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’s a massive distinction between considering to your self ‘I ought to in all probability give the motorhome a fast sweep up and tidy’ and questioning with embarrassment ‘WHY does my RV lavatory stink so dangerous???!!!’
It’s time to speak bogs. RV, Motorhome and camper bogs, to be precise. And after I say lavatory, everyone knows I largely 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 odor like a sewer?
Motorhome bathrooms work in a different way from ones in a house- and boy, don’t we all know it! Every little thing you place into the bathroom is stored 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 it’s a must to empty your self!
In ‘regular’ situations, motorhome bogs shouldn’t have a horrible odour- and so they DEFINITELY shouldn’t odor like a sewer when flushed.
Methods to maintain a camper bathroom from smelling
Camper and caravan bogs odor 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 gasoline construct up- which is why it smells SO MUCH WORSE both at altitude or in sizzling nations. 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 odor superb!
So, let’s cease your camper lavatory smelling like sewage and do away with these bathroom smells for you! Listed below are the 7 greatest methods we’ve discovered to minimise or cease motorhome bathroom stink!
Use an honest product
It’s superb how straightforward that is to unravel in case you have bathroom chemical. We now use a product referred to as Solbio natural bathroom fluid, which is pure and doesn’t comprise dangerous chemicals- and it smells scrumptious (sure, significantly!)
It’s additionally protected to be disposed of in septic tanks or fosse, which means we now have extra choices to eliminate our bathroom responsibly.
Watch the overview of Solbio right here:
We hope you discovered the video helpful. In case you 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.
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 the event you don’t!
That is usually the largest explanation for RV bogs smelling like a sewer- the methane gasoline leaks out of a hairline crack someplace and boy have you learnt it!
CLEAN REGULARLY to keep away from RV bathroom odors
I hate to say it, as a result of NO-ONE enjoys cleansing a rest room, nevertheless it actually does assist. Give your lavatory a every 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 the event 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 odor in an RV lavatory are the drains. A terrific 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 may assist maintain the dreaded waste tank smells at bay. My pal’s favorite odor is the Linen Contemporary!
We’ve got a walk-in lavatory/ bathe unit, so the drain in our motorhome works laborious to do away with EVERYTHING. Attempt to keep away from placing ‘bits’ down your drains (each in bogs and kitchens) and clear the drains repeatedly.
A cup of baking soda blended with water helps maintain drains clear and odor free. Learn extra on methods to clear your motorhome water tank.
Hair catcher
If in case you have (or are!) ladies with LONG hair, you have to filter out the drain repeatedly. All that hair will get washed down the drain and collects different bits… which smells disgusting.
If in case you have this hassle, these are superb for catching hair!! Significantly- so good. Simply ensure 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 bathrooms odor MUCH worse.
I might go into an extended and technical description about methane gasoline launch from dried out waste yada yada… however frankly, no person must learn that, so simply belief me that wetter is healthier. Sure, you may snigger. I doubt many children are studying this! 😉
After all, don’t use TOO a lot water- you’ll replenish your RV waste tank a lot faster. It’s a fragile stability.
EMPTY the waste repeatedly
One of the best ways to cease camper waste smelling like a sewer is to… empty the sewer! The extra usually you empty, the much less it is going to odor. This additionally comes again to eliminating the stuff letting off the gases. Now, I do know this is likely one of the greatest cons of RV life, nevertheless it’s a small worth to pay for the liberty we love a lot!
In case you use a transportable bathroom cassette in your motorhome, at all times ensure to scrub 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 verify the whole lot is out.
In case you can’t empty your RV waste like that, this sewer tank rinser fixes onto your waste outlet and lets you 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 lavatory 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 the event you don’t put your paper down the bathroom you reduce the danger of blockages in your waste tank attributable to 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 further water each time you employ your camper toilet- it helps soften the paper. Additionally, use the most cost effective bathroom paper you may find- NOT the ‘authorised RV or motorhome paper’. Significantly, grocery store personal model stuff will dissolve rather well!! However again- extra water and ‘stuff’ in the bathroom will trigger it to replenish sooner!
Intelligent methods to do away with RV bathroom smells
It is a nice trick to maintain your RV lavatory smelling good all day lengthy. Conceal bogs scents or sachets someplace out of the best way, and they’ll launch a scrumptious odor all day lengthy.
Watch out in case you have pets- ensure any sachets are out of vary as many usually are not appropriate for pets.
In case 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!!!!)
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 lavatory to odor 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 will probably 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 way of the vent as an alternative and preserving your camper odor free.
We put in a SOG in our final motorhome and it was actually helpful. Listed below are a few suggestions for becoming it:
- Be certain that 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 dwelling 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 toilet in an RV whereas driving?
I might 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 ought 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 many others!)
What are your favorite methods to maintain your RV lavatory smelling superb and free of bathroom odors? Share your suggestions beneath so we will all profit.
Need extra RV dwelling suggestions?
This was a query from one in every of our pretty US readers, (good day!) so I’ve chosen to make use of US spellings. Although writing odor with no ‘u’ has made my spell examine go psychological. You’re welcome! 😉
Final replace on 2024-05-20 / Affiliate hyperlinks / Photographs from Amazon Product Promoting API