If you are like me you are probably wondering what a toilet auger is. I will give you a short introduction to a toilet auger and a tutorial on how to use it. A toilet auger is a special tool that has an offset hand crank, a long sleeve handle and a special auger bit at the end to break through a clog or retrieve an obstruction like a rag. The toilet auger bit is connected via a flexible shaft (spring like) to a crank handle that you control. It's reach is about 3 feet.
When you have a very hard to remove clog in your toilet. you will use the auger to push or sometimes pull the stuff out your toilet bowl to clear out the clog. How do you use it? First of all, you need to pull the handle upward and then insert the tip of the toilet auger into the toilet bowl slowly, so you won't scratch the porcelain. Rotate the handle clock-wise gently as you gently push the handle downward to clear out any clog inside the toilet bowl. Once you are down doing that, you the handle back upward and then you can pull the toilet auger out of the toilet bowl. After the toilet auger is out of the toilet bowl and you are sure that the toilet is not clogged anymore, you can flush the toilet slowly. Yes, you have to flush it slowly, so you won't flood your bathroom floor again! You can use a plunger to make sure the toilet is not clogged before you flush it.
What happened?
Our toilet had a very bad clog that couldn't be fixed by the old traditional plunger. When you have a very bad toilet clog, you can either call a plumber or a rooter to unclog it or you can try to do it yourself by using a toilet auger. Since the cost of hiring a plumber is not cheap and it happened on the weekend. I decided to go to Lowe's and bought the 1/2" x 3" Cobra Toilet Auger and a Plung-It Air Powered Plunger.
What do I love about the Cobra Toilet Auger?
- The Cobra Toilet Auger is very easy to use. The direction on how to use it is pretty straight forward, "Pull the handle upward, insert the tip of the auger inside the toilet bowl, push the handle clockwise into the toilet bowl and once you are done, pull the handle of the auger upward and take the auger out of your toilet bowl. Then you have to use the Plung-It Air Powered Plunger to unclog the toilet completely.
- It comes with a toilet bowl guard that is made out of plastic to guard the porcelain of the toilet bowl while you are using the auger. The traditional auger will leave a terrible scratches all over your toilet bowl because it is made completely out of metal and it didn't have the toilet bowl guard.
- The shaft (spring like tip) is pretty long, it can go very deep into your toilet bowl to clean up deep clog which is very nice.
- It is very durable, it is made out of metal. Make sure you sanitize it and clean it after you use it. Make sure it is dry before you store it or it will get rusted.
- It is very easy to clean, once you are done using it, just rinse it, let it dry and store it.
What I don't like about it
- The price of the auger is VERY expensive, it cost $25 to buy one of these augers. You can buy the more expensive model that cost $50, but I don't think you want to throw your money down into the toilet. The auger is a lot cheaper than an electric professional rooter machine that cost $379. If you don't have a root clog problem, there is no point of spending $379 to buy a professional electric rooter to unclog your toilet bowl.
- It is a little bit hard to get it out of the toilet bowl once you are done using it. Make sure move it around gently and slowly to pull it out of the toilet bowl. Don't panic, it will come out, you just have to move the shaft around a little bit.
- Make sure you wear gloves, because sometimes the auger will catch and pull nasty stuff out of your toilet bowl and you gotta use your hands to remove the stuff off the auger tip. I wish someday, there will be a self-cleaning toilet auger because it is gross.
Will I recommend it to my friends and family?
I will indeed recommend it to my friends and family. You can save a lot of money by fixing your own toilet clog. If you can do it yourself and you have the right tools to do it, why bother hiring a professional plumber to fix it.
Conclusion
The Cobra 1/2" x 3" Toilet Auger is an excellent tool to use when you have a serious toilet clogging problem. It will push the stuff that clogged out toilet bowl away. Sometimes, it will pull the the toilet paper out of the toilet bowl if you put too much toilet paper inside your toilet bowl. Anyway, if you want to buy a great tool that will allow you to fix a serious toilet bowl clog, buy this the Cobra Toilet Auger. Thank you for reading my review, I hope it has been very helpful.
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