What about the loo?
my husband and I have been caravanning for 10 years and we have never stayed on a site without a loo! He thinks it horrible to do ... you know what in the van, how does everyone else get on with this 'problem' I want to go to sites whether it does or does not have 'facilities' and feel we miss out sometimes. How do other vanners cope, how do they 'do it in the van' LOL
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The toilet is there to be used so we use it and empty it when necessary. Simples!
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It's simple really. Not a problem. You buy the blue toilet cassette liquid which breaks down solids and neutralises odours and you just - well - get on with it - as you would at home and always ensure that you sanitise the bowl after use. Just the two of us and we empty our cassette probably twice during a stay of one week.
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I am with your husband on this one, mostly due to health issues (Crohns) which would require the cassette emptying twice a day...... However we never use the showers, washing facilities, kitchens or other facilities and having seen the disgusting state of some showers after use as toilets (yes including club sites) we will only use the shower in the van.
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So what would he do if he suddenly had no option but to defecate? Diarrhea?
Are you 2 strangers? First date? Thought not.
There are lots of excellent non facility sites and CLs waiting to be discovered but you are missing out just because Hubby's a bit embarrased. Tell him to grow a pair.
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We mostly stay on sites without looks, so use ours most of the time. I empty ours every 2 or 3 days but use a slightly different approach to Jill. I use one of the bio liquid sachets in the waste tank and have started to add a splash of Zoflora to the flush tank along with the pink fluid additive. After emptying the waste tank I spray it with antibacterial spray then wipe it down before replacing it. OH cleans the toilet with the same while I'm emptying the tank.
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Once you get used to dealing with the loo, in terms of getting the chemicals right, actually finding the best method of ‘going”, and what we call the daily ‘dunny’* run in terms of emptying and cleaning, it becomes a whole new caravanning experience, because thousands of lovely places suddenly become available. All CLs will have a chemical emptying point, even if they don’t have a loo.
Its not strange to perhaps feel a bit embarrassed or sensitive about emptying the loo, there are lots of folks that are. But if you give it a go, you will find thousands of others just get on with it. It’s a tiny little bit of touring. We used to camp, small tent, and there was nothing worse than having to get up, get dressed, find the torch, fall over the dog, traipse across a camping field, in the rain, tripping over guy ropes, etc... to go to the loo. Having facilities onboard and ready primed is such a luxury.
*Dunny refers to Clive James memoirs of growing up in Australia. His family had an outside Khasi, and once a week the Dunny man came, clipped a lid on it and took it to be emptied. Then came the fateful day the Dunny man tripped........🤣🤣🤣
If it helps, just think that we are all plumbed more or less the same, even the Queen. 😲 It’s just nature.....
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Are there still sites without toilets?
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Just watch Bravo Two Zero, slopping Out will seem a doddle after that!
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Reading the post again it seems it is not the emptying the loo that is the problem it is actually using it. Does your loo compartment not have a door Bevmike? Turn the radio or TV up loud and then go and close the door if Mike is that worried. Is it that much different to going to a toilet block with other people in the adjoining cubicles? And on many continental sites the loos are unisex so you never know who is sitting next door!
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LOL indeed - cheered up a gloomy evening no end! Tell him the anticipation is always worse than the event - once he’s tried it a few times he’ll wonder what all the fuss was about!
NB - rest of you, except John need to go back & read the original post properly - it’s getting like FB!
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Give it a go. My OH wasn't happy with solid deposits for years, that's all changed now 😂😂. It's a boy job in our van but that may change!
We line the bowl, I believe they call it the lotus flower, with a sheet or three of toilet paper over the Base as a cross. We keep the slave closed, use and then open the slave and flush and it disappears very neatly, leaving a clean bowl.
Our flush comes direct from the fresh water tank so no additive, but a wipe with a toilet wipe or pre diluted disinfected spray bottle. We also use Lidl bio pods in the toilet cassette or organic fluid as I dislike the smell of the non organic solutions.
Really not to use your on board facilities restricts you in choice of sites and as motorhomes we have everything on board when we head off, whether as a day out or heading off site, from clothing to dinner and clean facilities 😃
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Reading this thread- you have to smile! I am with all my compadres who ’just get on with it’ Let me assure you Bev- you are definitely missing out! What does he think he’s going to see?? We never use sites with loos as we are offgrid permanently preferring to use the power of the sun and refill gas as our power sources. I bought ( in a charity shop) a shopping cart that you see people of a certain age shopping with. I lifted the shopping bag off it and lo and behold, the toilet cassette fits perfectly in the frame of the wheelie section. That stops any wear and tear on the cassette wheels for a start. The next and most important thing is the preparation used in the cassette. I no longer use ‘blue’ I use Lidl bio pods (in the green box). They break down the solids very well and make emptying the cassette a breeze. There is always a hose to flush and wash out the cassette. It really isn’t a problem at all. You paid for a loo- use it- or if he really can’t bring himself to empty it, give him a good slap and empty it yourself🤣🤣🤣
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Aww thanks everyone for the advice and tips, what a laugh with a load of people we’ve never even met!! I have booked him into Hebden Bridge this weekend for a desensitisation weekend so we’ll see how he copes. He twigged today what I have done! Let’s see if divorce proceedings commence ... thanks everyone I have got my extra supply of chem liquid, cleaning wipes, disposable gloves and will get some zo flora, wish me luck everyone, and Bravo two zero?? Whatever that means LOL 😷😳💩
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I tend to use sites with / without facilities depending where I want to go. Next week it'll be Bourton On the Water then perhaps Altnahara ( oh Bliss ) so I've learned the procedure to follow :-- Doors shut, radio on full orchestral, grab the kindle & set alarm clock
!!{ Bravo Two Zero is some military thingy I reckon - so its probably got something to do with toilet paper, trenching tool and a walk in the dark
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Having being introduced to chemical camping toilets way back in the late 60's as a young scout. I can say that in those days it was a bucket and chuck it type, often in a tatty and possibly damp toilet tent. I have used chemical toilets in their various forms ever since those days and as a result am totally at a loss as to why anyone would struggle with either using or emptying a modern caravan cassette type toilet in the warm and dry. It also amuses me somewhat, to see people emptying toilets wearing what is nearly a haz-chem outfit, and I sometimes ponder if they were perhaps wearing the same gear when they were filling it, the risk of contact with the contents being much the same............. ?
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As a scout Leader way back the tradition in the troop while on camp was the worst performing patrol dug the hole and emptied the loo alas if they all performed well it was my job, of course a foul ground sign was erected in case anyone else used the field, but soil soon kills the smell and breaks it down as you will notice if you ever stay at the Crossways CAMC site
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Ah, latrines we had to dig those as Girl Guides, first thing on a site.
Do you know, with those sort of memories I wouldn't go in a van without a "working" loo. There's no way I'd traipse across to semi communal loos! Thank goodness someone invented portable toilets.
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