Can regular household bleach be put down the toilet safely? We are purchasing a used Land Yacht trailer and I don't want to harm anything, but this toilet needs to be cleaned up! Thanks
I thought I read somewhere that bleach can damage the rubber seals in the toilet, and the holding tank.
It WILL kill off bacteria in the holding tank that are a necessary part of the decomposition process, which will lead to a stinky situation...so there shouldn't be any bleach or any other toxic chemical put in there while you're actually using the tank.
OTOH...they sell all sorts of formeldahyde products for "deoderizing" purposes...that kills everything, too. Alot of campground septic systems have been damaged by this stuff..people just insist on putting all this poison into their toilets...its actually bad for the environment...really bad for the septic system environment. Anyway, some campgrounds prohibit the use of this stuff, for this reason. It isn't necessary, and causes more harm than good.
If you just want to do an initial cleaning (god only knows who's been crapping in there, right? ) I'd use a really mild bleach solution, don't let it sit at all...just a quickee, so it doesn't stay in contact w/ the seals....and leave the black-tank open so the stuff runs right out onto the ground, then flush everything out with liberal amounts of plain water.
When I first bought my AS another camper said to put in some stuff you buy at a camper dealer for cleaning out black tanks, follow instructions and be sure to drive around to shake things up before dumping.
I don't remember what the stuff was but it worked. Only did it that one time.
Don't think I would put bleach in unless watered down to the point it probably wouldn't be as effective.
Go buy a couple 10 lb bags of ice.
Place in toilet black tank with deoderizing chemical for toilet add a 2-3 gallons of water and hook up and go for a 20 mile drive.
The hard ice cubes will scrub the insides pearly white removing any skid marks and black mountain or stuck toilet paper materials and the chemical will deoderize the holding tank.
Then go dump.
Then put a couple gallons of water in the black tank with the appropriate chemical for the toilet, and you are ready for the next outing. Your seals stay wet and pliable this way.
In winter, drain it and pour a gallon of RV anti freeze in the holding tank to protect seals and tank from freezing.
Just my 2 cents....
from what i could acertain, he wasnt worried about the black tank, just the throne.....perhaps he is worried about using kitchen cleanser on the plastic, hence his question about using bleach....i think a lot of you dudes out there are rocket scientists....
norby
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Ditto on bleach being bad for seals, rubber, etc. Straight bleach regularly eats through stainless steel cups at work. It also devitalizes acrylic surfaces after multiple uses. Diluted bleach (up to 1:10) still packs some punch but must be used the same day it is mixed. Don't get it anywhere near Drano or you will have nasty chlorine/hydrochloric mist.
I would apply elbow grease with something mild and nonabrasive. Stains could go below the surface. Doing a Search on Refinish, Shower, and Toilet in various combinations will give you some ideas (overlander64 has photos once the member photo forum is back online). Professional refinishing could exceed the cost of a new toilet...
Andy at InlandRV has said, "The bath components can be polished. Some rubbing compound and polish, power applied, would make it look new.
"Usually Dupont's "white" compound works fine. Use it to cut, and then come back and polish with most any good automotive paste wax.
"Try a small area by hand and that will give you an idea of the effort it will take. It depends on how deep the staining or discoloration is."
is the sink/shower and so forth in the 70's trailers fiberglass, or is it plastic? and does that make a difference?
plain-old turtlewax rubbing compound or polishing compound is ok to use on this surface? I wonder if that "gel gloss" stuff (meant for fiberglass) would be a better finishing wax for it?
is the sink/shower and so forth in the 70's trailers fiberglass, or is it plastic?
The 70's TTs and MHs that we've had have all had ABS plastic in the bathrooms.
I found that Bon Ami works great. It cleans well and won't scratch. And unlike Ajax or Comet, it has no drying bleach.
I get out disposable rubber gloves, paper towels and a garbage bag. I scrub the toilet down well and throw everything away.
I follow the cleaning with a wipe on, let it dry, rub it off type of polish. The slicker the finished surface is, the less "things" will stick.
As soon as I see "things" sticking, I know it's time to clean and polish again.
We've always used RV-Trine because it has enzymes that work in the black tank instead of chemicals that try to cover smells or harm the environment. We often put it in the grey tank as well if we'll be holding grey water a while.
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) I'd use a really mild bleach solution, don't let it sit at all...just a quickee, so it doesn't stay in contact w/ the seals....and leave the black-tank open so the stuff runs right out onto the ground, then flush everything out with liberal amounts of plain water.
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