Personal Cleaning Wipes

[Devonm2012]

I know there have been many posts over the years about TP ~ what to use, what not to use, etc. Last night, I saw a commercial for those personal cleaning wipes and wondered if those are RV safe or not. Thoughts?

[Devonm2012]

Pogoil wrote:
These wipes do not break down. They will clog your tank sooner than later or worse yet cause an RV. park major cost if you plug their system, city or septic.

Our city has had problems with these wipes as well as some cheap dumb$$$ cutting up cloth for personal wipes and also causing the cutting machines to clog and be cleaned.

Some folks do not have a clue. Paper towels also do not break down.

Put only waste, water and tissue in the black tank and RV. Park owners everywhere will Thank You! Cities will Thank You! as well.

Pogoil.

Thanks all! Makes perfect sense to me too. Won't touch em!

[The_Texan]

jsmart wrote:
I've heard that one ply toilet paper will work as well as the expensive "camping" toilet paper on the market at Camping World or other outlets. I'm going to try the water test mentioned above to see if that really is true. We've had our motor home since April, but before that we had a travel trailer on a lot for over 25 years, I've had to clean out the black tank on that a couple of times as "guests" (i.e., grandkids) have been known to put any number of articles down that shute.

Does NOT have to be 1 ply, most regular 2 ply will also dissolve with no problem. The "extra strong" and other "heavy duty names" will cause problems, but not the regular 2 ply.

[jsmart]

I've heard that one ply toilet paper will work as well as the expensive "camping" toilet paper on the market at Camping World or other outlets. I'm going to try the water test mentioned above to see if that really is true. We've had our motor home since April, but before that we had a travel trailer on a lot for over 25 years, I've had to clean out the black tank on that a couple of times as "guests" (i.e., grandkids) have been known to put any number of articles down that shute.

[Pogoil]

These wipes do not break down. They will clog your tank sooner than later or worse yet cause an RV. park major cost if you plug their system, city or septic.

Our city has had problems with these wipes as well as some cheap dumb$$$ cutting up cloth for personal wipes and also causing the cutting machines to clog and be cleaned.

Some folks do not have a clue. Paper towels also do not break down.

Put only waste, water and tissue in the black tank and RV. Park owners everywhere will Thank You! Cities will Thank You! as well.

Pogoil.

[Cbones]

Save yourself a lot of aggravation and install a toilet seat bidet. Nothing to clog your tanks and you will feel fresher and cleaner than you can get with wipes or tp.

[J-Rooster]

Devonm2012 wrote:
I know there have been many posts over the years about TP ~ what to use, what not to use, etc. Last night, I saw a commercial for those personal cleaning wipes and wondered if those are RV safe or not. Thoughts?

Use the wipes just don't flush them down into the holding tank. I would discard them in a plastic bag tie a knot in the top of the bag, then into the garbage. No smell, out of site, and out of mind!

[J-Rooster]

ken07734 wrote:
Im curious if bleach can be put in the black tank before using after its dumped and to have enough in it to disolve the wipes?, It disolves clothes if left long enough.

Bleach should never be put into a Black tank! Mixing Bleach with Ammonia (which is in your urine) produces toxic vapors. The bleach decomposes to form hydrochloric acid, which reacts with ammonia to form chloramine which is released as a toxic vapor. Also a toxic and potentially explosive liquid hydrazine maybe formed. Posters have had explosions in the past not knowing not to use bleach when cleaning the toilet.

[mowermech]

wny_pat wrote:

mowermech wrote:
Come on, people, THINK for a minute!
WHAT are these wipes soaking in while they are in the container, before you pull them out and use them?
Purified water, perfume, and soap. Perhaps a little of some type of alcohol.

Ingredients: Eau/Water, Glycerin, Polysorbate 20, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Disodium Edta, Phenoxyethanol, Dmdm Hydantoin, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Citric Acid, Parfum/Fragrance.

And no alcohol. And in all reality, there is nothing in the ingredients all that bad,

It isn't a matter of "bad" ingredients, it is simply that these wipes have been soaking in this water/perfume/soap/conditioner solution for HOW LONG (since the day they were packaged) and have not disintegrated. Does anybody REALLY think that they will somehow fall apart now that they are in dirty water?
NO, they will NOT!

[bigred1cav]

If you use them place in a disposable bag and dispose of elsewhere. DO NOT PUT IN BLACK TANK< YOU"LL GET A CLOG AND A VERY LARGE REPAIR COST< YOUR MACERATIOR WILL HAVE A BRAIN FART ALSO.

[bobcouch]

A Google search (sewer system flushable wipes) brings up dozens of stories about cities having problems with flushable wipes in their sewers.
If they are playing hob with sewer plants in places like Ocean City, MD and San Francisco, CA - what do you think they're gonna do in your RV, or the campground's septic system?

[wny_pat1]

mowermech wrote:
Come on, people, THINK for a minute!
WHAT are these wipes soaking in while they are in the container, before you pull them out and use them?
Purified water, perfume, and soap. Perhaps a little of some type of alcohol.

Ingredients: Eau/Water, Glycerin, Polysorbate 20, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Disodium Edta, Phenoxyethanol, Dmdm Hydantoin, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Citric Acid, Parfum/Fragrance.

And no alcohol. And in all reality, there is nothing in the ingredients all that bad,

[ken07734]

Im curious if bleach can be put in the black tank before using after its dumped and to have enough in it to disolve the wipes?, It disolves clothes if left long enough.

[wny_pat1]

CallThisCamping?! wrote:
I now use Thetfords tissue dissolver when I add chemicals to my tank. It contains an enzyme that dissolves wood fibers. I use septic safe Cottonelle and haven't had any clogs since I started adding it as part of my tank dumping and flushing regimen. We have the moist wipes, but they don't go in the tank.

Cellulase (a enzyme)
Sodium Chloride (table salt)
Citric Acid (weak organic acid)

The Cellulase is probably the most important ingredient. And not cheap. When all combined into the Thetford tissue dissolver, it should make up a excellent product for the job at hand!

[mowermech]

Come on, people, THINK for a minute!
WHAT are these wipes soaking in while they are in the container, before you pull them out and use them?
Purified water, perfume, and soap. Perhaps a little of some type of alcohol.
Did they disintegrate in the container?
No?
Then what makes you imagine that they will somehow magically know that they have been used, and it is now time to fall apart?

When I flushed the Southwind for the first time after purchase, I got about half a dozen of those things out of the black tank. I have no idea how long they had been in the tank, but the coach had been sitting on the dealer's lot for a couple months. Those wipes looked like they had just been removed from the package! "Flushable" or not, I do not believe they should EVER be put into a holding tank, septic tank, or municipal sewer system!
IMO, 500 years from now, somebody will dig up an old landfill, find a wad of those things, and say "WHAT were those people THINKING??"