Hi,

Does anyone have any cheap, non-bleach/chemical-free methods of cleaning the toilet pan?

I've tried many things from Bicarb & Vinegar to simple pine cleaner. I refuse to invest in the rather expensive SeaLand toilet bowl cleaner?

Once when we were staying in Dorset and our loo broke again we ended up going directly to the Dometic workshop/warehouse place with the trailer. I was told off because they could smell toilet cleaner. I explained that it had been for their benefit coz I knew they would have to get right in there. That's the thanks you get for scrubbing out the loo with a toothbrush.

Anyhoo... I also let them know that in my opinion there's no such thing as a chemical-free toilet. Toilets have to be cleaned!!!!!!!!!

I think the seals could be damaged by certain chemicals. Vinegar etc is possibly not so good for them either.

So I was told to dilute it. Now I lift the pedal to allow a good glug of water into the bowl first. Then I use Ecover for the usual reasons, plus assume rightly or wrongly that it is less harsh than other toilet cleaners. Scrub with toilet brush (found a skinny chrome one in Homebase that fits in that corner, but still remember not to abuse the seal), flush and then put another glug or two through just to make sure none of the cleaner is sitting around the seals.

Every now and then Bully will put some silicone lubricant around the seal in the bowl to keep it from sticking or leaking. It's all about protecting the seals!!!

Strictly speaking, there is only one product that you should use to clean the loo, and that's from Thetford. It's called - you'll never guess - Thetford Toilet Bowl Cleaner!

http://www.thetford-europe.com/web/show/id=102363/langid=42


I sat all day on Monday in a meeting with the Thetford guys including their chemist who was over from the Netherlands. Now I know the difference between 'Blue' and 'Green' as well. These guys know their toilets!

All Thetford chemicals are formulated not to attack rubber. Granted, it's not cheap, but a bottle lasts me a couple of months. And it's cheaper than having the seals replaced. Gees, I sound like an advertorial...

Of course, Dometic say you must only use their Dometic Toilet Cleaner. Having travelled the land and looked in dozens of caravan spares shops, I've never actually seen it on sale anywhere.

[Edit] It's somehow seems fitting that my 100th post should be about toilets...

Thanks for advice and help.

You are not going to believe this

last night my toilet started up in the middle of the night and it did twice again tonight. Seals perished in the black tank I presume. The curse of the forum strikes again. Oh crap! Metaphoricaly speaking of course. No pun inteded. Address all complaints to my solicitor

So you're now singing the VT2500 blues... Look at the user manual, Ant has a guide to check where the leak could be. From my experience it could be the toilet, the pipes, the cassette or the pump in the sledge!!! Not much help I wager.

From personal experience, it's probably the seal on the holding tank screw cap. In their wisdom, it seems that Dometic can't be bothered to sell the seals separately - you have to spend £15 on a whole new cap!