There is no way to safely dissolve baby wipes that are clogging a toilet. Any chemicals strong enough to dissolve baby wipes are corrosive to plumbing and dangerous to work with. Unlike toilet paper, baby wipes and wet wipes are designed to resist dissolving, even when they are wet. Since baby wipes won’t break down when exposed to water or chemicals, the only way to fix a clog caused by baby wipes is to physically remove the obstruction from your pipes.
What Drain Cleaner Will Dissolve Baby Wipes?
No drain cleaner will dissolve baby wipes. Drain cleaners are designed to break apart clogs caused by organic materials, such as grease or hair. Most baby wipes are made from synthetic materials bonded together to create a durable cloth-like sheet. Drain cleaners will not have an effect on these synthetic materials. So, using a drain cleaner is not one of our tactics for fixing a toilet clogged with baby wipes.
- There are no drain cleaners that can safely dissolve baby wipes.
- Baby wipes are made of cloth material, so they are extremely hard to dissolve.
- Chemicals strong enough to break down baby wipes wreak havoc on plumbing and septic systems.
Using powerful chemicals such as bleach or sulfuric acid will not help dissolve baby wipes. Baby wipes won’t break apart, even when exposed to strong chemicals. Plus, these cleaners are hazardous to most plumbing systems. Using chemical cleaners is likely to cause leaks, premature plumbing failure, and expensive damage to your home. Additionally, powerful drain cleaners and chemicals are extremely damaging to septic systems. Do not try to dissolve baby wipes with any drain cleaner if you have a septic tank.
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How Long Do Baby Wipes Take to Dissolve?
Baby wipes will not dissolve on their own. Think of baby wipes as cloth material, not paper. It takes just as much time for a baby wipe to dissolve as it would for a t-shirt to dissolve. That means if your toilet is clogged with baby wipes, it will remain clogged for years if the clog isn’t removed.
- Baby wipes will not dissolve on their own.
- Chemicals will not help dissolve baby wipes because wipes are made of cloth.
- Never try to dissolve baby wipes to fix a clog.
Thinking of baby wipes as cloth also helps to explain why bleach and other cleaners won’t help dissolve baby wipes. A t-shirt won’t be dissolved by bleach—it will just become discolored. The same thing happens to baby wipes. If you have a toilet clogged with baby wipes, no amount of waiting or pouring chemicals into your toilet will fix the problem.
How Do You Unclog Baby Wipes in a Toilet?
To fix a toilet clog caused by baby wipes, you must physically remove the clog. The least messy option is to use a plunger to force the clog to break up and pass through the pipes. If plunging doesn’t work, the only option is to remove the baby wipes. You can use a toilet auger (also called a toilet snake) to snag the wipes and pull them out of the toilet. If this fails, call a professional plumber to remove the clog.
- Use a plunger to force the clog through the pipes.
- Feed this toilet auger into the clogged toilet to snag and remove the baby wipes.
- Contact a licensed plumber for clog removal services.
If you have a septic tank, it is essential to remove the clog with a toilet auger or the help of a licensed plumber. Plunging a baby wipe clog will simply force the wipes through your pipes, to the septic tank. Once in your septic tank, the baby wipes won’t dissolve. Repeatedly flushing baby wipes can fill your septic tank prematurely, which can cause serious damage to the entire septic system.
- Strong and sturdy construction for the toughest clogs.
- The vinyl guard protects the porcelain in your toilet.
- Features large ergonomically designed handles and a corrosion-resistant tube.
What Happens When You Put Baby Wipes Down the Toilet?
When you put baby wipes down the toilet, you will either clog your toilet, your septic tank, or the machinery at your local wastewater processing plant. Even if flushing a few wipes does not clog your toilet drain immediately, the wipes can snag on sharp edges of pipes in the plumbing. This causes waste and other debris to snag onto the baby wipe, resulting in a slow-building clog that gets worse over time.
- Your toilet may become clogged with baby wipes.
- Baby wipes can damage septic systems.
- Flushing baby wipes can clog and damage machinery at clean water facilities.
- It can cost thousands to repair plumbing damaged by flushing baby wipes.
- Throw away used baby wipes as trash.
Flushing baby wipes is so costly and damaging that we wrote an in-depth article on the effects of flushing baby wipes. Clogs caused by baby wipes can cause toilets to overflow and can cost substantial amounts of money to repair. To stop this from happening to you, never flush baby wipes, even if they are marketed as “flushable wipes.” Instead, throw all used baby wipes into the garbage.
Do Flushable Baby Wipes Dissolve?
Flushable baby wipes do not dissolve. Keep these rules in mind before using them:
- Baby wipes do not dissolve in water.
- Chemicals and drain cleaners will not dissolve baby wipes.
- Baby wipes resist dissolving because they are made of cloth-like material, not paper.
- Even flushable wipes won’t dissolve.
- Flushing baby wipes can clog toilets or damage septic systems.
- If your toilet is clogged with baby wipes, the clog must be physically removed.
- You can use a plunger or toilet snake to remove baby wipe clogs yourself.
- If you cannot remove a baby wipe clog yourself, hire a licensed plumber for the job.
To prevent your toilet from being clogged with baby wipes, throw used wipes in the trash. Never flush anything other than toilet paper and human waste.