On Fri, 4 Feb 2005 22:41:03 -0500, "Betsy" -0 wrote:

When a toilet and its drainpipe are seriously clogged, you can plunge until
exhaustion and all you will do is break the seal at the bottom of the
toilet. Been there, done that, replaced the ceiling and the light below.
Talk about gross cleanup.

Then there are the "closet augers". I own several attachments to the drill,
and have rented a few. Sorry, there's nothing easy or fun or clean trying
to wrestle a springy wire thing, or to clean it.

Hmmm. It sounds like you haven't actually seen a closet auger. Here's
a pictu

http://ace.imageg.net/graphics/produ...2-953623dt.jpg

It doesn't attach to a drill. The rigid piece of pipe prevents you
from having to wrestle with the snake. Its curved end allows you to
insert the snake directly into the toilet drain opening. The 3' length
of the unit keeps your hands at a safe distance from any muck. The
rubber sleeve prevents the pipe from scratching the bowl. In short, it
is a single-function device designed for exactly this task.

The picture may be misleading because it shows the snake fully
extended. You start off by witdrawing the "crank" end from the pipe.
This leaves just the "head" of the snake protruding from the pipe, so
you can easily insert it into the toilet. There is actually a rigid
rod inside the pipe, rather than more snake. When you retract it it
still allows you to crank the snake.

You crank it a bit and try to feed more snake into the toilet. Then
you crank a little more, insert a little more, etc. I can usually tell
when I've gotten through the actual obstruction. It has never taken me
more than a couple of minutes.

As for cleanup, I usually just hit it with a hose and then hang it up
somewhere. It is not at this point clean enough to eat off (although
probably cleaner than your vac hose), but it has no other function and
I don't keep it in the kitchen.

To each his own and all, but given that I have never run across a clog
that can't be fixed quickly with a plunger or closet auger, I see no
reason to try something that seems slower and messier.

Greg Guarino