Ever walked into your motorhome, camper or RV bathroom and been mortified by the horrible odor? It occurs to all van customers finally, ESPECIALLY when the climate warms up.
There is an enormous distinction between considering to your self ‘I should probably give the motorhome a quick sweep up and tidy’ and questioning with embarrassment ‘WHY does my RV bathroom stink so bad???!!!’
It’s time to speak bogs. RV, Motorhome and camper bogs, to be precise. And once I say toilet, everyone knows I principally imply the bathroom, proper? Yep, we’re going there, sewage smells and all. Prepare yourselves…
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Why does my motorhome/ RV bathroom odor like a sewer?
Motorhome bogs work otherwise from ones in a house- and boy, don’t we all know it! Everything you place into the bathroom is stored in a holding tank, which then must be emptied in a while.
This is also referred to as the black water or black waste tank… even when it’s a brownish cartridge which it’s important to empty your self!
In ‘normal’ circumstances, motorhome bogs shouldn’t have a horrible odour- and so they DEFINITELY shouldn’t odor like a sewer when flushed.
How to maintain a camper bathroom from smelling
Camper and caravan bogs odor for the next causes:
- Need a great clear
- Clog/ blockage
- Damage to the black waste tank
- Leaking bathroom/ defective seal
The greatest trigger of bathroom odour in your camper is methane gasoline construct up- which is why it smells SO MUCH WORSE both at altitude or in scorching nations. This can also be why you don’t need your holding tank to dry out- extra on that later!
7 straightforward methods to make your RV bathroom odor wonderful!
So, let’s cease your camper lavatory smelling like sewage and eliminate these bathroom smells for you! Here are the 7 greatest methods we’ve discovered to minimise or cease motorhome bathroom stink!
Use an honest product
It’s wonderful how straightforward that is to resolve you probably have a great 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, significantly!)
It’s additionally protected 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 assessment of Solbio right here:
We hope you discovered the video helpful. If you probably did, we’d find it irresistible if you adopted us on Youtube. New movies with suggestions for motorhoming and campervanning within the UK and Europe are launched weekly.
Close the bathroom flap securely
The first 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 should you don’t!
This is commonly the most important reason behind RV bogs smelling like a sewer- the methane gasoline 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, however it 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 (should you use disposable wipes, do NOT throw them into your bathroom after use- put them in with the opposite garbage.)
The different factor which might odor in an RV toilet are the drains. A fantastic product to make use of down the drains for the waste tank is Zoflora. Poor it neat down the bathe drain when you’ve got water in your tank and this can assist maintain the dreaded waste tank smells at bay. My buddy’s favorite odor is the Linen Fresh!
We have a walk-in toilet/ bathe unit, so the drain in our motorhome works onerous to eliminate EVERYTHING. Try to keep away from placing ‘bits’ down your drains (each in bogs and kitchens) and clear the drains frequently.
A cup of baking soda combined with water helps maintain drains clear and odor free. Read extra on clear your motorhome water tank.
Hair catcher
If you’ve got (or are!) women with LONG hair, you should filter the drain frequently. All that hair will get washed down the drain and collects different bits… which smells disgusting.
If you’ve got this hassle, these are wonderful for catching hair!! Seriously- so good. Just ensure that they suit your camper drain.
USE ENOUGH LIQUID to eliminate holding tank odours
This is counter-intuitive, I do know. ESPECIALLY in case your RV bathroom makes use of your contemporary consuming water for flushing. But you NEED sufficient water in your bathroom to cease smells- ‘dry’ camper bogs odor MUCH worse.
I might go into a protracted and technical description about methane gasoline launch from dried out waste yada yada… however frankly, no one must learn that, so simply belief me that wetter is best. Yes, you’ll be able to snigger. I doubt many children are studying this! 😉
Of course, 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 frequently
The greatest solution to cease camper waste smelling like a sewer is to… empty the sewer! The extra usually you empty, the much less it would odor. 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, however it’s a small value to pay for the liberty we love a lot!
If you employ a conveyable bathroom cassette in your motorhome, all the time ensure that to clean it out correctly EVERY TIME (utilizing the faucet offered on the emptying station). We fill with water and empty no less than a few occasions to verify the whole lot is out.
If you’ll be able to’t empty your RV waste like that, this sewer tank rinser fixes onto your waste outlet and means that you can 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 are able to, normally 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 weird’.
However, should you don’t put your paper down the bathroom you reduce the danger of blockages in your waste tank brought on by wadded, moist paper. Many folks use far an excessive amount of paper- we’ve needed to be taught to lower the quantity we use.
Another 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. Also, use the most cost effective bathroom paper you’ll be able to find- NOT the ‘approved RV or motorhome paper’. Seriously, grocery store personal model stuff will dissolve very well!! But again- extra water and ‘stuff’ in the bathroom will trigger it to refill sooner!
Clever methods to eliminate RV bathroom smells
This is a superb trick to maintain your RV toilet smelling good all day lengthy. Hide bogs scents or sachets someplace out of the best way, and they’re going to launch a scrumptious odor all day lengthy.
Be cautious you probably have pets- ensure that any sachets are out of vary as many will not be appropriate for pets.
If your RV bathroom smells when flushed, attempt placing a bit scent or important oil within the water flush. (NOTE- do NOT do that in case your bathroom makes use of your contemporary water!!!!)
Fit 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 odor like a sewer (or rotten eggs; pretty!)
However, many campers and motorhomes don’t have any vent in any respect of their tiny bogs, so it may possibly actually assist to put in one.
A SOG unit is a vent which runs at any time when 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 preserving your camper odor free.
We put in a SOG in our final motorhome and it was actually helpful. Here are a few suggestions for becoming it:
- Make positive the vent for the SOG isn’t wherever close to the door to your motorhome. Otherwise, all these smells which have come out of the holding tank go straight again into your dwelling space…!!
- If your bathroom is close to the door, take into account venting bathroom odors up and out on the roof.
- Make positive you shut the flap SECURELY after utilizing the toilet- or the SOG retains working, and working.
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Can you employ the toilet in an RV whereas driving?
I’d actually suggest NOT utilizing the toilet in your camper whereas driving. Not solely is it towards the legislation (seatbelts!!), however are you able to IMAGINE what would occur if there needs to be an accident?!?!
Urgh.
Spare 5 minutes and pull right into a service space earlier than you employ the toilet (or get snacks and so on!)
What are your favorite methods to maintain your RV toilet smelling wonderful and free of bathroom odors? Share your suggestions under so we are able to all profit.
Want extra RV dwelling suggestions?
This was a query from one in every of our pretty US readers, (whats up!) so I’ve chosen to make use of US spellings. Even although writing odor with no ‘u’ has made my spell test go psychological. You’re welcome! 😉
Last replace on 2024-05-16 / Affiliate hyperlinks / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API