Special Toilet Paper needed?

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PMF1984

Guru
Joined
Sep 10, 2016
Messages
637
Location
United States
Vessel Name
Wanderer
Vessel Make
Pilgrim 40
Getting back to boating after a few years... The last boat I had pumped the head directly overboard (of course you couldn't really swim off the boat in the harbor back then).

Do I "need" a special toilet paper to use so as no not cause problems further down the line? (so to speak)

At home I use a "septic tank safe" product, but I notice that there is a special product for boats (Pure Oceans Marine Toilet Tissue)

Didn't know of the necessity, or the advisability of using an R/V product.
 
Somewhat depends on your toilet. What's your flush mechanism... or even better, for Peggie's benefit (HeadMistress answers always count for more), what toilet brand/model do you have.

-Chris
 
Get several buckets. Fill them w water and put various TP in each one. After a time (one hour to maybe several days) I suspect it will be obvious what TP to use. We never use anything but marine TP.
 
On my boat, the rule is that if it does not naturally come out of your body, it does not go into the toilet. We have a small, sealed garbage can in each head for everything else. I also notate the location of a lovely, single stall bathroom at the market near the marina for anyone that may need to, uhh, deposit solid waste. Because the other rule is that if you stop it up, you will be taking it apart with me. My 12 year old son gets that pleasure next time we're at the boat. Bet he visits the market next time...
 
Was advised by local poop guru sorting out our system to only use supermarket own brand 'eco' paper which dissolves fast. never had a problem since and use the same stuff at home also. Only caveat is to file your fingernails smooth regularly:eek:
 
"Marine/RV" TP is just cheap flimsy TP that dissolves quickly repackaged with a much higher price tag. Any "institutional grade" or no-name TP will work just fine in limited amounts in any marine toilet. A lot of boat owners by Scott sold at Sams and Costco by the case.If you're used to using big wads, you'll have to learn to cut back to 5-6 sheets 'cuz too much will clog the plumbing. If your toilet is one of the high end all china macerating electric "thrones," it can chew up any toilet paper, but again in limited amounts. NO WET WIPES IN ANY MARINE TOILET!!! No paper towels or tampons either. Those have to go in a waste basket...be sure to impress on your guests that even one will clog the toilet.. The rule of thumb is, nothing goes into the bowl that hasn't passed through you except quick-dissolve TP.

Eric was on the right track with his advice to dissolve a few sheets in water, but it's actually a lot easier than that: tear off a sheet or two and put it in a mason jar, large glass or a bowl of water. If, in an hour or two you stir the water or shake the jar and all you see is "snow" in milky water, it'll work just fine in any marine toilet. But if it's still an intact or mostly intact sheet, try another brand.

Shameless self-promotion alert: Although my book is titled "Get Rid of Boat Odors" (my publisher thought that title would attract more buyers than "Flush With Success") it's actually a comprehensive "marine toilets, holding tanks and everything related to marine sanitation 101" manual that answers at least 95% of the questions you're bound to have and more you haven't thought of yet. And I'm always glad to answer any it doesn't. The title in my signature is a link to it on Amazon...available in both hard copy and kindle. (end shameless self promotion).

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
 
Chris,
The head is a Jabsco Model 37010-Series and the macerator pump is Model 18590-Series.

Somebody did a test, I'm trying to locate it.

John
 
Peggy, if it were up to me I'd say go right ahead and promote yourself (shamelessly or otherwise) whenever you want! Your universally acknowledged expertise is even more valued by your willingness to get on this forum and frequently lend your knowledge to this heady subject. Thank you for your input!
 
Just spent a couple of hours over the weekend pulling the Tecma and disassembling the pump to remove a wad of Kleenex tissue, which took on the consistency of 3/8" rope after a few revolutions of the pump. I'd feel comfortable towing the dinghy the stuff was so strongly wound up. Second time this has happened. First time was non marine TP and this time a young lady guest ran out of the rolled TP, so grabbed a wad of Kleenex.

I will never use anything other than marine TP.
 
Moonfish said:
Peggy, if it were up to me I'd say go right ahead and promote yourself (shamelessly or otherwise) whenever you want! Your universally acknowledged expertise is even more valued by your willingness to get on this forum and frequently lend your knowledge to this heady subject. Thank you for your input!
Click to expand...

+1

BTW, not germane to the topic, but Darren your recent youtube video on Kingston was excellent (as usual). I've been meaning to mention it.

 
Just spent a couple of hours over the weekend pulling the Tecma and disassembling the pump to remove a wad of Kleenex tissue, which took on the consistency of 3/8" rope after a few revolutions of the pump.

That must have been a huge wad of Kleenex! There's a much easier way: if you reverse the wiring, that makes the toilet run backward, which causes it "spit up" clogs. Call Thetford (they own Tecma) for instructions on how to do that.

I first learned about it from a brand new Selene owner in who'd tied up next to the boat I'd been brought to Alaska to solve some problems on (URSA Major) in 2006. Of course I had to ask 'em what toilets were on the boat and how they liked 'em. Tecma...they loved 'em! Any problems? Yes, one...they'd had their teenage granddaughters aboard for a week...when the girls ran out of TP, they used paper towels instead of asking for more. Took 'em 3 days to clog the toilet. Granddad called the dealer in Seattle who told 'em how to fix it...it worked! I've since heard of it working on other electric macerating toilets too.
 
Last edited:
Btw...the best way to prevent the need for having to do that is by removing everything from the head but the quick-dissolve TP when guests are expected and also instructing them to use nothing else.
 
HeadMistress said:
"Marine/RV" TP is just cheap flimsy TP that dissolves quickly repackaged with a much higher price tag. Any "institutional grade" or no-name TP will work just fine in limited amounts in any marine toilet. A lot of boat owners by Scott sold at Sams and Costco by the case.If you're used to using big wads, you'll have to learn to cut back to 5-6 sheets 'cuz too much will clog the plumbing. If your toilet is one of the high end all china macerating electric "thrones," it can chew up any toilet paper, but again in limited amounts. NO WET WIPES IN ANY MARINE TOILET!!! No paper towels or tampons either. Those have to go in a waste basket...be sure to impress on your guests that even one will clog the toilet.. The rule of thumb is, nothing goes into the bowl that hasn't passed through you except quick-dissolve TP.

Eric was on the right track with his advice to dissolve a few sheets in water, but it's actually a lot easier than that: tear off a sheet or two and put it in a mason jar, large glass or a bowl of water. If, in an hour or two you stir the water or shake the jar and all you see is "snow" in milky water, it'll work just fine in any marine toilet. But if it's still an intact or mostly intact sheet, try another brand.

Shameless self-promotion alert: Although my book is titled "Get Rid of Boat Odors" (my publisher thought that title would attract more buyers than "Flush With Success") it's actually a comprehensive "marine toilets, holding tanks and everything related to marine sanitation 101" manual that answers at least 95% of the questions you're bound to have and more you haven't thought of yet. And I'm always glad to answer any it doesn't. The title in my signature is a link to it on Amazon...available in both hard copy and kindle. (end shameless self promotion).

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
Click to expand...

I love 'flush with success' as a title. :socool:

I was also taught to be frugal. as in One up, one down and one to 'polish', :D
 
Hey Folks,

Thanks for all the replies - very helpful.

I did learn that the guru of Pilgrim 40's did a test and determined that Scott 1000's worked just fine.

I did discuss with a cruising friend about the "what you eat first" rule. He said that yes, it was generally true, but did not apply to raw green beans. ( aka string beans)

on to my next issue.

John
 
Having spent more than my share of quality time disassembling heads, hoses, and valves on previous boats to remove obstructions, we err on the side of caution now. Nothing goes into the head that we didn't eat. Everything else goes in a waste can.
 
4 ply kills ours
2 ply works fine - sorbent silky white for us.
Using a bum gun first requires less paper plus the water pre softens the paper making for easy chopping.

TMC toilets x 2. - daily use, only clogged with 4 ply.
 
Last edited:
Simi 60 said:
4 ply kills ours
2 ply works fine - sorbent silky white for us.
Using a bum gun first requires less paper plus the water pre softens the paper making for easy chopping.

TMC toilets x 2. - daily use, only clogged with 4 ply.
Click to expand...

Wifey B: I went like forever before ever using a Bidet and first time was totally curiosity. Now I don't understand why they're not the standard, why all toilets don't have them, why all homes don't. It just seems logical vs paper only.

And Peggie's book is great. Only toilet guru I know so promote promote promote. No one else dared take on this dirty subject. :)
 
HeadMistress said:
Just spent a couple of hours over the weekend pulling the Tecma and disassembling the pump to remove a wad of Kleenex tissue, which took on the consistency of 3/8" rope after a few revolutions of the pump.

That must have been a huge wad of Kleenex! There's a much easier way: if you reverse the wiring, that makes the toilet run backward, which causes it "spit up" clogs. Call Thetford (they own Tecma) for instructions on how to do that.

I first learned about it from a brand new Selene owner in who'd tied up next to the boat I'd been brought to Alaska to solve some problems on (URSA Major) in 2006. Of course I had to ask 'em what toilets were on the boat and how they liked 'em. Tecma...they loved 'em! Any problems? Yes, one...they'd had their teenage granddaughters aboard for a week...when the girls ran out of TP, they used paper towels instead of asking for more. Took 'em 3 days to clog the toilet. Granddad called the dealer in Seattle who told 'em how to fix it...it worked! I've since heard of it working on other electric macerating toilets too.
Click to expand...

That's brilliant, Peggy - if there is a next time, I will certainly try that. And yes, it was a rather impressive handful of Kleenex. Thorough young lady, I must say.

I also love this unit. I have read of others having problems when a little tube between loops in the discharge line gets clogged. I assume this prevents air locking. The complaints were that the tube was too small, but mine is quite big so I assume they fixed it, and it has never clogged. I especially like the manual, which is titled "Tecma - A World of Toilet". Sounds a bit like an attraction at Disneyland, but I think it was because they got a discount on the Italian to English translation.

One nice feature is that you can set the amount of water that flows into the bowl after the two stages of flushing - the first a flow of water plus the macerator pump, and the second just the pump to completely empty the bowl. The valve then opens up for a user adjustable period of time to refill the bowl. To save water, we refill to a minimum, then squirt San-x into the bowl between flushes, assuming liquids only. 6 squirts equals the dosage for the type II MSD Dometic used to sell. We only discharge where appropriate, but I sill like the idea of treating the effluent before it goes overboard, and this allows us to use the unit many times before flushing without much nastiness, and reduces fresh water usage quite a bit. With 250 gallons of black water storage we can go a very long time without pumping out. Keeps the bowl and lines clean as well, or so I think.
 
HeadMistress said:
Btw...the best way to prevent the need for having to do that is by removing everything from the head but the quick-dissolve TP when guests are expected and also instructing them to use nothing else.
Click to expand...

Now you tell me.
 
BandB said:
Wifey B: I went like forever before ever using a Bidet and first time was totally curiosity. Now I don't understand why they're not the standard, why all toilets don't have them
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that what you call a bidet is totally different to a bum gun :)

Downside to them is I feel unclean if using a toilet without a bum gun - dirty unclean heathens ;)

bum gun - Google Search
 
I've been using Scott's single ply tissue for more than 15 years in every kind of head I can think of. If has never caused a problem, not even in copious amounts. I once did a test - took two glasses of water, and put equal amounts of Scott's tissue and "marine" tissue. Gave each glass a stir at the same time. In both of them, the TP broke up pretty much instantly to the point you couldn't tell which is which. That was all I needed to see.

I have a friend who uses Charmin in his vacuflush. I'm not that brave.
 
Simi 60 said:
I have a feeling that what you call a bidet is totally different to a bum gun :)

Downside to them is I feel unclean if using a toilet without a bum gun - dirty unclean heathens ;)

bum gun - Google Search
Click to expand...

Wifey B: Same basically. Come in different forms. A bidet by itself is just a separate unit for spray and clean. Bum gun you show is just used at the toilet. Combining the two into one unit makes a lot of sense to me. :)
 
BandB said:
Wifey B: I went like forever before ever using a Bidet and first time was totally curiosity. Now I don't understand why they're not the standard, why all toilets don't have them, why all homes don't. It just seems logical vs paper only.

And Peggie's book is great. Only toilet guru I know so promote promote promote. No one else dared take on this dirty subject. :)
Click to expand...

In a non so distant time ago bidet were pretty common in France and each house had one. Now it is looked as a strange appliance but at the time it was the most hygienic way to clean some hard to reach area :)

Speaking about the subject of the thread, like mentioned before, for us no paper goes down the toilet. A small trash with a lid that we empty as often as possible does the trick.

L.
 
As a retired licensed master plumber with over 25 yrs in the trade, I had my share of messy experiences. I can tell you stories you wouldn't want to hear over dinner. As a life-long boater I can also tell you that if you use toilet paper that passes Peggy's disintegration test, you can safely flush it. We have always used her advice and never place Kleenex/tissue where it's within reach of the head, it'll surely end up in the bowl.

And for those who insist on depositing & storing feces-smeared paper in a container that must be handled later, even for a hardened plumber, that's just GROSS! Use appropriate toilet tissue, dispose of it in a sanitary manner- flush it!!
 
Last edited:
The issue with one ply tissue is you need to fold it double or....thus making it 2 ply.
A bidet is great at home. Wet wipes disposed of other than down the head are a second choice substitute.
 
BruceK said:
The issue with one ply tissue is you need to fold it double or....thus making it 2 ply.
A bidet is great at home. Wet wipes disposed of other than down the head are a second choice substitute.
Click to expand...

Wifey B: One ply double still isn't the same as 2 ply. Same volume but not same structure. If Bidet is fine at home, why not on boat? :confused:
 
Lou_tribal said:
Space? Water consumption? I would hardly fit one in my boat. But I could jump in the river and rub my ... there :)

L.
Click to expand...
Bum gun like I use takes up no additional space.
Water supply could be raw water but uses less than 1 litre of fresh when used, which in turn is less water used during the flush.
 
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