20 replies to this topic

[dillon200]

I know this is a delicate subject  but.... what do you use to clean the toilet in your caravan, I dont mean the pink and the blue chemicals i mean the white plastic that its made of, the lid, seat and bowl. i suppose the same applies to the shower tray.

[Mister H]

I used Blue Bio Bathroom Cleaner.

[RogerL]

Ordinary domestic cream cleaner - the citric acid content is good at getting rid of limescale staining as well as everything else.

[Cruzer]

Flash liquid on a cloth, same as at home.  No reason to use anything else or anything with "caravan" in the name.

[Ocsid]

Though expensive we have found Thetford's own toilet bowl cleaner is excellent and hopefully completely safe to use on their toilets. If the toilet is another make I have no recommendations to offer.
I would be very wary of using domestic toilet cleaning products as here with our loos we have plastics and elastomer components that these domestic products are unlikely to have been fully tested with.

http://www.johnscros...l-Cleaner-.html

[Longbow]

Thetford's own toilet and bathroom cleaner for outside surfaces and bowl cleaner for the ummmmm.... bowl, and the occasional squirt of their seal lubricant.

[RogerL]

Ocsid, on 18 April 2012 - 09:06 PM, said:

I would be very wary of using domestic toilet cleaning products as here with our loos we have plastics and elastomer components that these domestic products are unlikely to have been fully tested with.

Domestic baths and sinks have been made of similar "plastics" for a long time.

[RogerL]

Longbow, on 18 April 2012 - 10:08 PM, said:

and the occasional squirt of their seal lubricant.

I just use the ubquitous silicone spray lubricant, available from any car accessory shop - that's all the Thetford stuff is !!!

[GaryB]

Be carefull, caravan sinks & showers are vacuum formed from HIPS (high impact polystyrene), home baths are GRP (fibre glass).  HIPS doesn't like aggresive cleaners or anything with an acid in it (as some lemon based cleaners have) and can become very brittle after repeated exposure.  I've been using HIPS for our products at work for over 15 years and have seen it do strange things when exposed to what seem like harmless substances!!!!

I use warm soapy water (I use a drop of shampoo as the "soap") and a non-abrasive cloth.  I then polish the inside of the toilet bowl with Mer car polish as this helps to prevent staining.

[RogerL]

GaryB, on 19 April 2012 - 08:51 AM, said:

Be carefull, caravan sinks & showers are vacuum formed from HIPS (high impact polystyrene), home baths are GRP (fibre glass).  HIPS doesn't like aggresive cleaners or anything with an acid in it (as some lemon based cleaners have) and can become very brittle after repeated exposure.  I've been using HIPS for our products at work for over 15 years and have seen it do strange things when exposed to what seem like harmless substances!!!!

I use warm soapy water (I use a drop of shampoo as the "soap") and a non-abrasive cloth.  I then polish the inside of the toilet bowl with Mer car polish as this helps to prevent staining.

I'm not a chemist but I do know that the citric acid used in domestic cleaners is a lot less aggressive than the gastric acid that toilets are designed to cope with !!

Limescale builds up in toilets,not just due to local water supply but also due to users' medication in some cases. Using mildly acidic cream cleaners will have little detrimental effect as it doesn't remain in contact with the toilet surface for very long.

Soapy water and a non-abrasive cloth simply wouldn't work on our toilet - but I have to keep taking the tablets !

[GaryB]

The Thetford toilet bowls are probably polypropelene rather than the HIPS used for sinks & shower trays which is a lot more forgiving.  Got to admit that since I started polishing the toilet bowl with Mer, it makes cleaning it a lot easier.

[Ocsid]

RogerL, on 19 April 2012 - 07:48 AM, said:

Domestic baths and sinks have been made of similar "plastics" for a long time.

I don't know what specific variants of the immensely wide range of polymers Thetford actually use, I have not got that inside track type of knowledge. However I do know from direct experience that some products can have devastating effects on some of the polymers not uncommonly found. So here with my toilet of about £473 retail cost, excluding removal and installation, I would not take the risks of using non approved products or advise others to do so.

[Maurice]

after a VERY expensive new wash-hand basin in the end bathroom -- I now ONLY use Thetford plastic cleaner..

I have found out that if you use any "chemicals" then the plastic degrades and can break..
AS did my WHB -- the plug hole just went straight through..
Apparently the weakening can be caused by - even mouthwash..
There WAS a small label on the sink saying don't use chemicals etc to clean the sink
[I have seen it on others too]
-- but I just read over that and thought "It cant really happen"
I thought it was just heavy weights
-- like Parazone - or heavy bleaches
-- but no it is just ordinary kitchen surface cleaners that can break down the plastic.

Quoted -- by Swift for new WHB £179.

It happened in France last year and I sat on site removing the sink and making temporary repairs with Araldite putty stuff.

SO from now on -- Thetford toilet cleaner spray -- for the sink and toilet.

learn the hard way.

Maurice

[Katharita]

Soapy water and  a soft cloth  for the general cleaning

And  Polish the inside of the bowl

[dillon200]

Thanks for the replys i think its going to be Thetfords own just to be sure