Toilet paper down the loo?

I didn't mean the least offence by asking - heaven knows, it's an area which only personal preference ought ever to decide, and nobody need feel remotely obliged to discuss or change their ways...

...but sitting over the (retired) washing-up bowl with plenty of warm water and shower-gel, the cleansing was frankly more hands-on than 'a splash or spray', and the area was never cleaner than when I'd finished. It was at least as effective as showering.

For the purposes of this discussion, where the question is how one either accumulates or jettisons used toilet paper, I'm as sure as I can be that if (when the solids have been flushed) one could put a suitably sized, solidly-constructed brimmed plastic bowl inside the boat's lavatory pan, then speaking for myself, I could quickly get spotlessly clean...

...and critically, there wouldn't be any question to answer, about paper...

...which is why it seems strange to me that it hasn't long since been widely adopted by yachtsmen.

But I wholly respect your choice. (y)

Pity we can't put a little paper ballerina-dress on that thumbs-up. ;)
 
Don't you just hate it when a finger goes through the paper?

Other than that the job in the care home is going well.

:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
dancrane said:
I didn't mean the least offence by asking - heaven knows, it's an area which only personal preference ought ever to decide, and nobody need feel remotely obliged to discuss or change their ways...

...but sitting over the (retired) washing-up bowl with plenty of warm water and shower-gel, the cleansing was frankly more hands-on than 'a splash or spray', and the area was never cleaner than when I'd finished. It was at least as effective as showering.

For the purposes of this discussion, where the question is how one either accumulates or jettisons used toilet paper, I'm as sure as I can be that if (when the solids have been flushed) one could put a suitably sized, solidly-constructed brimmed plastic bowl inside the boat's lavatory pan, then speaking for myself, I could quickly get spotlessly clean...

...and critically, there wouldn't be any question to answer, about paper...

...which is why it seems strange to me that it hasn't long since been widely adopted by yachtsmen.

But I wholly respect your choice. (y)

Pity we can't put a little paper ballerina-dress on that thumbs-up. ;)
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Worrying about cleaning oneself after defaecation sounds somewhat obsessive to me. In general, it really isn't something I spend much time thinking about. Providing one doesn't leave solid material hanging around, which might make one malodorous, the skin around there is well able to deal with a bacterial load and well to a large extend cleans itself. Using a bowl for washing introduces yet another object onto which the soiling will be transferred and which will need cleaning before it can be handled by others and will need stowage somewhere that I haven't got. I'll stick to the marina loos.
 
I can't believe this thread has lasted so long. Normally I avoid these threads but, thanks to the persistence of you all, I shall grace you with my shitty experience and wisdom.

I have had the dubious pleasure of syphoning my holding tank - thank heavens for jiggle-syphons! The blockage turned out to be a large chunk of "limescale", cemented with sticky poo, at the drain at the bottom of the holding tank.

After syphoning the tank the first time, I refilled it a number of times with fresh water so as to make the contents less noxious. I ended up having to don a glove and a refuse sack over my arm in order to dislodge the scale.

During the process of syphoning, toilet paper was evident in the pisswater - tiny squares of chaff perhaps 2mm on a side. There was no evidence of lumps of paper once the blockage was removed.

I can only conclude that either the paper falls apart (as per this reply) or is shredded by the heads. It's not reasonable to compare with the waste baskets supplied next to the toilets in some countries, because our heads are not water closets, and water closets don't have the same action of mashing the waste through a valve.

IMO the idea that toilet paper is likely to block heads is a myth, perpetuated mostly because (unscientifically) it just "makes sense". I shall continue flushing mine.
 
KompetentKrew said:
I can't believe this thread has lasted so long. Normally I avoid these threads but, thanks to the persistence of you all, I shall grace you with my shitty experience and wisdom.

I have had the dubious pleasure of syphoning my holding tank - thank heavens for jiggle-syphons! The blockage turned out to be a large chunk of "limescale", cemented with sticky poo, at the drain at the bottom of the holding tank.

After syphoning the tank the first time, I refilled it a number of times with fresh water so as to make the contents less noxious. I ended up having to don a glove and a refuse sack over my arm in order to dislodge the scale.

During the process of syphoning, toilet paper was evident in the pisswater - tiny squares of chaff perhaps 2mm on a side. There was no evidence of lumps of paper once the blockage was removed.

I can only conclude that either the paper falls apart (as per this reply) or is shredded by the heads. It's not reasonable to compare with the waste baskets supplied next to the toilets in some countries, because our heads are not water closets, and water closets don't have the same action of mashing the waste through a valve.

IMO the idea that toilet paper is likely to block heads is a myth, perpetuated mostly because (unscientifically) it just "makes sense". I shall continue flushing mine.
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Having flushed toilet paper down our various sea toilets for almost 30 years now, the only blockage we have suffered was the same as yours: a large flake of scale that fell off the holding tank wall. I was able to rod it away through the tank inspection hatch.
 
webcraft said:
Yes. Tescos Value range. Very think a tiny, tiny part of the plastic that we throw away most days. Biodegradeable ones are available, I guess I should invest.

A used baby wipe usually goes into the bag as well.


- W
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We buy Asda ones super flimsy, scented and biodegradable but also very cheap.

We don't have any used babies to wipe so have none of those guaranteed pipe blockers on board. :ROFLMAO:
 
LONG_KEELER said:
While we are in the "anything to add" section of the thread, how can single handers guarantee a movement first thing in the morning.

After a few false starts, I seem to get the urge just as I get the anchor up doing two knots with the tide in a crowded anchorage.
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Some years ago I was once sailing along single-handed one afternoon when I had a sudden urgent need to open my bowels. Being a weekend and in the Solent there were quite a lot of boats about, but at that moment none near me nor on my intended path for some distance, so I engaged the autopilot and dashed below.

Once on the toilet it became immediately apparent this was no ordinary event, my guts felt like they were turning themselves inside out, and a distressing amount of time, and other stuff, passed with no end in sight. I was starting to get very nervous about the risk of a collision, but was greatly conflicted by the thought of the appalling mess that would be created if I dashed back to the cockpit mid-flow.

Fortunately, despite initially seeming to the contrary, it turned out the capacity of my digestive system was not infinite; the horrendous crash I was gritting my teeth in anticipation of never came; and I got back to the cockpit to find the boat jilling along nicely among, but not too close to, other boats.
 
You had us all keyed-up for an Andrex-based final line.

Presumably one could keep a bucket handy (with a close-fitting lid), in the wheelhouse of an LM, for relief at the wheel with something approaching privacy?

It's another huge benefit of motorsailing that I'd not considered. ? This must have been before your current boat.
 
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ColinR said:
Do you put toilet paper down the loo on your boat? If no, is that for environmental reasons or to not block it? I must admit I have always done it, although nothing else goes down there apart from what goes through you and loo paper. But last summer two things made me wonder about it. I had a bad case of blocked pipes and having dismantled the system and found it badly caked with scale. I banned loo paper from being flushed and provided a separate bag for onshore disposal. I have since renewed the entire installation and I am wondering whether to keep the same policy. Then I happened to go sailing with a friend in the Baltic and when he was showing me how the loo worked he said 'obviously no paper down the loo, only what goes through you'. Well it made me wonder what others do on this delicate topic? I sail on the west coast of Scotland where there are no pump out facilities for holding tanks. I know the Baltic countries are very strict about discharge.
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I buy the special stuff that disintegrates quickly and stuff it in a paper bag with stones if within 12 miles and it goes overboard. Over 12 miles and flush.
 
dancrane said:
You had us all keyed-up for an Andex-based final line.

Presumably one could keep a bucket handy (with a close-fitting lid), in the wheelhouse of an LM, for relief at the wheel with something approaching privacy?
Click to expand...

I'd never had quite the same eruptive experience before or since, so don't feel a particular need to equip for it.

In the unlikely event of such a rare emergency in the LM, there's a general purpose bucket that lives under the cockpit seat just outside the wheelhouse door, and if even that would take too long the emergency would warrant pressing into service the washing up bowl that is within reach of the helmsman's seat.
 
I'm surprised we've yet to hear mention of the reputed old-time cruising tradition that cuts out all risk of blocked heads , i.e. attending to one's business while hanging over the side of the boat.

I did this once on a crossing of the North Sea years ago, just for the experience. Having none of the old-time maritime indifference to privacy in such matters I did this while I was on watch in the cockpit and everyone else was safely tucked up below. I found it quite difficult to relax sufficiently for the intended operation while hanging on, literally, for dear life to the solid guardrails, toes hooked over the lee gunwhale, as the boat rushed and rolled along, and the waves and wake rushed by just below my bottom.

It's an experience I'm glad I've had, and one I've catalogued as a solution to potential future problems that I hope not to have need to resort to.

If you're planning to have this as a routine, I'd recommend a knee high bulwark around the deck to sit on, and (very) solid guardrails to hang on to.
 
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