The research

Why you should trust us

• We spoke with Tim Byrne of Precision Plumbing & Mechanical of Acton, Massachusetts. Byrne is a fourth-generation plumber in the Boston area with over 30 years of experience. We also interviewed Debbie Hogan, a senior cleaning associate for Manhattan Maintenance with more than 15 years of experience in the cleaning industry.
• My own experience with plungers doesn’t go much above and beyond the level of most people, but I did spend 10 years in construction, gaining a decent familiarity with the ins and outs of plumbing systems. I also have four children and have rescued more than one toy from the toilet drain. The same goes for the editor of this guide, Harry Sawyers, who once augered out a lemon that his kid had stuck down a toilet.
• Like all Wirecutter journalists, we review and test products with complete editorial independence. We’re never made aware of any business implications of our editorial recommendations. Read more about our editorial standards.

Toilet anatomy 101

Before you select a plunger, it’s helpful to know a bit about your toilet and plumbing. As Precision Plumbing & Mechanical’s Tim Byrne told us, “The vast majority of blockages happen in the toilet and not in the plumbing system.” All bottom-discharging toilets have an internal portion called a trap, a U shape in the outlet pipe that is designed to hold water (on some toilets, like this one, it’s clearly visible). The purpose of this trapped water is to block nasty sewer gases from escaping into your home. Sinks have traps, too, but those are external and are not directly part of the sink; you can find them in the undercabinet plumbing.

While the benefits of the trap are enormous, its sharp curves can create a bit of a traffic-flow problem, particularly for solid items. Not surprisingly, this is where most toilet clogs occur. The internal piping of a toilet is usually in the range of 2 to 2.5 inches in diameter, but when it gets to the floor level, the pipe connects to the home’s larger waste lines, which open up to 3 or 4 inches in diameter. So once something gets through the tight constraints of the toilet trap, that object hits the wider pipe, and it should be smooth sailing from there all the way to the septic tank or the sewage-treatment facility. But getting through the toilet isn’t always easy, which is why everyone needs a way to deal with a clog.

Some toilets are more prone to clogging than others. After some recent bathroom renovations, I upgraded to a Toto Drake and an American Standard VorMax and since then, over a year ago, I haven’t needed a plunger once (and I have four kids). So if you deal with recurring clogs and you’re at the end of your patience, a new toilet is likely to solve your problems. A good place to start in your search for a new loo is our guide to the best toilets.

How we picked

Our research turned up a lot of creative tools for unclogging a toilet, but our experts steered us toward the old-fashioned plunger with the straight handle and black rubber cup. The cup typically has a flange or a tapered shape on the underside that helps create an airtight seal at the bottom of the bowl. This is the style that Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric in Denver calls the “best all-around home plunger,” and it’s the kind that both Tim Byrne and Debbie Hogan recommended to us.

You need a good seal. The most important feature of a plunger is the ability to make a tight seal against the bottom of the toilet bowl. With a successful seal, the force of the plunge is directed into the drain line toward the obstruction. If the seal is not secure, the force of the plunge is lost out the sides of the plunger cup, which can result in unpleasant splashing and splattering.

We tried a few shapes. Making that seal may sound simple, but toilet bowls and their drains come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, so getting a good fit on the outlet isn’t always easy. Some drains are rectangular, some are square, some are oblong, and some are even shaped like a keyhole. To find a solution for this problem, plunger manufacturers have come up with assorted cup designs, ranging from flanged to beehive to tiered. We tested representatives of all three shapes.


Three cup styles (left to right): beehive (Korky), flanged (Simplehuman), tiered (Neiko). Photo: Doug Mahoney

Skip the sink plunger. You should avoid using the simpler sink plungers, which don’t have any kind of lower flange. These plungers are designed to suction against flat surfaces like shower and sink drains and can hardly make a seal against the irregular shapes of a toilet bowl.

A drip tray is nice. Some plungers have a drip tray, a little stand for the plunger to sit on while it’s not in use. A tray isn’t essential to the function of a plunger, but it does offer a place to put a wet plunger immediately after use and prior to cleaning. The better designs extend upward and hide the plunger cup. This design not only adds a nice, finished aesthetic but also conceals the wet portion of the plunger and allows air to circulate so that the plunger can dry out.


We tested plungers in a variety of shapes and styles. Doug Mahoney/NYT Wirecutter

We tested 13 plungers, basing our selections on overall buyer satisfaction, manufacturer reputation, and priced in the $15 to $30 range.

In addition, we tested two closet augers (aka toilet augers), pro-oriented tools that send a coiled metal snake down the drain to physically bust up clogs. Because they actually pull and push the obstruction instead of relying strictly on water pressure, they can handle tasks that plungers can’t, such as a wedged toy or anything else that might get flushed down the toilet.

How we tested

Our test setup included clear pipes so we could see how much clog-clearing power we got from each plunge. Doug Mahoney/NYT Wirecutter

We did the majority of our testing on three toilets. Two (a Mansfield and a Toto) were installed in a home, and the third (Foremost) we installed on a platform, complete with a 3-inch drain line, the final foot of which we switched over to clear piping. We did this so that we could monitor the activity in the pipe as we stopped up the end. Each toilet represented a different drain shape: Mansfield’s traditional rectangular, Toto’s oblong, and the unusual Foremost with a rectangular drain but a straight vertical rear wall. In 2020, we tested two more plungers, both variations on the Korky 99-4A.

To test the suction and the water-moving power of the plungers, we shoved a tightly fitting Franklin foam baseball into the end of the clear pipe and poured about 3 gallons of water into the bowl of the toilet, simulating approximately two flushes from a standard low-flow toilet. The water backed up at the plugged ball and filled the pipe and bowl. Then we used each plunger in an attempt to dislodge the ball, keeping watch on the movement of the water and the ball. We also simulated a number of clogs in the toilet piping using handfuls of wet leaves.

Because the other two toilets were installed in a home, we tested the plungers there by submerging them in the bowl’s natural water level and trying to clear the toilet by just plunging the water into the drain line. Even without a blockage and a bowl brimming with water, we could fairly easily see which plungers were able to make a seal and which ones weren’t. We also were lucky enough to have a few naturally occurring clogs to deal with, so we plunged those as well.

Throughout testing, we kept a close eye on the ergonomics of the handle, the stiffness of the rubber cup, and the sturdiness of the cup-to-handle connection.

Our pick: Korky 99-4A Max Performance Plunger


Top pick

In our testing, we found that the Korky 99-4A Max Performance Plunger stood far, far above the rest. The 99-4A achieved the most secure fit on all three toilets, which, coupled with the extra-large plunger cup, created the most powerful plunge. In fact, the competition wasn’t even close: During our staged test, the 99-4A was able to move the foam ball down the pipe at a rate of 2 to 3 inches per plunge, while none of the other plungers could move the ball at all. The 99-4A also benefits from a T-handle design, which we found to be the most comfortable to plunge with. Since our original testing, we’ve continued using the 99-4A, and in eight years it hasn’t encountered a clog it couldn’t dislodge.

The Korky 99-4A easily pushed the ball down the pipe. None of the other tested plungers could even budge it. Doug Mahoney/NYT Wirecutter

It has a unique design. Instead of a more common shape, such as a flange or a stepped-down tiering, the 99-4A is the only plunger we saw with a bulbous lower half, giving it the look of a rubber beehive. That lower portion of the cup has a thin wall, so it’s soft and pliable and can easily conform to irregular bowl shapes, while the upper part is thicker, which maintains the shape of the cup yet compresses with a nice, even resistance. At the midpoint of the bulb are two rings of rubber that add stability to the upper half and prevent the cup from quickly collapsing in on itself, a problem we had with some of the other plungers we tested.


The business end of the Korky 99-4A is large and extremely pliable, so it easily conforms to a wide variety of toilet shapes. I washed my hands after this photo. Doug Mahoney/NYT Wirecutter

The bulb is big and that means more power. The 99-4A’s cup is also huge compared with the others we tested. It has the capacity to hold about 7 cups of water, twice as much as the next-largest plunger cup. So not only does the 99-4A make an excellent seal at the bowl, but it also sends a tremendous amount of water down the pipe. While plunging, we could feel the difference between the Korky 99-4A’s large, sustained pushes and the smaller bursts of the other models. Proper plunging technique involves wiggling the blockage back and forth, and we found that the 99-4A was successful with the “pull” as well.

Aiding that water-moving power is the T-handle grip, also unique to the 99-4A. This grip naturally positions the arm to be in line with the plunger handle, which keeps the wrist straight and makes for an easier plunging motion—and, we think, adds the ability to better moderate the strength of a plunge. Other plungers we tested had either a straight handle end (like a broom handle), which was straight-up uncomfortable, or a pommel grip, which turned the wrist and decreased our control over the plunge.


The three predominant plunger handle styles (left to right): T-handle (Korky), straight (Neiko), pommel (Simplehuman). Doug Mahoney/NYT Wirecutter

Flaws but not dealbreakers

At a little over 2 feet, the Korky 99-4A was the tallest plunger we looked at. The others we tested mostly landed in the 22- to 23-inch range, so the difference isn’t huge, but it is something worth knowing about if you plan on keeping your plunger in the undersink storage area.. Korky also sells the 97-3A Beehive Max Hideaway Plunger, which is the same as our pick but with a telescoping handle. It shrinks down to about 18 inches and has the same impressively effective plunger head, but we tested it, and the handle felt flimsy enough that we decided not to recommend it.

The 99-4A doesn’t come with any kind of caddy. Korky sells a version of this plunger with a drip tray (the 95-4A), but the tray’s opening is too small, and removing the plunger is difficult as a result. We found that the MAXClean Universal Plunger Holder Drip Tray is a better fit for the Korky 99-4A.

Best for a compatible drip tray: MAXClean Universal Plunger Holder Drip Tray


Best for...

If you get the Korky 99-4A, we also recommend the MAXClean Universal Plunger Holder Drip Tray. This third-party drip tray is nicely compatible with the 99-4A. It has a simple, no-frills design, but it gets the job done. A lot of the trays we looked at couldn’t hold the unusual beehive-shaped cup of the 99-4A, but the MAXClean tray cradled it with stability. The MAXClean tray has a one-piece design that is easy to rinse off and sanitize. It also has a helpful little handle on one side, which reduces the “ech” of picking it up. Korky does sell the 95-4A, a version of our top pick with a drip tray, but the opening is too small, and it’s frustrating to use.

The MAXClean tray costs about $14 at this writing, putting the total purchase around the $30 mark, a sum consistent with what other nice plungers and trays cost.

If there is a downside to the MAXClean tray, it’s that it isn’t the most attractive tray, and it does nothing to hide the jumbo plunger cup of the Korky 99-4A. If that will be a problem for you, our runner-up pick offers a much better look.

Runner-up pick: Simplehuman Toilet Plunger


Runner-up

If the Korky 99-4A is not available or if you’re willing to sacrifice plunging strength for aesthetics, we recommend the Simplehuman Toilet Plunger. Other than the Korky 99-4A, most of the tested plungers had roughly the same water-moving power, but what sets the Simplehuman plunger apart from the rest is the overall design and the convenience of the drip tray. With its stainless steel shaft, white accents, and stylish caddy, the Simplehuman plunger is without question the best-looking plunger we tested. But Simplehuman’s drip tray is not just about form: In addition to hiding the plunger cup in an attractive way, it has an open back that allows for air circulation and drying, which isn’t the case with all of the drip trays we saw. Also, when the plunger is resting in the drip tray, it catches a small magnet that holds the two together, so transporting a wet plunger drip-free is as simple as clicking it into the tray and lifting the handle. That handle’s pommel design is nice, too, even if it doesn’t provide the ergonomics and control of the 99-4A’s T-shaped handle.

The Simplehuman plunger, like the other non-Korky plungers, was unable to move the foam ball during our tests. It made a good seal on the traditional Mansfield toilet’s rectangular outlet but had a much harder time with the irregular openings of the Toto and Foremost toilets. On our test setup, although the Simplehuman plunger could create some water movement, it lacked the real pushing-and-pulling force of the Korky 99-4A. Even on toilets where it can make only a so-so seal, however, this plunger should be able to work enough back-and-forth to dislodge a typical obstruction, though we can’t guarantee that it would be able to do more than that.

Compared with any $10 generic plunger, the Simplehuman plunger offers a nicer experience. While the plunging strength is comparable, the pommel grip of this design is much more comfortable to hold than the broom-handle end of less expensive models. Also, the plunger cup is of a higher quality and compresses evenly, giving you more control over the plunge. The thinner cups on basic models collapse quickly and don’t always pop back into shape.


The Simplehuman plunger gets all the style points. Doug Mahoney/NYT Wirecutter

The Simplehuman plunger also distinguishes itself with its aesthetic and functional caddy. If you like your plungers discreet, the Simplehuman caddy covers the entire plunger cup. The nice part is that the back is wide open, which allows the plunger to dry. Many of the other drip trays we saw either don’t cover the plunger cup at all or completely enclose it. With the enclosed ones, we noticed that on the second day of testing, many of the plungers were still wet from the first day of testing.

The Simplehuman caddy is easy to clean, too, something we can’t say about some of the competition. Because it has a basic one-piece design, every spot is readily accessible. Other caddies in our tests had funny grooves or inaccessible spaces that we found either difficult to clean or downright impossible to get to.

Finally, the magnet at the top of the Simplehuman caddy clicks in with the metal handle of the plunger, creating a connection that’s strong enough for you to lift both the plunger and the caddy just by grasping the handle of the plunger. This design adds a lot of drip-free convenience if you keep the plunger in a hall closet, a garage, or a basement, or if you just need to take it elsewhere for a cleaning.

Other than the relative lack of plunging strength, our main concern with the Simplehuman plunger is the potential for rust to develop on the handle. We noticed a few Amazon comments mentioning this problem. Conversely, we also found many comments from longtime owners who say they’ve seen no rust at all. We have been using the Simplehuman plunger for seven years and have not seen any rust.

Best for the ultimate clog buster: Ridgid 59787 K-3 Toilet Auger


Best for...

If you want stronger, surefire unclogging ability and don’t mind complicated cleanup or awkward storage, we recommend the Ridgid 59787 K-3 Toilet Auger. This kind of tool, also known as a closet auger, is what the pros use. “I don’t use a plunger, I use a closet auger,” Precision Plumbing & Mechanical’s Tim Byrne told us. We looked at two models: a high-end pro version (the Ridgid model) and a basic, stripped-down homeowner auger (the now-discontinued Cobra 40030). After using the two, we’re convinced that investing in the Ridgid auger is the way to go. Due to its superior build quality and abundance of convenience features, it’s what we’d want to reach for in an emergency.

First, a little explanation of what a closet auger is and how it works. A closet auger consists of a flexible coiled-wire wand that slides in and out of a sleeve. At the top of the wand, protruding from the sleeve, is a rotating handle that turns the coiled wand. To use the auger, you pull the wand back up into the sleeve, place the bottom of the sleeve at the bottom of the toilet bowl, and push the wand into the toilet drain while you turn the handle. This rotation allows it to navigate the tight curves of the toilet trap. The end of the wand flares out a little and has a slight barb so that it can physically push or pull whatever is in the pipe. This design is more reliable than that of a plunger, which simply relies on water pressure. Closet augers come in a variety of sizes, but those with a 3-foot wand are typical, and they’re long enough to get through the internal plumbing of an average toilet.

Now, back to the specifics on why we liked the Ridgid auger. For starters, it has oversize handles on both the sleeve and the wand, making it much easier to hold and maneuver. The Cobra model has a handle only on the wand, so while turning it, you need to grip the sleeve, which can slip. Also, the Ridgid model’s sleeve is metal, not thin plastic as on the Cobra auger.


The Ridgid auger (top) has a secure clip that holds the wand during storage. The Cobra auger has only a small wire loop that you need to twist onto the coil of the wand. Also note that the Ridgid model has two robust and contoured handles, whereas the Cobra auger has just a single small one. Doug Mahoney/NYT Wirecutter

Because of the Ridgid auger’s more stable design and its two handles, we found it easier to use. In contrast, after a couple of uses, the metal stem on the Cobra model took on a substantial bend that made pushing the wand through the sleeve difficult. With the Ridgid auger, this just didn’t happen.

We also like that the Ridgid auger has a spot to secure the wand against the shaft while in storage. This design reduces, as much as possible, the footprint of this awkward tool. The Cobra model has something similar, but on that tool the piece is just a metal loop that you have to thread around the end of the wand to secure it. You can do this by hand, or you can hook the wand end and turn the handle, spinning the wand onto the loop. Either way, it’s a little tedious, and the loop still allows the wand to move around. The Ridgid clip really locks the wand into a stable position.

There is a clear difference in cost. At this writing the Ridgid auger is roughly $45, while pared-down models like the Cobra auger are only about $10 (so the quality differences are not surprising). Still, even in the interest of saving a dollar, we wouldn’t recommend models like the Cobra auger even for occasional use. They just feel like they could give out at any moment. We’re not the only ones who think the Ridgid auger is worth the price: We found this video of a plumber demonstrating how to use an auger, and the one he’s using is the Ridgid model. He states, “This particular closet auger is a good one.” And when we interviewed Precision Plumbing & Mechanical’s Tim Byrne, he told us that he regularly uses two augers, and one of them is the Ridgid model. The Ridgid auger costs more than a plunger, sure, but it’s still certainly cheaper than a visit from a plumber, who would likely use a very similar tool to fix your problem.

Welcoming a closet auger into your life brings with it a couple of complications. For one, a closet auger is not likely to be something a guest could use. It’s an unfamiliar tool, and one that is too large and impractical to keep in most bathrooms. Storage is another issue: At over 3.5 feet long, with an attached flexible wand, the Ridgid auger is not an easily contained shape or size, so even in a large hall closet you could have some difficulties. The reality is that this is a tool likely to end up stored in a basement or a garage—a stray nail on the wall makes a fine hook for it—and it’s an unlikely purchase for an apartment dweller with limited space.

Because of its size and moving parts, cleaning an auger is also an issue. Short of using a garden hose over a patch of lawn (or a street gutter), you have no easy way to fully rinse the coiled wand and the inside of the metal sleeve, especially if the barbed end has caught something. You could do the cleaning in a shower, but that’s … in the shower.

How to properly use a plunger

A plunger may seem like a simple tool to use—just put it in the toilet and jam it up and down a few times, right? Well, sort of. You actually have a few things to keep an eye on that can make the process a little easier.

First, it’s important to fill the plunger cup with water before you start plunging. The point is, you’re trying to use straight water pressure to dislodge the clog. If the cup is filled with air, your first plunge is highly likely to result in a messy blast of air pressing out of the sides of the cup. Instead, start by tipping the plunger over to its side as you lower it in the water; this should fill it, for the most part. Then, if possible, do a gentle plunge to bubble any remaining air out of the cup and siphon in water to replace it. This motion offers the added benefit of trying to pull the blockage up toward the bowl, which many people say is the best technique anyway.

We read in a few places that plungers work best if the handle is oriented vertically rather than at an angle. But we found this to be dependent on the shape of the toilet drain. In our tests on a traditional rectangular outlet, this claim held true, but for the other shapes, we needed to shift the plunger around a little to get a nice seal, and it wasn’t always vertical.

Lastly, we recommend starting slow and adding force as needed. As Fine Homebuilding’s Don Burgard writes, “Use a series of gentle pumps rather than one or two quick, forceful pushes. The best way to break up a blockage is by repeated back-and-forth movement of water, which happens when you push the sealed plunger down and then pull it back up again.”

How to clean a plunger

You have a few ways to clean a plunger. They all start with an initial “cleansing flush,” to rinse off the plunger cup within the toilet bowl. From that point, you have a couple of options for disinfecting.

One method is to put a little bleach in the bowl and roll the plunger cup around in it for a bit. If you have a septic system, chlorine bleach is not the best thing for the hardworking bacteria in the septic tank, so you’re better off using an oxygen bleach such as OxiClean. The general consensus is that a little chlorine bleach likely won’t harm anything, but why take the chance? Plus, some people say that oxygen bleach is actually beneficial to the septic bacteria.

Another option, as described on Clean My Space, is to just rinse the plunger with water in the bowl and then spray it with a disinfectant.

If you have a drip tray, you have the third option of postponing the disinfecting until the plunger dries out and then hitting it with a spray disinfectant.

The competition

The Clorox Toilet Plunger and OXO Good Grips Toilet Plunger and Canister are very similar, with nearly identical holders. The holders each have two doors that open upward when you pull the plunger out, and doing so reveals an inner bowl with drainage holes that is set within the outer shell of the tray. The problem is that these two pieces don’t come apart, so you have no easy way to disinfect the area of the tray where the toilet water drips. In addition, we found the bulb of the OXO plunger to be so stiff that it was difficult to use, and neither plunger matched the clog-clearing power of the Korky 99-4A.

The ToiletShroom is an odd one. Its design consists of a flexible tiered cone, like a Christmas tree, stuck on the end of a handle. We liked how the long handle kept us a good distance from the action, but the plunging itself was difficult and splashy. Depending on how the outlet of the toilet is designed, the end of the ToiletShroom plunger might have to bend at a hard angle just to get in there, and we read a decent number of reviews that complained about the end of the tool breaking off in a toilet. We didn’t test this model with the foam ball, but even if it had more power than the Korky 99-4A, we still wouldn’t recommend it due to its various drawbacks.

We tested the Johnny Jolter, which works on the same principle as a bike pump, but instead of creating a focused stream of fresh air, it creates a focused stream of filthy toilet water. The shape of the tip offers no malleability, and we had trouble making a seal on the toilets we tested this model on. This plunger is fiddly to clean and difficult to store, and the unfamiliar design makes it impractical for guests.

We found the same drawbacks with the Aiment Air Drain Blaster, which uses compressed air instead of water. Pumping the handle builds up pressure in the chamber, and a trigger releases it into the toilet outlet. This model is a low-end version of the Kinetic Water Ram (one of Tim Byrne’s go-to tools for pipe blockages), but considering the success we’ve had with the Korky plunger over a seven-year period, we don’t see any reason to turn to a tool like this.

The Korky 95-4A is the same as our top pick, but it comes with a drip tray. It sounds great, but unfortunately the opening on the tray is way too small, and removing the plunger is difficult. During our testing, we constantly had to grab the drip tray and manually pull it off the plunger.

Another version of our pick, the Korky 97-3A Beehive Max Hideaway Plunger, has a telescoping handle. This is a nice idea, but the telescoping connection point is wobbly and doesn’t inspire confidence. If you have only limited clearance and want the power of the Korky 99-4A, this model is an option, but we’re very wary of its long-term durability.

The Neiko 60166A is a highly regarded plunger with a lot of positive feedback on Amazon. We found, however, that it didn’t plunge any better than the other non-Korky models. It has a tiered plunger cup, with an aluminum broomstick handle that ends in a plastic piece with a hook hole. The simple handle design made for an uncomfortable grip in our tests; we much preferred the T-handle and pommel grips that we tried.

The now-discontinued Kleen Freak Antibacterial Toilet Plunger came in a few different designs, but the plunger cup was the same on all of them. It’s a squat tiered plunger, similar to the Neiko model but not as large and with one fewer tier. It seemed to work okay in our tests, but we saw nothing that made it stand out from the pack. The drip tray that comes with this plunger is the same as the MAXClean Universal Plunger Holder Drip Tray, which we currently recommend for the Korky 99-4A.

Neither the BrassCraft Plunge-N-Store Plunger (also discontinued) nor the Libman 0598004 Premium Toilet Plunger and Caddy was as good as our picks.

As we described above, we also tested the Cobra 40030 Toilet Auger, which was basic and inexpensive though lacking the quality necessary for a long-term, reliable tool. It was recently discontinued, but if you happen to run across it somehow, it will work in a pinch.

We dismissed a number of other models without testing:

Neither of our e