Have an old commode that drains slowly, then read this.

[Huffmanite]

Own a home built in the 60s and have a well and septic system.  One of my bathrooms has a very slow draining commode.  Have had a roto-rooter type service at home before to clean out the commode line to septic tank.....have a problem in line.
 
Our five kids are long gone, wife and I live alone and seldom use the bathroom with line problem.  However, this week a  daughter and her family will visit, so having this commode available to use caused me to call roto-rooter service again since commode bowl is again soooooo slow to drain.
 
 A young Roto-rooter guy showed up and I explained history of the commode's problem and flushed the commode to show him how water rose in bowl and very slowy drained.  He asked me if I had any dish washing liquid soap, which I did.  Handed him the bottle of Dawn dish soap and he proceeded to squirt a lite ring of soap in water of commode bowl.  Five or so seconds later he flushed the commode.  Water drained extremely fast from bowl.  I was kinda stunned....asking the young roto rooter guy....OK, explain the physics of just what I saw?
 
Guy said, "I have no idea.....my grandfather (a retired plumber) had casually mentioned using dish washing soap to me a couple of weeks ago as a  possible way to determine if an old commode needed to be replaced."  (Replaced because drain tube in commode has a calcium/etc. build up causing problem)   "This is only the 2nd time I've tried the soap trick in a commode that drained very slowly."   "Had same results in my first try with dish soap".  Guy will wait for tank of commode to fill and then flushed again.....again commode drained very slowly.  Tank refilled, he squirted some Dawn into toliet bowel and flushed commode....again bowl drained very fast. 
 
I declined his offer to replace the commode with a new one for $350, saying I've been doing repairs and etc. in my home(s) for around 40 years and replacing a commode is something I can do myself. 
 
But, I'm still trying to figure out the dish soap thing in a commode.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[charles p]

Beats me.  I'd like to know also.

[Cornbelt]

  There was a scientist who couldn't figure out how sharks could swim so fast, so he built a model with over 200 electric motors in it only to discover that they have lubrication glands that make them slicker.
 Don't know if that applies to your commode, but my dogs sure run faster when they are all sudzed up.

[charles p]

Heard about a fellow who put bales of straw in the trunk of his car to make it lighter.  Maybe he should have soaped it up also.

[Silvertp]

    I read this post about Old commode that drains slowly and thought....hot-dang...my commode isn't OLD, but it sure drains slow.  Well I did the dish soap trick (Palmolive Ultra)...let it set a while and flushed.  Darned if it didn't flush  better than it has for quite a while.

So Huffmanite, thanks for posting this.  Always nice to have a couple tricks up your sleve.

Guess I'll go "sudze up my dogs" and see if they can keep up with Cornbelts!!

Silvertp

[SHOOTALL]

If you have a old water closet and it flushes slow I would suggest you get a round masonry nail with the sprial on it and under the flush ring ( if you look at the top of the bowl there are holes all the way around ) use it to open the holes . They clog over years of use from deposits from the water. A pcs of wire can be used but its not as good at scraping the deposits off. They come from the last little bit of water left after flushing that just dosent fall. That's why most of the time its right on the hole and not up in the ring far.
The dish washing liquid breaks the surface tension and lessens the skin friction allowing the water closet to flush easier with less water just like it allows water to drain off dishes . Try the nail most WC's don't need replacing  .

[fatercat]

maybe it just needs a good cleaning. a good boat wax would make water flow faster. take mode up and see if it needs cleaning. is it vented or have mud dobbers built nest in vent pipe? does sewer pipe need a good cleaning? the ole modes flush better than the new ones. have to flush mine two or three times.

[thumper113]

Wonder if flushing vinegar through it would clean that out like you do with a coffee pot?

[Larry L]

We have extremely hard water here. Loads of calcium in the water and it can even put a ring around the water line in a commode quick. We use muriatic acid to clean the old commodes out. This is the same acid that's available at most home stores in 1 gallon bottles for swimming pools for cleaning. We use it straight and pour it down the overflow tube in the tank. Use about 1/2 gallon as fast as you can pour it and get most of it in the tube. Let it sit for 10 minutes and flush. Be aware, ACID CAN BURN YOU!. Don't get any on you or on anything that you want....like carpet, clothes, etc. Make sure there's ventilation of some kind in the room. This will cause it sometimes to appear to be smoking a little, it's vapors from the acid- be careful. I know, loads of caution but if you have any common sense at all, there's nothing to it. Works for us.

[SHOOTALL]

Wonder if flushing vinegar through it would clean that out like you do with a coffee pot?

or one of the commerical cleaners .
 

[SHOOTALL]

maybe it just needs a good cleaning. a good boat wax would make water flow faster. take mode up and see if it needs cleaning. is it vented or have mud dobbers built nest in vent pipe? does sewer pipe need a good cleaning? the ole modes flush better than the new ones. have to flush mine two or three times.

for the record unless you have a wall mounted or back flush water closet it is not vented and really can't be vented. The trap is a S trap which is illegal in most places on anything other than a water closet. The line it connects to can be vented but there is no limitation as to how far the WC can be from the vertical vent or wet vent in most codes. So if you consider that grade must be matained on the pipe going to a WC and the smallest dia pipe is 3 inch ( unless you are dealing with manf. housing or trailors ) then if grade is 1/4" per foot you would kill any vent with a run of 12 feet anyway. Point is venting has little effect on a WC what is engineered into the system is the pipe going to a WC is over sized . In most cases if it is old and slow its because the WC was made to flush with a certian amount of water starting the swriling motion siphion action and if that water is not aval due to a clogged flush ring , stop valve not open 100% , bent supply tube , ball cock or flusf valve clogged or not working correctly or not adjusted to allow a full tank of water then the WC won't flush as it was made to do. The waste line could also be blocked or the wax ring could have been pushed in and closed off the horn not allowing full flow and over time built up with other stuff .
the old WC's flushed with 5-6 gal of water or so. The first restricted WC's were arounf 3.5 gal and to this day I have not seen one flush all that well. The fix was to install the older flush valve (illegal by the way ) and it helped some say . Some folks went to Canada and got old style WC's . The new 1.6 gal flush WC's flush better than the 3.5 the bad thing is the lack of water in the bowl. the sides are made so there is little depth to the  water in the bowl. This means that in many cases what you deposit in it is not covered with water and when you flush you are left with a dirty bowl.

[plumberroy]

We have extremely hard water here. Loads of calcium in the water and it can even put a ring around the water line in a commode quick. We use muriatic acid to clean the old commodes out. This is the same acid that's available at most home stores in 1 gallon bottles for swimming pools for cleaning. We use it straight and pour it down the overflow tube in the tank. Use about 1/2 gallon as fast as you can pour it and get most of it in the tube. Let it sit for 10 minutes and flush. Be aware, ACID CAN BURN YOU!. Don't get any on you or on anything that you want....like carpet, clothes, etc. Make sure there's ventilation of some kind in the room. This will cause it sometimes to appear to be smoking a little, it's vapors from the acid- be careful. I know, loads of caution but if you have any common sense at all, there's nothing to it. Works for us.

This is the way to go. If there is not something in the toilet water holes in the toilet are limed/calciuned up the main cause of it not working  I push as much water out of tank and bowl as possible open the windows and pour a gallon down the tube then take rubber glove and a small cup scoop it up and run it through repeatedly
Roy

[SHOOTALL]

the nail is safer and cost less.  and smells better maybe 

[plumberroy]

the nail is safer and cost less.  and smells better maybe 

Won't get calcium in the internal water channels . But I am a pro

[SHOOTALL]

I seldom see the channels cloged . Most of the time its that last drop that clings to the surface around the hole that drys and builds up deposits is the cause here. Your area may have more trash in the water. As for pro, I'm lic. in two states as a master , journeyman and class A contractor in Plumbing , Gas , Backflow testing and HVAC . Been in the trade since 1972 . I have also taught plumbing school 8 years and been on the court of appeals board in my county as a Plumbing / HVAC repsentive for many years.

[SHOOTALL]

And from a safety stand point it is better to instruct those not well trained in the use of acid to tru the nail first. IMHO.

[tobster]

I had the same problem in a rental house and took the toilet out to bench test it ( sitting it on a couple cement blocks in the backyard ). The usual suspects like plastic army men, eyebrow tweezers, combs , etc. weren't the culprit so I went  the muriatic acid route and that did the trick.