Toilet Cleaners from the Supermarket?

[nicollej]

Hi
Hope you are all having a fantastic day!
I have been using a toliet cleaner from the chandlery which works well and is safe to use on the head/hoses etc.
However I only brought it once to try as it is very expensive.
I have tried vinegar, but I didn't feel this worked for our heads (we have two) and the boat ended up smelling like a bottle of vinegar.
I am wondering if anyone has been brave enough to try a regular toliet cleaner from the supermarket for their head on the boat?
Do these work on marine heads, and are they safe to use so that they won't burn the seals or hoses etc?
I would much rather buy a $2-3 regular toliet cleaner product (if they are safe to use for heads on boats) than a $15-20 version from the chandlery.
Is this possible?
It would be good to hear your experiences about this.......
Thanks and have a wonderful day!
Smiles
Nicolle from Sea Life
www.ourlifeatsea.com

[rebel heart]

Do you have a holding tank? If you do, be very careful about sending any kind of soaps into it, especially something like a normal household toilet bowl cleaner. A lot of head smells come from soaps that kill off good bacteria, a lack of airflow, or both.

When you use the vinegar, how did you do it? I pour about 1/2 quart into the bowl, and let it sit in the bowl for a 20-30 minutes. Then scrub the bowl with a normal toilet bowl brush. Then advance the vinegar into the plumbing (make sure it's just on "dry", whereby you're sucking the vinegar down into the hoses, but not flushing with sea water). Do that for an hour or two, then flush like mad.

Makes the head smell clean and shiny. Just close the lid while you're doing it and keep the head portlight open to control the vinegar smells. Nothing cleans the interior of the hoses quite like vinegar in my experience.

I'd flush all that overboard, bypassing the holding tank. When you're done, switch back to the holding tank, and any left over vinegar will be harmless for your tank.

[GordMay]

Not marine-specific, this tutorial has some essential information on toilet cleaning:
How to REALLY Clean a Toilet

[schoonerdog]

I have used toilet cleaners from the supermarket (even the "eco-friendly" ones) and YES THEY WILL DAMAGE YOUR HEAD. We had to replace the joker valve every time I did this, (3 times before I made the link between the bowl cleaner and the failed valves)

So in short, stick with the pricey ones and/ or the vinegar.



p.s. Why is this under women & cruising? That's just pitiful.

(Schoonerdog's wife, Cindy)

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

p.s. Why is this under women & cruising? That's just pitiful.

(Schoonerdog's wife, Cindy)

Oh man that's rough.. just noticed the forum.

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

p.s. Why is this under women & cruising? That's just pitiful.

(Schoonerdog's wife, Cindy)

I read threads using the "New" button - and this is just plain WRONG...

[scotte]

The link GordMay posted led to "The 2003-2008 World Outlook for Bathroom Toilet Brushes and Holders". Of course I had to click on something as exciting as this! But I was disappointed to see that it costs $795 to download that part of the article. I know what I want for Christmas! OK, maybe not... That cracked me up...

As far as this post being in the women's area - that doesn't bother me one bit - I mean, my wife makes me clean ours!!

(I read with the 'new posts' deal too, so generally end up at all corners of the forum).

[nicollej]

Hi,
I hope everyone is having a lovely day!
Thanks to all those who replied with helpful suggestions. I will follow some of those ideas and information up.
As for posting the subject on in the women afloat section I didn't know there were rules about posting cleaning subjects in this section? There are other, older posts about cleaning on a boat in this area so I can't see why it would be a problem?????? I didn't mean to offend anyone or women especially by posting a cleaning question (or a question about heads/toliets) in this part of the forum.....
I happily clean our boat and our two heads/toliets; (Sea Life is my home and I don’t mind keeping her looking beautiful, both Mark & I do jobs around the boat and share the load) I thought that the women sailors on the forum might have some good advice or experience in this area. All other cruising women I meet out cruising around the world are only more than happy to share cleaning/home keeping ideas ideas....
I appreciate people responding to my post (both women and men), but I thought is important to say is not nice to be criticized unnecessarily (even if someone has or did post in the wrong section....) when you post something asking for advice........
Have a lovely day!
Smiles
Nicolle

[Red Charlotte]

Hi Nicolle,

Don't worry about posting it here! I understand. Sometimes I feel like this might the one forum I feel the most comfortable in (though many threads are posted by guys in this forum, I just don't resonate with a lot of the other forums here.) If Eric (aka Rebelheart) hadn't posted his response about vinegar, I would have done the same. Feel free to post anything you'd like to in this forum. We've got your back!

All the best,
Charlotte

[starfish62]

Pine cleaners (like Pine Sol) do a great job, don't tear up the rubbers, and smell great. Plus they are cheap.

[nicollej]

Thanks Charlotte,

You are very sweet!

I also feel the same about the women afloat section, we girls should stick together with our experiences and ideas etc! I know we do (well from my experience) out there in the full-time international cruising world.

Thanks again for everyones suggestions, you are all so helpful and wonderful! I will try and vinegar again too using Eric's suggestions and get some pine cleaner too!

Have a wonderful day! I know I am!

Smiles

Nic oxox

[Boracay]

I have found vinegar works well, generally better than the commercial cleaners.

I have used smaller amounts than that discussed here. Possibly a small squeeze, or about a cup.

If the smell is a problem even smaller amounts may work.

[MidLandOne]

I believe that home brew is good for cleaning toilets and is completely natural .

Then you could get Mark into drinking something good (sic ) like XXXX, Fosters, etc .

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by MidLandOne

I believe that home brew is good for cleaning toilets and is completely natural .

Then you could get Mark into drinking something good (sic ) like XXXX, Fosters, etc .

We use homebrew on our boat's toilets all the time, and it doesn't work at all. Of course it's been filtered by the human body first...

I know, a "guy joke" on the wrong forum. Just kick me.

[David M]

I use a little bit of vinegar, but more frequently. The vinegar keeps salts (not just sodium-chloride) but mostly urine related salts from accumulating inside the head and reducing the diameter of passageways and/or reducing the ability of of moving parts to move freely.

If you have ever taken apart a head that is 10 years old that has never been treated with vinegar you will know what salts I am talking about.

You don't need to put quarts of vinegar down your head, just put in perhaps a half-cup to a full cup and let it stand at least a few hours inside your head by pumping it once or twice...or whatever it takes to get the vinegar down inside the working mechanisms....then let it stand. Do this about two to three times a week The idea is to lower the pH enough on a frequent basis so that the salts never have a chance to build up to unacceptable levels that affect the heads ability to do its job.

As far as smell goes, too much vinegar of course will make your head smell like a pickle jar. That's not that bad of a smell though considering the alternative.