He was about to close the search tab when a new notification popped up: “Follow-up: Does hot water ruin toilet gaskets?”
He decided that was a problem for Future Leo. Present Leo was going to hide the crayons.
The internet was a choir of conflicting angels. One forum swore by a bucket of hot—not boiling—water. “The heat softens the wax and grease,” a man named PlumberDad69 wrote. “It breaks the seal of the clog.” Another thread, filled with ALL-CAPS warnings, screamed that hot water would crack the porcelain, turning your bathroom into a shrapnel-filled geyser.
“Don’t panic,” he whispered, phone in hand. A quick search stared back at him: Does hot water unclog a toilet?
Leo exhaled. He texted his wife: Crisis averted. Science wins.
Then, a sound. Not a flush, but a gulp .