While disposable wipes have been making a splash in the media, a Toowoomba plumber says it is time to shine a light on what else is going down the loo.

After 33 years of plumbing, Alan 'Jacko' Miller said the humble yellow rubber duckie toy had become one of the most common culprits for a call-out.

"Kids seemed fascinated by putting things down a toilet and seeing if it disappears," he said.

"And duckies are great; they float to start with, and when they flush, they go round and round and round, and then they disappear."

When toilet owners take the plunge to call their plumber, Mr Miller said they all started the rubber-duckie-in-the-pipes conversation the same way.

"They say, 'oh, you've probably never had this before...'," he said.

"But for some strange reason, duckies seem to be quite common."

He said despite the "yuck factor", some well-loved toys do make it back to the child after a holiday down the pipes.

"If it's the only toy a child will sleep with, mum will wash it and sterilise it, and do anything she can to get it back in the house," Mr Miller laughed.

Treasures of the deep

After more than three decades of unclogging pipes, Mr Miller is flush with stories of 'what lies beneath'.

"You find the normal run-of-the-mill things, but you also find funny things," he said.

"A lot of times older people will ring me when they've lost their teeth and I ask, 'do you really want those back?'"

Mr Miller said the most valuable item he has retrieved was a $4,000 earring.

"The owner was stressing [about] how she was going to tell her husband how she lost the earring down the drain," he said.

"And as far as I know it's still a secret from him!"

He said the knowledge of the 'toilet whisperer' extended far past the S-bend.

"We can tell a person's diet by the time we've seen their pipes and sometimes I'll say, 'we're not coming here for tea'," he laughed.

But after all thosse call-outs inspired by adventurous rubber duckies, it may come as a surprise that the veteran plumber allows the bright yellow toys in his own home.

"We have grandkids visit but the rubber ducks stay in the bathtub," he said.