I used sink plungers in toilets pretty much my whole life until i scrolled across a similar diagram one day and discovered the truth.
This is true for sure. You can definitely use either in either situation if you have to.
not at all effectively.
flanged plungers typically dont fit sink drains and will deform upon compression, and sink plungers dont create enough of a vacuum seal in the toilet outtake to be of much use without a lot of unnecessary effort and mess.
True but you can make it work if you have no choice.
in situations where the clog is mild, sure.
If the clog is severe, then you’ll make little and often no headway using a flanged plunger on a sink drain or a sink plunger on a toilet, no matter how long and frantically you thrust away and splash about.
the flanged plunger isn’t rigid enough to create the necessary vacuum or pressure in a sink and the sink plunger doesn’t create a tight enough seal to create the necessary pressure in a toilet unless the clog is mild in the first place.
I guess you get less shit smeared on the top.
My new toilet doesn’t fit either of the above shapes, but a “Beehive” plunger works great.
https://www.korky.com/parts/plungers/beehive-max-toilet-plunger
The toilet also flushed really well and hasn’t gotten plugged up even once yet, but I made sure to have one that would work as soon as the toilet was ready to use.
Why did a regular one not fit?
Basically, it’s shaped weird and won’t make a seal. It’s a WaterSense toilet that flushes very efficiently with 1.28 gallons, with an unusual configuration of input/output under the water. Almost like a channel from front(ish) to back. If you try to use a plunger like those pictured, part of the channel isn’t covered, so you just push water back out into the bowl. Good thing I was trying it with a clean new toilet! The wide deep beehive shape lays rubber all into the space, pushing the water down into the exit hole.
What’s different between the beehive flange and the toilet plunger flange? they look the same.
or perhaps I should ask what shape is your toilet?
I now just imagine them having a hexagonal toilet.
Hahaha, this must be it.
(USA) - I had the same issue as the user above - due to a high edficiency toilet. The opening is more rectangular/ elongated than a normal toilet’s circular opening.
My new toilet doesn’t fit either of the above shapes, but a “Beehive” plunger works great. The toilet also flushed really well and hasn’t gotten plugged up even once yet, but I made sure to have one that would work as soon as the toilet was ready to use.
I’ll keep that in mind next time I poop in the sink.
Which brings up a good point; why would anyone need a plunger for a sink? If it gets clogged, nothing will help you short of a drain snake. And if your kitchen sink is getting clogged, it’s time to invest in a garbage disposal.
Plungers certainly do help with sinks. Loosens up a partial clog easily in my experience.
So weird. It always seems to pump air through the overflow and do no good. By the time you figure out how to plug the overflow, you might as well have taken off the trap and emptied it in the trash …… especially with PVC traps where it all just comes apart without tools
I just put my hand over the hole, takes two seconds. And I don’t have to clear out under the sink and get a bucket. (And it’s only very rarely necessary)
Many sinks do not have overflow drains.
Especially in combination with soda, vinegar and hot water.
Mix in some red food coloring and you’ve got yourself a good time
Especially when it regurgitates back up in your other sink mixed with hair and grime
Soda and vinegar is an odd combination. Soda is a base, making water alkali. Vinegar is an acid, making water acidic. Together, they make water neutral again, with a lot of pretty bubbles.
Either one can work really well depending on the stuff you need to get rid of. But adding one to the other just weakens it.
Mixing them together causes an exothermic reaction that releases a lot of CO2. Both the heat and the releasing of gas bubbles can also help to break up things. Also it’s unlikely that all will mix with all, so you get some pockets of basic and some pockets of alkaline, who knows what you’re trying to break up but some of either might help. The method they learned is kind of throwing everything at it cus something will work. You aren’t wrong, both methods have validity
Hmm, it seems to me most of those bubbles will happen not where you need them. Maybe if you throw in the base first and the acid later (or the other way around)
And the exothermic reaction is really weak. Barely gets warm.
I do this for a living. If you really wanna save yourself some money, depending on your plumbing(usually PVC, older houses might have cast iron), just put a bit of a cleaning agent and run hot water into your drain for 10-20 minutes weekly. The hot water alone every week will do more for your pipes in the long run.
If you’re doing this regularly you won’t have to run the water as long, maybe 5 minutes weekly. This helps to dissolve build up from stuff like grease and soap scum which catches other food debris and leads to clogs. Preventive maintenance is best, spend a little time and money now to save a lot of time and money later.
I’ve found a plunger useful for a sink occasionally, a bit of back and forth plunging can loosen up a hairball or break a layer of fat/soap scum. On the other hand I’ve never needed to use a plunger on a toilet - I don’t know how much of this is exaggeration on the internet but Australian toilets don’t seem to have anywhere near the amount of issues the American designs do.
And the bidet’s right there.
Good thinking.
Damn and my kitchen faucet comes with a “power wash” mode. I can’t wait to blast boiling hot water up my butthole. 🤤
It would literally have cost you nothing not to write that sentence down… but here we are
a blistering cleanse
And the sink strainer is there to save and repurpose the corn.
Babe quick, new toilet lore just dropped!
skibidi?
About 250 years old, thinking it’s new is why I wanted a YSK post.
yeah but I feel…
always had the left style ‘sink’ plungers growing up. they unclogged the shitter just fine.
Absolutely never, ever tried using a plunger on the sink. I guess our family didn’t clog the sinks so much? what’s clogging these sinks that they justify a plunger?
If you clean a fish and toss a couple scales and fish skin down the sink, it will clog.
in the states, where houses have garbage disposals, I don’t think sink clogs are much of a problem anymore.
but most countries don’t have garbage disposals, and the original plunger design was invented 250 years ago, before much of modern plumbing and pipe design and everything, so it was useful to have any kind of plunger around.
you can make those couple plungers work for the toilet in a lot of situations, but for the toilet specifically a toilet. plunger is going to make your job way easier without any mess and splashing
yeah I have a disposal that will eat bones. never clogged the sink.
Was the og design for shitters or sinks?
Never had splash issues, I generally plunge pretty cautiously.
The toilets at my moms house are teeny tiny so this doesn’t matter on them
But yes… without the toilet plunger on the right: Do not even try the left one with a modern day toilet, it’s sooooo messy
Ok but where’s the poop knife?
Which raises the question of what the difference is between the sink poop knife and the toilet poop knife?
Where else?
on the poop knife peg.
The ol pkp.
Instructions unclear, plunger stuck on the ceiling, shit water all over my feet and on the walls.
plunger room of death
No, you got it.
That all sounds correct.
Someone watches reddit stories on smosh
Sorry, not this guy. I’ve never seen smosh.
Does this really qualify as a diagram?
i wondered the same thing!
i checked dictionaries and i think it does as far as the flange comparison is diagrammed to illustrate the technical differences in design.
what do you suggest?
Good post - needed it about a week ago 😂
Moved into a new place with high efficiency toilets and only had our old plunger. Spent multiple hours trying to clear it. I had no idea that these HE toilets are:
1.) More prone to clogs, need pipe maintenance
2.) Elongated and don’t work well with a normal plunger
Nearly called a plumber but on a final try picked up a BeeHive plunger at the hardware store.
Took a few attempts, but got it situated correctly and fixed the clog.
Haha dang, I’m glad you got it worked out.
Until I learned the difference, I’d slosh around in there with a normal plunger only after pouring lots of hot water in, which usually works great.
It’s important to have the right-size flange for each hole, yes.
A manual auger works even better and doesn’t splash
manual auger
This is just code for ‘poop knife’, right?
Poop drill.
I mean, it basically is a poop knife that can reach further down inside the toilet.
Or start using the shower instead, and stomp it through the grate.
wafflestomp
The toilet plunger doesn’t splash, but toilet augers whip back and forth while you crank them, causing splashing, plus scrape up the toilet bowl.
Augers are way more work than a toilet plunger.
Yeah, but getting it past the s trap is a pain. A plunger works for 90% of clogs.
Every home should have an auger, but a plunger will work quicker, easier, and cleaner, 99 out of 100 times.
Yeah, I’ve had to help a neighbor with that 1 time out of 100. The plunger was just causing the water to slam against the turd that had created a perfect seal and splash back outside the toilet. It probably took at least 5 uses with the auger to finally clear out enough crap to finally break it apart enough to let it flush.
Fortunately, the second time I helped them with a nearly identical situation, the plunger worked. But it still took a few forceful plunges in quick succession. I was worried I might have to use the auger again.
The Sink plunger is more versetile.
Some sink plungers have a collapsible flange hidden inside
I also enjoy touching the inside of a plunger
Call me crazy but I wear gloves when cleaning toilets
Not gonna say that I always grab some gloves before I plunge away my horror.
But I DO wash the ever loving hell out of that plunger after every use. I still prefer dedicated toilet (poo) and sink (gunk) plunger because obvious reasons, but in a pinch?
That’s a toilet plunger. Exactly. Sink plungers have no flange. :)
Howww so?
Like as a training sword?
Soup bowl for feeding tall people
I do love a good swordfight.
If the flange is not collapseble it can’t be used in sink.
