Ever walked into your motorhome, camper or RV bathroom and been mortified by the horrible scent? It occurs to all van customers ultimately, ESPECIALLY when the climate warms up.
There’s a massive distinction between considering to your self ‘I ought to most likely give the motorhome a fast sweep up and tidy’ and questioning with embarrassment ‘WHY does my RV toilet stink so dangerous???!!!’
It’s time to speak bogs. RV, Motorhome and camper bogs, to be precise. And after I say toilet, everyone knows I principally imply the bathroom, proper? Yep, we’re going there, sewage smells and all. Put together yourselves…
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Why does my motorhome/ RV bathroom scent like a sewer?
Motorhome bogs work in another way from ones in a house- and boy, don’t we all know it! Every thing you place into the bathroom is saved in a holding tank, which then must be emptied afterward.
That is also called the black water or black waste tank… even when it’s a brownish cartridge which you must empty your self!
In ‘regular’ situations, motorhome bogs shouldn’t have a horrible odour- they usually DEFINITELY shouldn’t scent like a sewer when flushed.
Methods to maintain a camper bathroom from smelling
Camper and caravan bogs scent for the next causes:
- Want clear
- Clog/ blockage
- Injury to the black waste tank
- Leaking bathroom/ defective seal
The greatest trigger of bathroom odour in your camper is methane fuel construct up- which is why it smells SO MUCH WORSE both at altitude or in sizzling international locations. That is additionally why you don’t need your holding tank to dry out- extra on that later!
7 straightforward methods to make your RV bathroom scent wonderful!
So, let’s cease your camper bathroom smelling like sewage and do away with these bathroom smells for you! Listed here are the 7 finest methods we’ve discovered to minimise or cease motorhome bathroom stink!
Use an honest product
It’s wonderful how straightforward that is to unravel you probably have bathroom chemical. We now use a product referred to as Solbio natural bathroom fluid, which is pure and doesn’t include dangerous chemicals- and it smells scrumptious (sure, severely!)
It’s additionally secure to be disposed of in septic tanks or fosse, that means we’ve got extra choices to get rid of our bathroom responsibly.
Watch the evaluate of Solbio right here:
We hope you discovered the video helpful. In the event you did, we’d find it irresistible if you adopted us on Youtube. New movies with ideas for motorhoming and campervanning within the UK and Europe are launched weekly.
Shut the bathroom flap securely
The primary is pretty self-explanatory: ensure you shut the flap between you and your holding tank after every use of the bathroom. You’ll actually remorse it in case you don’t!
That is usually the most important reason behind RV bogs smelling like a sewer- the methane fuel leaks out of a hairline crack someplace and boy are you aware it!
CLEAN REGULARLY to keep away from RV bathroom odors
I hate to say it, as a result of NO-ONE enjoys cleansing a bathroom, but it surely actually does assist. Give your toilet a each day wipe down with antiseptic (or candy smelling cleaner).
We maintain ours in a helpful spritz bottle and use after a bathe to scrub the world. We then wipe down the bathroom (in case you use disposable wipes, do NOT throw them into your bathroom after use- put them in with the opposite garbage.)
The opposite factor which might scent in an RV toilet are the drains. An important product to make use of down the drains for the waste tank is Zoflora. Poor it neat down the bathe drain when you may have water in your tank and this can assist maintain the dreaded waste tank smells at bay. My pal’s favorite scent is the Linen Contemporary!
We’ve got a walk-in toilet/ bathe unit, so the drain in our motorhome works onerous to do away with EVERYTHING. Attempt to keep away from placing ‘bits’ down your drains (each in bogs and kitchens) and clear the drains usually.
A cup of baking soda combined with water helps maintain drains clear and scent free. Learn extra on methods to clear your motorhome water tank.
Hair catcher
When you have (or are!) women with LONG hair, you could filter out the drain usually. All that hair will get washed down the drain and collects different bits… which smells disgusting.
When you have this hassle, these are wonderful for catching hair!! Severely- so good. Simply be certain that they suit your camper drain.
USE ENOUGH LIQUID to do away with holding tank odours
That is counter-intuitive, I do know. ESPECIALLY in case your RV bathroom makes use of your contemporary consuming water for flushing. However you NEED sufficient water in your bathroom to cease smells- ‘dry’ camper bogs scent MUCH worse.
I might go into a protracted and technical description about methane fuel launch from dried out waste yada yada… however frankly, no one must learn that, so simply belief me that wetter is best. Sure, you may snigger. I doubt many children are studying this! 😉
After all, don’t use TOO a lot water- you’ll refill your RV waste tank a lot faster. It’s a fragile steadiness.
EMPTY the waste usually
One of the simplest ways to cease camper waste smelling like a sewer is to… empty the sewer! The extra usually you empty, the much less it’s going to scent. This additionally comes again to eliminating the stuff letting off the gases. Now, I do know this is without doubt one of the greatest cons of RV life, but it surely’s a small value to pay for the liberty we love a lot!
In the event you use a conveyable bathroom cassette in your motorhome, at all times be certain that to clean it out correctly EVERY TIME (utilizing the faucet offered on the emptying station). We fill with water and empty not less than a few instances to ensure all the things is out.
In the event you can’t empty your RV waste like that, this sewer tank rinser fixes onto your waste outlet and permits you to actually get the tank clear.
BE CAREFUL WITH TOILET PAPER
We by no means ever put our bathroom paper down the motorhome bathroom. We use a bin within the toilet which is for this function, and that bin will get emptied as usually as we will, often as soon as a day.
We’ve lived on boats for 15+ years and that is completely regular for us, however I do know that many individuals discover this ‘a bit bizarre’.
Nonetheless, in case you don’t put your paper down the bathroom you reduce the chance of blockages in your waste tank brought on by wadded, moist paper. Many individuals use far an excessive amount of paper- we’ve needed to study to lower the quantity we use.
One other benefit to not placing bathroom paper within the cassette or black water tank is that the bathroom doesn’t get full so usually= extra time for wild tenting/ boondocking!
If that is too gross for you, use additional water each time you employ your camper toilet- it helps soften the paper. Additionally, use the most affordable bathroom paper you may find- NOT the ‘accredited RV or motorhome paper’. Severely, grocery store personal model stuff will dissolve rather well!! However again- extra water and ‘stuff’ in the bathroom will trigger it to refill quicker!
Intelligent tips to do away with RV bathroom smells
It is a nice trick to maintain your RV toilet smelling good all day lengthy. Cover bogs scents or sachets someplace out of the way in which, and they’ll launch a scrumptious scent all day lengthy.
Watch out you probably have pets- be certain that any sachets are out of vary as many will not be appropriate for pets.
In case your RV bathroom smells when flushed, strive placing a bit of scent or important oil within the water flush. (NOTE- do NOT do that in case your bathroom makes use of your contemporary water!!!!)
Match a vent or SOG unit
Many RVs have already got vents in-built (usually it’s a crack in these pipes which causes your RV toilet to scent like a sewer (or rotten eggs; pretty!)
Nonetheless, many campers and motorhomes don’t have any vent in any respect of their tiny bogs, so it might actually assist to put in one.
A SOG unit is a vent which runs each time the bathroom flap is open. This helps launch the gases which construct up inside the bathroom holding tank, sending them out by means of the vent as a substitute and holding your camper scent free.
We put in a SOG in our final motorhome and it was actually helpful. Listed here are a few ideas for becoming it:
- Ensure the vent for the SOG isn’t anyplace close to the door to your motorhome. In any other case, all these smells which have come out of the holding tank go straight again into your residing space…!!
- In case your bathroom is close to the door, take into account venting bathroom odors up and out on the roof.
- Be sure to shut the flap SECURELY after utilizing the toilet- or the SOG retains operating, and operating.
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Can you employ the lavatory in an RV whereas driving?
I might actually advocate NOT utilizing the lavatory in your camper whereas driving. Not solely is it in opposition to the legislation (seatbelts!!), however are you able to IMAGINE what would occur if there ought to be an accident?!?!
Urgh.
Spare 5 minutes and pull right into a service space earlier than you employ the lavatory (or get snacks and many others!)
What are your favorite tips to maintain your RV toilet smelling wonderful and free of bathroom odors? Share your ideas beneath so we will all profit.
Need extra RV residing ideas?
This was a query from one in all our pretty US readers, (hey!) so I’ve chosen to make use of US spellings. Although writing odor with no ‘u’ has made my spell verify go psychological. You’re welcome! 😉
Final replace on 2024-05-08 / Affiliate hyperlinks / Photographs from Amazon Product Promoting API
