I live in an RV & have the Rolls-Royce of composting toilets but it’s still vile, YouTubers gloss over the reality
A FRUSTRATED tiny home owner has shared their experience with the a popular composting toilet brand.
Even though it was the “Rolls-Royce” of composting toilets, they weren’t impressed.
Redditor Banditsinthenight opened up about their dump of a toilet in a viral TikTok post.
They explained that though alternative housing has become “all the rage,” the issue of a good bathroom still remained.
“With these unconventional lifestyles comes an age-old and conventional problem: what do we do with our sh*t?” they asked.
“Enter: Nature’s Head Composting Toilet. The creme-de-la-creme of composting sh*tters, the Rolls Royce, the gold standard.
“All the YouTubers and bloggers of off-grid, homesteading, tiny house living, RV and van life love to extoll its benefits and steadfastly insist that it’s completely not gross and everyone who suggests such a thing is being a dramatic poseur.”
Unfortunately for them, they found out the hard and smelly way that the YouTubers had glossed over a very important fact.
The Redditor explained that Nature’s Head claimed their toilets would eliminate odors for a completely bad-smell-free experience.
“The separation of the urine from the solids is the key to no odor. When working properly it will have a slight earthy smell,” the brand said in their FAQ section.
“In the normal user guide it insists that all urine has an odor and you should only smell this when emptying the urine component, and that a musty smell from the solids bin is normal,” the Redditor added.
They felt that the two claims were conflicting, however.
“Call me crazy, but…’musty’ and ‘earthy’ is not the same as ‘NO ODOR’ as many Youtubers, bloggers, and Nature’s Head itself even tries to claim,” they said.
“I’ve been using the Nature’s Head for a month now while we live full time in our RV with our 2 kids. It is situated in our absolutely tiny bathroom and we did install additional ventilation in the bathroom to cycle air out constantly.
“It is certainly not odorless. It doesn’t have the smell of fresh sh*t which I appreciate, but the ‘musty’ “Earthy” smell is STRONG and overpowers the bathroom.
“I am so freaked out by the smell that I have the ventilation fans running all day and night (solar power and battery) and I spend as little time as possible in the bathroom.
Call me crazy, but…’musty’ and ‘earthy’ is not the same as ‘NO ODOR’ as many Youtubers, bloggers, and Nature’s Head itself even tries to claim.
Redditor Banditsinthenight
“I brush my teeth, apply my makeup, do my hair all outside the bathroom because I can’t stand to be in there with a musty moldy smell of a sh*t bucket.”
Despite their best attempts to keep the stench at bay, they explained there wasn’t much they could do.
“I clean the head multiple times a day but we can’t use vinegar because the whole bathroom will be filled with vinegar AND mold smell.
“I use a spray with hydrogen peroxide and biodegradable soap which I apply when the trap door is closed and wipe clean. I dispose of the cleaning tissues in the garbage.
“I’ve now come to associate the herbal smell of the soap with ‘poop bucket’ so I’ve had to stop using that particular soap anywhere else in the RV and in real life.”
Worse, they explained that they spend much of their time trying to deal with the horrible stench.
“While I’m certainly not the most hardcore country girl, I’m not that high maintenance either. I used to spend days and weeks in the field camping for my job and was quite happy to sh*t in a hole in the ground,” they said.
“But when I’m in a home I share with my family I just want my bathroom to smell clean and I want everyone to stop pretending that ‘musty’ is a neutral smell that isn’t unpleasant.
“Also, can we stop glamorizing p*ssing in a plastic jug? I find it horrendously vile and the head’s presence in my bathroom just makes me not even want to go in there at all. It’s f**king gross.
“Then you have to dump 2 gallons worth of urine somewhere which the YouTubers just love to gloss over.
“That’s such a vile task you honestly could not even pay me to do it.”
One experienced RV owner shared their bathroom advice.
They advised the distressed Redditor to avoid composting toilets completely.
“Okay, so, using anything other than a flush toilet is insanely gross, especially if you grew up like so many did, using flush toilets. The alternatives are horrible, especially if it’s high-traffic,” they said.