Dawn vs Laundry Detergent

[dcmac214]

Latest Dawn/dish detergent post got DW to thinking (I know, that's a bad thing but I couldn't stop her): Would laundry detergent be better for holding tanks? It's made to cut grease and just about everything else if you can believe the ads; it's low- to no-suds; and volume-wise it's quite a bit cheaper than dish detergent.

[wa8yxm]

TenOC wrote:
I do not know why people want to clean holding tanks. A few gallons of water left in the tank and a few miles down the road with the water sloshing around and the tank is clean.

Well it would be nice if the sensors actually showed EMPTY when the tank is EMPTY don't you know.

But other than that I fully agree.

There are major differences between laundry detgergent and dishwashing liquids.. But I do not know how "big" they would be in this case.

I do agree the "low suds" might be a good thing.

[DutchmenSport]

downtheroad wrote:
OK Dutchman....now I get it. You mean I'm not suppose to use an entire Costco industrial size double pack of Dawn each time.....:S

Don't feel too bad there downtheroad! I made that same mistake a couple times with my automatic dishwasher in my house when we ran out of automatic dishwashing machine soap. I filled the little flip door container full with Dawn and turned it on! OH MY! Bubbles came out of that machine, all over everywhere! It was awesome! My kitche floor hadn't received such a cleaning ever since!

Fast forward another time we ran out of automatic dishwashing soap. This time I filled that flip door compartment only half full! Well..... you know what happened there.

Next time after that (I just don't give up ... I'm too danged stubborn!) ... I put a single drop in the dishwasher. That worked perfect!

[TexasShadow]

we use cheap liquid detergent and a cupful of borax in black and grey tanks. works well for us.

[slickest1]

downtheroad wrote:
Result of Dawn in holding tank after a rough road......:E

LOL, this may be off topic but years ago we built a new house and had a new septic system installed. Due to the rough ground we wound up with a tank with a blower system in it. My wife was washing clothes and our dog went nuts at the front window of the house. The whole front yard was full of soap suds 10 feet deep. You can use any type of soap other than low suds soap in one of those systems. It looked like the twilight zone.

[John_Joey]

DrewE wrote:

John&Joey wrote:
Key words "cut grease." You need your blade to slide easily when you pull it. Last thing you want is for it to stick to the rubber seal and either pull it out or just get stuck.

All these VooDoo tank cleaning schemes, might just bite you in the ...

Would you also worry about a roughly equal amount of soap and detergent that gets into the gray water tank from dishwashing, laundry, bathing, etc.?

The rubber seals on the valves are not greased, so far as I am aware; they get sticky or wear out or leak or break mainly due to age.

That's not my understanding. Those seals do have lubricant on them. I did the Voodoo stuff with PineSol in the very beginning. After about 4 months I had issues.

Soap doesn't cut grease. Hair wash is not advertised as cutting grease. Dish washing is only a couple squirts per sink full. Needless to say it's maybe once a night then mixed with 40 gallons of other gray water so it's not that much in the big picture.

If all you do is weekend camping then you might not have an issue, but then again why do you think you need to clean the tank so well?

[drsteve]

I had a coworker who got a good deal on a private sale used Travel trailer. The original owner apparently didn't see the need for cleaning the tanks. For some reason the black tank had several inches of hard crusty solids, and the clean out was pretty unpleasant.

Sounds like someone was on full hookups and left their tank valve open. The water runs out, the rest stays right there in the tank, and dries to a cement-like consistency. Make sure to have lots of liquid in the tank when you dump, and there should be no issues.

[downtheroad]

OK Dutchman....now I get it. You mean I'm not suppose to use an entire Costco industrial size double pack of Dawn each time.....:S

[MrWizard]

wording does get confusing
i don't think too many people are trying to 'Sanitize' holding tanks
they say 'clean', but it just means get the mess out and not have odors when they take it out of storage, and try to keep the sensors working
NOT spotless like your dishes

[DutchmenSport]

downtheroad wrote:
Result of Dawn in holding tank after a rough road......:E

Yea! But I bet the tank was clean! And the toilet, and the floor, and the ceiling, and the windows! (cool photo!) Common sense here though... you don't put the entire bottle in the tank, just a small amount with a bit of water, 2-3 gallons of water with a couple good liberal squirts of Dawn.

For the OP... Yes, laundry soap is perfectly fine to use too, powder or liquid types. The difference is, which do you have readily available. We very seldom, VERY seldom have laundry soap in the camper, but we always have Dawn for dishes.

Occasionally, a bit of bleach water (then drive around and let it slowsh) will do wonders to remove smells. Just be sure to drain the bleach water as soon as possible so it won't deteriorate your dump valve rubbers causing it to leak. A simple rinse will take care of that.

Basically, anything used for dishes or laundry is OK to use in your holding tanks. The secret is NOT to over-do it, otherwise the results are evidenced by that photo.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

We use 1 cup Dawn Platinum and 1 cup powdered Borax, dissolved in bathroom sink full of water, in our grey tank. No odor, cuts grease, softens water. In our black tank we use Thetford CampaChem blue. No odors.

[DrewE]

John&Joey wrote:
Key words "cut grease." You need your blade to slide easily when you pull it. Last thing you want is for it to stick to the rubber seal and either pull it out or just get stuck.

All these VooDoo tank cleaning schemes, might just bite you in the ...

Would you also worry about a roughly equal amount of soap and detergent that gets into the gray water tank from dishwashing, laundry, bathing, etc.?

The rubber seals on the valves are not greased, so far as I am aware; they get sticky or wear out or leak or break mainly due to age.

[downtheroad]

Result of Dawn in holding tank after a rough road......:E

[John_Joey]

Key words "cut grease." You need your blade to slide easily when you pull it. Last thing you want is for it to stick to the rubber seal and either pull it out or just get stuck.

All these VooDoo tank cleaning schemes, might just bite you in the ...

[ken56]

To each his own. If some people don't think that its necessary to do anything but add water and use their facilities then fine, its their trailer. I tend to think a little bit of prevention and attention to how well my tanks are draining and I don't mind spending a little bit of my money on laundry detergent and Calgon to help my tanks drain for my peace of mind, weather anyone else thinks I am fooling myself or not. I use the GEO Method and have been satisfied with the results.