What's wrong with Bleach?

[thebriars]

Thetford toilet handbook:

 

[Richard n Ann]

I've tried bleach in my cassette twice in maybe 14 years and both times the cassette started smoking.....so I quickly rinsed it out.

I've seen that effect on ours don't think it's smoke, more like a vapour you can see moving about in the tank, smells fresh

 

[Richard n Ann]

I don't mind it discolouring inside it's more the bowl id be worried about ..

Yeah I always give it a flush down, that probably helps the cassette plastic too.

 

[PeteH]

Most of the "popular" bleaches are chlorine based. As such they have to be treated with care when used in "our" motorhome systems, Some Plastics and grades of Stainless Steel are subject to attack from the chlorides.

How many will remember the "legionella" out breaks of the 80`s?. When the prescriptive "cure" was treating, especially roof mounted, Air Conditioning units with high concentrations of chlorine?. along with other measures. With attendant failures of the systems when stainless components where attacked. Similarly, failures where experienced with industrial hot water and heating systems.

In motorhome/caravans you should never use a chlorine based product for cleaning and/or descaling a Heater that has a Stainless Vessel.

 

[steve 6644]

I was told that bleach in dilution anly last about 24 hours, this was when discussing a weak bleach hand sanitising solution for covid. Apparantly it loses its potency fairly quickly so will probably not do as much harm as people think to plastics, germs etc.

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[Richard n Ann]

How has our 2003 stainless steel house sink survived thousands of bleach soakings/applications? It's like new.

 

[steve 6644]

I dedcided to descale our bathroom taps with brick acid once, worked a treat and as a bonus, took all the bloody chrome off as well, but strangely, the plughole was okay. Can't beat a British plughole!.

 

[Ridgeway]

Hydrogen Peroxide is the answer look it up on Wikipedia and you have your answer all bleach contains it and it depends on the strength as to what it damages, what it does to plastics etc if using to sterilise use and rinse well straight away would be my answer do not let it stand in undiluted form!

It's what we use for many cleaning applications here. I bought a 20ltr container at 35% strength and after 5yrs we still have plenty left....

It's a super disinfectant product and way cheaper than branded bleaches from the supermarket

 

[TheBig1]

It's what we use for many cleaning applications here. I bought a 20ltr container at 35% strength and after 5yrs we still have plenty left....

It's a super disinfectant product and way cheaper than branded bleaches from the supermarket

Excellent, in that concentration, Hydrogen Peroxide can be used to make very potent explosives

 

[Coolcats]

Hydrogen Peroxide is the answer look it up on Wikipedia and you have your answer all bleach contains it and it depends on the strength as to what it damages, what it does to plastics etc if using to sterilise use and rinse well straight away would be my answer do not let it stand in undiluted form!

Maybe best not to use it at all unless you know the type of plastic or rubber involved (manufactuer recommended )

Welcome to our Rubber Chemical Resistance Chart
Here is the rubber compatibility chart that rates all popular rubber materials that comes into contact with various chemicals. Use this rubber chemical resistance chart to make sure that the elastomer or O-ring seal you choose will be compatible with the particular environment. The chemical compatibility of rubber is extremely important as the rubber can degrade rapidly if the rubber material is not compatible with the environment or media that it comes into contact with.

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[Buzz67]

Whether it will cause damage or not depends on loads of factors.
The most common way that plastics fail due to chemical contact is known as “Environmental Stress Cracking”
So it depends on how the plastic parts were produced, how much residual stress is in the parts, what the material is, what the chemical is, and the temperature and duration of contact.
There are so many variables.

 

[PeteH]

How has our 2003 stainless steel house sink survived thousands of bleach soakings/applications? It's like new.

Because 1) you are not "soaking" it in a bleach solution for long enough to remove scale, just the time needed to "clean" it. 2) The GRADE of S-S, used to make sink/drainers is resistant. Most S-S boiler manufacturers use a different grade not entirely for cost benefits, but because of other factors including the fact that Boiler can go from cold to hot with greater frequency and by implication needs to be more flexible over the longer term, without the potential for cracking.

 

[Otter Spotter]

Is there not an issue with camp site septic tanks or is it cess pits ? which work by microbes breaking down the waste to an organic matter, too much bleach or Formaldehyde ( Blue) can stop that process and render the tank ueless.

 

[tonyidle]

Is there not an issue with camp site septic tanks or is it cess pits ? which work by microbes breaking down the waste to an organic matter, too much bleach or Formaldehyde ( Blue) can stop that process and render the tank ueless.

I think you've stated the real problem. I have difficulty understanding the need to keep the inside of a toilet cassette 'clean' - more important to use an environmentally safe additive that reduces odour, helps break up solids, and assists with pouring. I use any cheap bio washing tab and Thetford's version of a SOG unit. The cassette empties cleanly - I've never rinsed one out on site ever. I clean the bowl and surrounds with Thetford's pink stuff in a spray bottle because it works and at the dilution needed it lasts a very long time.

 

[steve69]

If you really want to sterilise/clean your system, there are many purpose designed products you can buy. After many years I only use Bio washing capsules which leave the inside of my cassette as clean as when first bought.

Just saying.....the purpose design products seem expensive when compared to the cost of bleach, which does exactly the same job.

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[MattR]

Many push fit joints have rubber o rings. Some o rings are made of rubber that is weakened by bleach.

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Whether the bleach makes contact with the rubber at sufficient concentrations for long enough is a different consideration.

 

[joe and sue]

I've tried bleach in my cassette twice in maybe 14 years and both times the cassette started smoking.....so I quickly rinsed it out.

What on earth had you been eating ???

 

[joe and sue]

We use the really cheap disinfectant from ALDI etc, in waste tank, down all plug holes and when rinsing out cassette, no problems anywhere

 

[philmc79]

Why has nobody mentioned pure unadulterated lemon juice, we have used it on both fresh and gray waste tanks and its been great Bio tabs in the loo and some spray Aldi stuff the wife gets for the loo bowl.

 

[dotsontour]

Re Lemon juice. When touring Turkey I met a Dutch couple at various stopovers. As we all like a toilet thread
he told me he used lemon juice with washing up liquid. He said it’s so cheap pick the lemons off the tree so all it costs is a squirt of fairy liquid . Never tried it myself so can’t comment.

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[Michael Gaylor]

try the old fashion soda crystal mix with hot water .when cold tip down empty loo, looks like new after and no smell. also we use the cheap washing tablets from Aldi or Lidle

 

[inkey2019]

We always use bleach down the sink and in the bog. If you use it in the bog don't over dose it, it reacts to pee to produce a toxic gas. I always put a good glug of fresh water in the tank and about half a capful (loo emptying cap) of bleach. If you do over dose just add more water, not pee.

 

[Jaws]

Been using bleach ( once a year ) Down the plug holes ever since we started vanning..
Only leak we had was when I was stupid enough to use a drain bazooka ( shoots a high pressure shot of ait down the plug hole ) and blew the trap right off !!!!

 

[Ridgeway]

Excellent, in that concentration, Hydrogen Peroxide can be used to make very potent explosives

That it's alternative cleaning method, i just dilute it to clean things at a fraction of the cost of supermarket bleach. If i remember well >15% isn't allowed in the UK unless you're a registered business or something like that, 35% is still OK here. Pharmacies well the food grade stuff which has safer stabilises in and the industrial grade can be bought at a variety of places, get mine from an agricultural shop.

 

[NoName]

I notice whenever cleaning of waste tanks is discussed, many chemical products are mentioned but no-one ever says they use Bleach - you know - Domestos et al. Is there a reason for this. Personally at the end of a several day or week long trip, I squirt Bleach around the toilet pan and let this run into the waste tank. Not every time - just periodically. What's wrong with that. I'm only talking about an egg-cup full. Surely a lot cheaper than these fancy Blue, Pink and Green Chemicals. I do the same to the kitchen sink and grey-waste tank. Obviously i would never do this with the fresh water tank - just the waste ones. What is the problem?

Hopefully this answer may help resolve some of the questions around this issue.My sister owns a company based in Tortola, BVI's : www.innua.com, who supply additives and plastisizers to the Plastics industry around the world. Short answer is: that all the plastics mentioned have additives to enable them to function in a particular role or situation. i.e. to help make vinyl soft and pliable or, as with UPvc windows, make it hard and rigid. Bleach bottles will be HDPE, High density polyethylene and single use bottles for water, PET, Polyethalene terephthalate. The latter may contain 3 different plastics ; the lid, the neck of the bottle and the thinner body.
Bleach can be used to clean plastics, then rinse all residue away asp.
As with a previous answer, bleach kills the active bacteria in septic tanks, so not a good idea.

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[Lorryman100]

I would like to say that I have been using Zoflora for years on the tin tents and Moho but I would be telling fibs. The missus on the other hand swears by it.