with urine only as Category 2 and one with feces in it, or any backflow from beyond the trap, as Category 3, the grossly contaminated class. For a small spill on tile, wear gloves and boots, soak it up, wash the floor with detergent and water and then disinfect it, and bag the rags. Carpet, carpet pad or drywall soaked by Category 3 water is usually cut out rather than dried. EPA advises calling in a professional when water damage was caused by sewage or other contaminated water, and it says to dry water-damaged areas and items within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth. Afterward, check the flapper: EPA WaterSense says a worn one can leak silently and should be replaced at least every five years.
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