Need advice on reducing bathroom stink.

[Rich W.]

Ah come on Rich! Don't you like my dry humor! (Pun intended). I know to many people who gained a reaction to bleach from over exposure to recommend it. That seems to be the number one solution though!

Hadn’t thought of that but yes, if you have any ammonia based cleaning solutions in your grey tank, bleach could be a real problem. Also if you put in too much, you’d just be trading one odor for another. Thanks for pointing that out.

My solution (pun noted) is to take lots of showers and do lots of laundry to keep cleanish soapy water in the tank. Helps with a more sanitary tank dumping proceedure too.

And yes, I do - that was a compliment.

 

[LMHS]

I do have to wonder if the OP is "conserving" water by simply not using enough in their black tank. I only use a cheapie liquid automatic dishwasher detergent in the black tank of the truck camper. The bus has a residential flush toilet so I don't need any chems down it unless I am cleaning the bowl. I also put the same detergent down alternating P-traps once a month (the 1st is the day I chose) and let sit at least overnight. Keeps the p-traps clean. The current jug of liquid detergent for the bus is Cascade OXY. I didn't like it so I am using it in the p-traps. What is being used in the truck camper is Great Value in a lemon scent. It helps to keep the black tank sensors cleaner. It takes 1-2 months to fill the black tank on the truck camper. Yet it doesn't smell. That orange Camco TST tank additive that you can buy at Walmart also works okay. I used to use it during the summer in a little Porti-pottie that I had in a popup camper. The best air freshener I have used is called Pure Citrus. I like the orange scent. Reminds me of an orange creamsicle. A little spritz goes a long way.

 

[TheLooks]

I have a 10 day trip coming up, I guess I will be inducted into the stinky hall of fame as I have not had any bad smell when camping locally for 4 or 5 days. I intend the first leg of my journey to be a tank cleansing exercise as I will be sloshing a quart of cheap dollar store soap and borax around for 500 miles. Will put a bunch in the gray tank as well. My sensors don't work on the black tank which annoys me so I will suds it up. Will it stink? Who knows, check in here for a report later.

 

[Rich W.]

I have a 10 day trip coming up, I guess I will be inducted into the stinky hall of fame as I have not had any bad smell when camping locally for 4 or 5 days. I intend the first leg of my journey to be a tank cleansing exercise as I will be sloshing a quart of cheap dollar store soap and borax around for 500 miles. Will put a bunch in the gray tank as well. My sensors don't work on the black tank which annoys me so I will suds it up. Will it stink? Who knows, check in here for a report later.

Suds will carry/float residue and deposit it on your tank walls where it will dry and further foul/obscure your sensors. Using a non-sudsing detergent such as dishwasher detergent will give you the cleaning results without this problem. Its also a fairly strong cleaning agent. I can also see borax doing some good. I tried both laundry and dish soap initially and ended up with a big sudsy mess so never again. It also made dumping tanks a bit of a challenge. Not fun. I’m a proponent of clean tanks (and working sensors) so I use dishwasher det. I also use a little bleach now and then but as discussed above this does deserve some caution.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I too was thinking Borax!!! Here's the deal!
Before I moved on to a boat, Before I started cruising! I did things much the way many of you do. But holding tank goo was being pumped out all around me in my environment!!! I learned that poisoning is poisoning, what goes around comes around, in the water that is more true than on land! But I can't forget my lessons, so I am what I've learned!

Not that I would ever expose my dirty laundry, I make exception here!!! Having just been reintroduced to Borax, for it's poison freestatus I have some on hand!!!

Using Borax only as my laundry detergent only makes sense, due to the fact I would drag some clothing on a line while underway. Long story short, I will introduce you to the subject!

Group! This is the subject,
Subject! This is the group!


They say a picture is worth a thousand words!!!

No poison, no suds! Clean and odor free. Forget adding anything else!!!

 

[Rich W.]

KDP’s Detergent Divergence:

I Too Was Thinking Borax

Here's the deal!
Before I moved on to a boat
Before I started cruising
I did things much the way many of you do

But holding tank goo
was being pumped out all around me
in my environment!!!
I learned that poisoning is poisoning

What goes around comes around
in the water that is more true than on land
But I can't forget my lessons
So I am what I've learned

Not that I would ever expose my dirty laundry
I make exception here
Having just been reintroduced to Borax
for it's poison free status

I have some on hand
Using Borax only as my detergent only makes sense
due to the fact
I would drag some clothing on a line while underway

Long story short
I will introduce you to the subject
Group! This is the subject,
Subject! This is the group!

They say a picture
is worth a thousand words!!!
No poison, no suds
Clean and odor free

Forget adding anything else!!!

 

[TheLooks]

Actually I was thinking Dawn and Borax. Carry them with me in the camper. Just havn't put the miles on to shake things up.

 

[Rollin Ollen]

Actually I was thinking Dawn and Borax. Carry them with me in the camper. Just havn't put the miles on to shake things up.

We add a few ounces of Dawn to our black tank after every dump along with Happy Camper Classic Campers Organic Holding Tank Cleaner - 64 Treatments then we add at least a gallon of water to make sure that it can splash around a bit. We never allow much for solid food particles to enter our grey tank. We wipe our dishes and pots with a paper towel before they go into the dish water. Every second or third dump we will add Happy Camper to the grey. Our tank gauges have always worked for us and our grey hardly ever smells bad. Been doing this for years now.

Darrell

 

[LMHS]

For the first few trips, I would stick to auto DW detergent. You really need to put it down both of your waste tanks BEFORE traveling along with a decent amount of water. You want some good agitation going on, so you don't want more than about 1/4 to 1/3 full but no sudsing. You likely need to work on cleaning out any residual waste the previous owner left in the tanks. Either get sites with a sewer hookup or stop at the dump station to dump as soon as you get to your campground. Don't let your waste tanks dry out. After about 4 or 5 "cleanings" with detergent, you can start looking at solutions for smells. Also, if you have AAV's (Air Admittance Valve) under your sinks, you may want to replace them. You should be able to use the ones they have at Lowe's/Home Depot (with or without a reducer, depending on the pipe they are attached to). They screw on/off fairly easily and they do fail, so don't glue them on. They run between $20 and $30.

If you are going to camp seasonally, I would do the detergent in the tank for one or two trips before your last trip to get any sticky stuff out of the tanks before storing.

 

[Jdeets23]

Hi all we are new to RV-ing in our 2005 Itasca Sunrise. We've noticed that after only 3 days of pretty much urine only going into the toilet that as soon as we get moving it stinks quite bad- mainly that acrid urine stink! Even if it's just two of us. We have been using the Lavender scented RV porta-pack deodorizers but they don't seem to work too well- are there better products?

The tank sure seems to drain properly- drains until dry and then I use the flushing hook up and give it a good dose of fresh water which then seeens to drain all the way out as well. And as soon as the tank is flushed no more odor- it's gone immediately.

Any advice on how to reduce the stink when we get moving? Thank you- we're grateful for this forum!

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