"J" wrote in message
...
I've had plenty of clogged toilets in the past and have always been able
to eventually push the clog through with a plunger (things usually soften
up and dissolve in the water after a while). After we had guests over
yesterday I discovered that the toilet was clogged - and much worse than
I've ever seen before. I plunged and plunged and eventually cleared the
bowl, but now it's in a state where it will slowly drain but not flush
properly. I'm guessing I just moved the clog a little further down the
pipe. I would not want any solids going in that toilet right now.

I had my suspicions, but new evidence has come to light that strongly
suggests our friends' daughter probably had an accident and decided to
hide the evidence by flushing her undies. :-( If I had know that from the
beginning, I might have approached matters differently from the start.
Now I'm not sure what how to proceed. We have a septic system. Should I
just keep up with the plunging and hope to eventually move the obstruction
through - or is that futile, or will that harm our septic. Should I get a
plumbers snake and try that method (to pull the undies back up maybe) and
hope I haven't already moved the obstruction out of reach? Is there
another longer tool to use (I've heard mention of a closet augher) - or
will that scratch the porcelain on our toilet? Should I just skip to the
chase and hire a plumber?

Thanks for advice on how to best resolve this problem.

If her underwear is polyester or any other synthetic, they will not do any
good in the septic tank as the bacteria will not dissolve the man-made yarn,
they could block the exit pipe and cause another back-up or move through to
the leach field and block one of the pipe runs. I would get them out of the
pipe as soon as possible. Do you have any cleanouts that you could open and
work from, or pull the toilet and attack the blockage from the open pipe
without scratching the toilet. The pipe size from the toilet is a minimum 3
inches in diameter. If the daughter is a child, I cannot imagine the
underwear being big enough to plug the pipe, if she is old enough, possible
something else like a sanitary pad attached to them may block the pipe.
Again, I would not let them travel into your septic tank, unless you
immediately have it pumped out.