It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it. That’s how we all feel about sorting the toilet in the caravan. Especially if we have a standard cassette setup. The interesting thing is that, aside from the obvious fact that people don’t enjoy dealing with faeces and the smells they generate, it’s often the actual smells of the chemicals used in the cleaning fluid for portable toilets that is very off-putting for some people.
Regardless of the reasons, you may have heard of people using washing liquid, the kind they’d normally use for their laundry, as a chemical toilet fluid alternative. Does it really work? As we are always interested in finding different ways of doing things while on the road that may save money and can help the more unpleasant sides of the touring lifestyle easier to deal with. When we investigated this subject a little, this was our findings.
You Need to Use Biological Liquid
Don’t try to use powder. We’re not entirely sure why you shouldn’t use laundry powder, but the directions we found were you should use laundry liquid. Importantly, it needs to be a biological liquid to help kill off the smell and help with shifting…. things.
The interesting thing we were concerned about was that people were going to suggest using a more expensive brand like Ariel, Bold or Persil when the recommendations from other people have been to use Tesco’s or Morrison’s own brand (though not the savers’ range) of laundry liquid.
This is crucial because branded laundry liquid may still be more expensive than more traditional cleaning fluids you’d use in a chemical toilet. Meaning there would be not much in the way of money saved. So, that’s one positive.
There is Much Debate About Its Effectiveness
Now we come down to the most interesting part. Does it actually work? Perhaps we should open that question up a little. A more apt question would be Does it actually work at breaking down the faeces or does it merely mask the smell, without giving off a nasty chemical scent?
The truth is, you’d really need to see for yourself. There is sufficient evidence for both sides of the debate. Some people swear by the use of laundry liquid in their chemical toilet and suggest that it does indeed break down the faecal matter while preventing too many unpleasant smells in the process.
Whereas others are convinced it only really masks the smell. They argue that it would take a while for most conventional, store-bought laundry liquids to start working at breaking down the faeces and that this is not going to be possible within just a few hours or a couple of days.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, we cannot give you a straight answer as to whether it definitely helps break down faeces and masks the smell. Judging by the mixed experience of others, it really is up to you, whether you continue using the more conventional fluids or whether you give it a try.
We have yet to come across any evidence that it’s bad to use laundry liquid in chemical and portable toilets, though, so if you are desperate for a solution to keeping your toilet sanitary and smelling nice, it may be worth giving it a try!