How to Make a Toilet Flush Better

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Last Updated on April 11, 2023 by acechapman

A toilet that doesn’t flush properly can be frustrating and inconvenient. If your toilet doesn’t flush as well as it should, there are several steps you can take to try to improve its performance. In this article, we will provide some tips on how to make a toilet flush better. So, you can get your toilet back to working properly in no time. Whether your toilet is clogged, weak, or slow to refill, these tips will help you troubleshoot and fix the problem. So, today we want to figure out how to increase the flushing power in your toilet.

Clogged toilet: A clogged toilet can cause a weak flush. The water may not be able to flow through the pipes and clear the waste from the bowl.
Incorrect flapper position: The flapper is a rubber valve that controls the flow of water from the tank to the bowl. If the flapper is not properly aligned or seated, it can cause a weak flush.
Incorrect chain length: The chain that connects the flapper to the flush handle should be the correct length. This will allow the flapper to fully open and close. If the chain is too long or too short, it can cause a weak flush.
Low water level in the tank: When the water level in the tank is too low, there may not be enough water to provide a strong flush.
Clogged or damaged pipes: If the pipes that carry water to and from the toilet are clogged or damaged, it can cause a weak flush.
Poorly designed toilet: Some toilets may simply be designed with a weak flush, which can be a frustrating issue.

Steps To Make A Toilet Flush Better

1. Check For Clogs

The first thing that you need to do is to check that it is not clogged. Whatever the case might be, a clogged toilet is usually almost always the cause of a toilet not flushing right.

So, get a bucket of water, at least 1 gallon, and pour it into the toilet. It should drain normally. If it does not drain in the amount of time it would usually take for it to drain, then you probably have a clog. Yes, this means having to bust out the toilet plunger and give it a few good plunges. If this does not get the job done, the clog may be more serious. You may need to use a toilet snake to snake out the tubes.

If this still does not solve the issue, you may have to call a plumber to open the system up. Also, to manually remove any debris that may be caught in the pipes.

2. Check the Water Level in the Toilet Tank

The next step is to open up the top toilet tank. Take the lid off and check to see where the water level is. This is going to depend on the water tank float assembly. This is that arm and the rubber ball which floats on top of the water. If you have it set too low, or in other words, if the ball is set to make the tank stops filling up at a level that is not ideal, you will need to manually adjust it.

This means loosening the assembly so that the ball can move further up in the tank before it causes the tank to stop refilling. In other words, your toilet might not be flushing well because the fill assembly in the tank does not allow enough water in. Therefore, there is not enough water to properly flush.

In most cases, this should solve the problem. However, if this is not the problem, there are other issues that may be the cause.

3. Check the Flush Holes

The next reason why your toilet might not be flushing well is due to the holes in the toilet bowl being clogged. This is usually caused by really hard water that contains a lot of calcium and other minerals, which over time will build up and harden, therefore clogging things, such as those holes in the bowl where the water comes out. Moreover, this issue is often caused by a lack of cleaning and maintenance.

You will probably have to get down on your hands and knees for this one because you need to flush your toilet and better keep an eye on those holes. How is the water flowing out of them? Does the water come through forcefully, or is there more of a trickle going on? If there is a trickle going on, or just a limited amount of water coming out, the holes are clogged.

An easy way to remedy this situation is to get something like a sewing needle, or some other object that is thin, sharp, and narrow, and simply scrape the holes out manually.

4. Bleach the System

Now, if the 3 previous steps we have gone through still have not done the trick, it might be time to take some more extreme action. In this case, you may have to flush out your toilet using bleach. No, this is not very environment-friendly, but it might be your only option. To do this, you first want to turn off the water supply to your toilet. This way, when you flush it, it will not fill back up with clean water; you want to flush the water out and leave the tank empty, so you can then fill it up with bleach.

Let the bleach soak in the toilet tank for roughly 20 minutes, flush, then repeat this again. This process should be more than enough for the bleach to loosen up and dissolve anything that is clogging the system. Turn the water supply to the toilet back on. Flush every 5 minutes for the next half hour to dislodge any remaining remnants.

5. Vinegar Soak

If all else fails, you can always try a vinegar soak on your toilet. First off, open the lid of your toilet tank and disconnect the rubber fill hose from the assembly. Now, take a funnel and place it inside the tube inside the toilet tank. Fill it up with as much white vinegar as you can.

Let the vinegar sit in there for about 2 hours, as the acid in the vinegar will help to dissolve materials. It will loosen things up and it helps to kill germs too. This should be enough to get rid of any remaining deposits which are causing your toilet to not flush as well as it otherwise would.

Conclusion

There are several steps you can take to make a toilet flush better. These include checking the flapper and chain, cleaning the toilet bowl, and adjusting the water level in the tank. If these steps don’t solve the problem, you may need to call a plumber to diagnose and fix more serious issues. By following these tips, you can get your toilet flushing properly again. Thus, avoiding the frustration of a poorly functioning toilet.

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