Keith Gooden 0:00
In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt Podcast, Matt lifts the lid on motorhome toilets.
Matt Sims 0:07
In the news, we’ve got an update from Greece.
Keith Gooden 0:09
And we answer your questions about the VW market, US travel duration in the Schengen zone and insurance when going off road. Welcome to the Motorhome Matt Podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims 0:28
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden 0:29
Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans, brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.
Matt Sims 0:39
Remember, please do follow on your favourite podcast app and make sure you click subscribe if you’re watching on YouTube.
Keith Gooden 0:46
Let’s delve into the news then, Matt, and we have got an update on that episode we did a couple of weeks ago about motorhoming in Greece, which seemed very restrictive. There’s been a little bit of a change, hasn’t there?
Matt Sims 0:57
The ministry in Greece decided that motorhomes could not park anywhere but on a campsite, so it meant you couldn’t even park to buy a loaf of bread or pint of milk.
Keith Gooden 1:07
Or even park in the supermarket car park.
Matt Sims 1:09
Exactly. So the Ministry of Tourism have since held a meeting, and they said there was a complete consensus regarding the direction of the legislation of article 27 of law 5170/2025. That’s the law they passed. It became clear that this provision allows the stopping and parking of motor vehicles wherever and as specified by the Highway Code.
Keith Gooden 1:31
So what they’re saying in that paragraph there is the law that we’ve introduced is actually going against the Highway Code.
Matt Sims 1:37
It’s at odds.
Keith Gooden 1:38
And so what we’re going to do is we’re going to make it the same as the Highway Code, which does allow you to park.
Matt Sims 1:43
They went on to say, “The Ministry of Tourism recognises the need to create an institutional framework for the provision of special temporary parking spaces for motorhomes, and will propose that the relevant initiative be taken by the relevant ministries.”
Keith Gooden 1:59
There is an address here, but it contains the words oikonomia and troxospita, so I’m not going to go into it!
Matt Sims 2:06
The URL, you mean.
Keith Gooden 2:07
If people want to find out more, what should they do?
Matt Sims 2:10
News 24/7 in Greece reported this, which where we got this from. So I think listen to the podcast. We’ll be reporting back on it as the law is, I think, going to be relaxed. It would seem that basically what they’ve done is recognise that restricting motorhomes from parking anywhere ever is ridiculous, that we need to be able to park to go shopping, and hopefully it means they will introduce some parking provision for us to camp overnight, off grid and not in a campsite. So there’ll be controlled parking introduced.
Keith Gooden 2:40
Quick note on this, when they refer to the Highway Code in the Greek parliament, they’re referring to the Greek Highway Code and not our one! So don’t make the mistake of waving the Highway Code book at them when an officer confronts you in Greece and asks you to move on. It’s the Greek Highway Code, and I jolly well hope there’s a translation available!
Matt Sims 2:59
I’ve never read it. But the good news is, if you want to go to Greece in a motorhome in the future, hopefully – not yet -hopefully the ministry will have relaxed this law a little bit, and there will be a provision for you to park your motorhome up to go shopping and possibly overnight. We’ll keep you posted.
Keith Gooden 3:16
Fantastic. Now, let’s talk about the National Motorhome and Campervan Show, 13th to the 15th of June at the Newark Showground.
Matt Sims 3:23
Yes, indeed, it’s a great show. This show, of course, used to be in Peterborough. That’s gone, that showground, so it was moved to Newark. It’s one of Warners’ biggest shows of the year. Hundreds of dealers, hundreds of traders. Thousands of people go to it camping and day visiting too. There’s free entertainment all weekend. It’s great value. It’s £85 for four nights’ camping. You can arrive on the Thursday, the show starts on the Friday and runs until Sunday, and you can leave on the Monday, or you can just go for the day. One of the highlights of the show for me – That Leisure Shop is there exhibiting. So we’ll have a stand, which is great, but it’s the advice center. So all weekend there are free talks that you can attend, which I’m hosting, and I’m going to be compèring the whole session and facilitating some brilliant Q and A’s, I’m sure. These presentations are totally free and they’re fantastic. So if you’re looking to find out more about going to Europe, getting off grid, or traveling with kids or a range of topics, then check out the website for everyone that’s giving a talk.
Keith Gooden 3:24
Fantastic. So where do people find out more then, Matt?
Matt Sims 3:51
There’s a discount code for day visitor tickets too. It’s at mhmp.info/warners. So something I’ve started using when I’m traveling is this app called Saily. It’s an e-SIM, so no plastic SIM card, no going into shops or messing about at the airport.
Keith Gooden 4:43
I’ve always just stuck with whatever network I’m on and hoped for the best.
Matt Sims 4:47
As many do. Yeah, I used to do that as well. But if you’re crossing borders in your motorhome or heading somewhere that your provider doesn’t cover, Saily just sorts it. You download the app, pick a data plan for wherever you’re going, and that’s it. You’re online in a couple of minutes.
Keith Gooden 5:04
This is all on your phone. You don’t need to swap anything out.
Matt Sims 5:07
Nope, nothing to swap, nothing to wait for in the post, and it works in something like 190 countries. Plus there’s a bit of web protection built in, which is handy if you’re using sketchy Wi-Fi.
Keith Gooden 5:19
It sounds a bit more reliable than the usual ‘hope for the best’ approach.
Matt Sims 5:24
It is, and if you want to give it a go, there’s a 15% discount! Just head to www.saily.com/motorhomematt and use the code MOTORHOMEMATT at the checkout.
Keith Gooden 5:35
That’s www.saily.com/motorhomematt, and we’ve put the link in the description as well. It’s the Motorhome Matt Podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims 5:45
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden 5:46
It’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe. Let’s get into their main meat, forgive the phrase, of the podcast – and the roughage too. You’re feeling flushed. It’s toilets!
Matt Sims 6:00
There are so many puns which we can’t do to retain our clean ticket here!
Keith Gooden 6:06
This whole subject, it’s less of a science and more of a fart, isn’t it?
Matt Sims 6:11
Don’t go any further. So we wanted to follow on from our recent episode on separation toilets just a week or so ago. Lots of comments about this type of toilet, because there are loads of different types of toilet that you can have in your motorhome, your campervan and your boat. So we thought we’d unpack the different types and try and bust a few myths and explain a few confusing points.
Keith Gooden 6:33
Yes, definitely. And, you know, I take the mickey, and so do you, but it’s important. It’s one of the most important things, isn’t it, when you’re away, when you’re motorhoming, in a boat, whatever. We all do it, and we’ve all got to get rid of it. So you’ve got to have the right way of doing it, haven’t you?
Matt Sims 6:33
You have. And sometimes we don’t have a choice when you buy a motorhome, you’re just given the toilet. There’s no option. But there are aftermarket solutions. So the most common one – let’s kick off with the cassette toilet, one we’re all familiar with. They’ve been around forever, over 50 years, and they haven’t really changed in that time. Introduced into caravans when they were first launched, and it’s a fixed bowl in your toilet with a removable cassette. We all know them, and they’re most common in European and UK motorhomes. They need chemical of some sort.
Keith Gooden 7:21
And what does the chemical do?
Matt Sims 7:22
So the chemical either rots the waste down or there are alternatives, like Solbio. Either way, you end up with a waste that you can dispose of. If you’re using a blue or green chemical, it must go down a toilet or into a sewer. Solbio potentially can go in the toilet. It could go on your rose bed. You mustn’t put it on stuff you’re going to eat, but you could put it on your roses. And the spare parts for the toilet cassette, generally, they’re made by brands like Thetford or Dometic. They are very easy to find. They’re sold everywhere.
Keith Gooden 7:52
And this is for number ones and twos?
Matt Sims 7:54
Ones and twos, yeah, and paper, so you can put it all in there. You shouldn’t put wet wipes or nappies in there.
Keith Gooden 7:59
You shouldn’t in your toilet anyway. I mean, they block sewers, don’t they?
Matt Sims 8:04
Of course. So they’re the most commonplace, and they’ve been around forever, and I think they’ll be around for a long time to come. But then you’ve got composting toilets. I think they’re a more recent phenomenon, if I can call them that. The solids and the liquids, so the poo and the wee, are separated. You don’t use any chemical, but they need ventilation and occasionally some maintenance, but they have much longer emptying cycles. So the idea with these is if you’re going to have a composting loo in your van, you’re going to be carrying your poo around for some time whilst it composts, because this takes quite a bit of time. So they are not for the faint hearted. But the point is, by separating the wee and the poo, you minimise the smell, and the ventilation helps vent off any gasses that come out. They are great if you’re going off grid a lot and you are very eco focused as a traveler in a motorhome or campervan. People with lorries where they’ve got lots of space, and it’s almost the toilets like size of a tea chest, and they’re carrying around the poo. They maybe mix some sawdust in with it as well. And I know one couple, they built their own. It’s really clever. It had a vent with a fan and an exacerbating kind of… we used them on an allotment. A cultivator. A rotavator.
Keith Gooden 9:23
I know, yeah. It sort of grinds everything up. It mixes it all up. Because, yeah, when you’re composting on your allotment, for instance, or have your compost heap, it breaks down faster if you turn it, because as it decomposes, it creates heat, and you want that heat throughout all the mass, and that’s what breaks it down. Gardeners always also have one which you can spin round and turn over.
Matt Sims 9:47
Well, that’s what this did. It’s really clever. So it was two kind of forks from either side. They were battery powered, and they rotated in opposite directions and kind of chewed the poo up.
Keith Gooden 9:59
Yeah, but like gardeners and allotmenters, is once it’s decomposed, the compost is not smelly and can be handled quite easily, providing not thinking about what it used to be. And like you say, you can put it on your roses. But remember, human beings take tablets and medications and also have diseases which can be passed on even after a composting process. So don’t put it on anything that you’re going to eat. But you know, composted down poo, animal poo, you know, it’s fantastic, non-smelly, and actually quite nice to handle once that composting process is finished.
I know what I’m getting you for Christmas… but the key is, they got rid of their wee separately. So that went into the grass.
And I was going to ask that question, what’s wrong with a shovel and a tree?
Matt Sims 10:47
What, you dig a hole?
Keith Gooden 10:48
Yeah, dig a hole and just pee against the tree.
Matt Sims 10:50
Well, do you need to dig a hole? I mean, if it’s wee, just pee against the tree.
Keith Gooden 10:53
I mean for the number two.
Matt Sims 10:54
The number two…
Keith Gooden 10:56
Well, are you allowed to do that?
Matt Sims 10:58
If I find you digging hole in my garden, I’m going to have a word.
Keith Gooden 11:02
But can I? Is it legal for me to do that?
Matt Sims 11:05
I don’t know if it’s illegal. The person that owns the sod of soil that you’re going to dig up might have an opinion, yeah, but I know lots of people that dig a hole and just have a, you know, poo in the woods, as they say.
Keith Gooden 11:15
Like a bear.
Matt Sims 11:17
Like a bear, or a pope!
Keith Gooden 11:19
I’m a Catholic, by the way, I’m a Catholic!
Matt Sims 11:25
Potentially, yeah, but we’re talking about motorhome toilets, not digging holes in the woods.
Keith Gooden 11:29
No, I know we are, but I’m just just giving people the full menu of…
Matt Sims 11:33
I mentioned Solbio earlier. It’s an additive you put into toilets. Not a chemical, because it’s vegan based. And John from Solbio said to me that he is often selling that product or talking to people and advising them. And he said, Yeah, digging a hole, burying your number two, and putting some Solbio on it will make it dissipate even quicker, which I thought was really interesting. And why not? Totally harmless to the environment, and your poo just ends up back in the eco chain.
Keith Gooden 11:59
Quick question about the composting toilets and the separation toilets, then. You talked about fans and stuff, but is there an odour related to them? Are they smellier than your cassette toilets, generally?
Matt Sims 12:12
A composting toilet? I think if you’ve got a fan as well, the fan helps the process. The friends of mine that have got this composting toilet in their lorry that they live in, they say there’s no smell. But I think that’s more down to the fact that they’re separating the wee and the poo, and they’re covering it in a bit of sawdust, and I think that’s why. Plus the fan.And that’s taken the smell away. Let’s just talk about separation toilets.
Keith Gooden 12:35
I just mention that.
Matt Sims 12:36
It didn’t these create the composting ability. So a separation toilet is not necessarily a composting toilet. A composting toilet, the poo stays in it for a long time in order to become compost.
Keith Gooden 12:48
And it’s not bagged up.
Matt Sims 12:50
It could be. It could be in a recyclable, disposable bag, a compostable bag. Yeah, so a separation toilet was what we featured the other week from Trelino. They are all about the ability to separate your wee and the poo. So the wee goes in a bottom, you pour that into a hedge, and the poo goes into some kind of bag and again, you sprinkle some waste on it. And there’s two types of bags. One is recycled plastic, which you tie a knot in and you put in the dust bin. That was the contentious bit, because who has to handle that waste? The other type of bag is a compostable bag, where you put it in your food waste, or you bury it, and it just disappears and it will dissolve because it’s a compostable bag. They’re like our food recycling bags that we use. So that’s a separation toilet. They are not to be confused with a composting toilet, because they’re not designed to keep your waste in there for ages. You’re going away for a weekend, you want to separate your waste, you can then handle and manage your waste separately, wee and poo separately after the trip, or during the trip.
Keith Gooden 13:47
Don’t do what some of you do with your dog poos as well, and hang it in a tree! That’s not good, is it?
Matt Sims 13:52
Or on the rear wiper blade! Spot the dog walker.
Keith Gooden 13:56
We’ve got a quote here from the Environment Agency.
Matt Sims 13:59
Do you want to read it?
Keith Gooden 14:00
The Environment Agency in England permits non hazardous – that’s urine – groundwater, liquid discharges, i.e. discharging to the land via a soak away pit or similar, of less than 10 litres per day under what’s known as a de minimis exception.
Matt Sims 14:18
So loads of people have commented that pouring wee under a tree is horrible, that you shouldn’t be doing it. But the point is here, the Environmental Agency say, no, it’s an acceptable practice, as long as you’re not soaking more than 10 litres a day in the same spot.
Keith Gooden 14:31
The guidelines recommend that the soak away pit, the point of discharge, is at least 10 meters away from a water course, so not into a river, and 50 meters away from a source of potable water. That means drinking water. That’s a well or a borehole, okay, although this can be varied depending on the amount of discharge expected and the soil porosity. I guess that’s how much it can soak into the soil. So if we had a dry spell like we had this spring, you need to think twice about it. Discharges to ground of more than 10 litres per day may require a permit. Now, one person, every time they have a wee, produces about a quarter of a pint.
Matt Sims 15:11
Can you imagine being that person that applies for a permit to wee more than 10 litres a day? I’d love to be on the receiving end of that phone call. Blimey, love, what are you drinking?! We did approach the Canal River Trust for a comment, because these are prolific in the marine world. Those folks been adopting this for years. And if you’re listening to this and you live on a canal boat or you live on the waterway, we’d love to get your thoughts on this. Sadly, they have not commented, despite numerous approaches to them, and we’ve not been able to get a comment from them. Maybe we will in the future.
Keith Gooden 15:43
Okay, let’s crack on, because there’s quite a list here. Portable toilets, the Porta Potty type.
Matt Sims 15:50
So a plastic toilet, compact all in one, a bit like a cassette toilet, really. So a bowl in the top, a tray underneath, and you need to empty it. It mixes your poo and wee together, and it needs to go into a proper waste disposal point. You need to use some chemical. They’re cheap and cheerful. They’ve been around for years, and they need to be emptied down the toilet, and they need to be stored somewhere. You get varying heights. My experience is, the taller they are, the easier they are to use, especially as you get older, because getting off it is pretty tricky! My knees don’t like them anymore. You might end you end up taking a box to put it on in order to get down onto it. And some of them are really low. So if you want a VW camper van, they’re ideal because they can go under the rock and roll bed.
Keith Gooden 16:32
Vacuum toilets?
Matt Sims 16:35
I’ve never seen one of these in a motorhome, but they are a type of toilet, so we thought we’d give them a nod. These are like the ones you see on an aeroplane or on a boat, and basically it sucks the waste away. There’s minimal smell. In fact, none at all. Super water efficient, because it uses air to suck the waste out of the pan. They are found in very high end American RVs, although I’ve never actually used one, and I imagine they’re expensive and very hard to repair.
Keith Gooden 17:01
And what happens to the ones and twos that get sucked away?
Matt Sims 17:03
Well, they end up in a big waste tank, which has commercial grade chemical added to it, and they’re disposed of down the sewer.
Keith Gooden 17:12
If you’ve ever watched Christmas Vacation at Christmas time, the movie, then you’ll know exactly how they dispose of it. Okay, yeah, SOG equipped toilets. SOG, what’s that?
Matt Sims 17:20
Yeah, I don’t know what SOG stands for, I can’t remember. I think it’s a German word.
Keith Gooden 17:27
Ah, have you had your SOG?
Matt Sims 17:32
This is an add on for toilet cassettes. I recently tested a motorhome with it in, and I’ve always been really cynical about SOG toilet kits. So basically, it’s a fan that you fit to the toilet cassette screw on the top, where you empty it on the end of the swan neck, and it sucks the air out and blows it away. And the idea is, because it’s sucking the air out to the methane gasses, you don’t need to use any chemical. And I’ve always thought, that’s rubbish. Surely it doesn’t work. Anyway, I did test this motorhome, and I mean, test it, and went for a wee and a poo. And I have to be honest, there was no smell. And when I poured it away…
Keith Gooden 18:09
Well, you were like, the king, you don’t actually use the toilet.
Matt Sims 18:15
Didn’t someone used to say that the Queen always used to believe her own poo smelt really odd, because everyone else’s smell of fresh paint, because every toilet blocks you went in had just been decorated? Is that not funny? I laughed!So these need an external vent, so you have to screw a hole in your toilet cassette door to fit these. And if you Google SOG toilet system, you can see them and find them. I’m still a little bit cynical. I personally would like to know – I use Solbio – that I’m dissolving the poo and wee down into a manageable liquid. It was a bit lumpy when I pulled it away, but there was no smell, so that’s a SOG!
Keith Gooden 18:55
Let’s move on quickly… gravity flush toilets. These are common, I understand, in large American RVs.
Matt Sims 19:00
I have had lots of these. And if you’ve listened to the episode in the past about Matt’s motorhomes, you’ll know I’ve had numerous American motorhomes. And these are just a big pan with a lever that you open after you’ve been to the loo. Unlike a cassette toilet, you normally open that blade before you go to the toilet, and your bum seals the smell when you’re sat on it. On an American toilet, the pan is much bigger, so you can use the loo without opening the blade. And in fact, the way you open the blade is with a pedal. So you press the pedal, opens the blade, and everything drops into a big waste tank. Now, you add chemical to that waste tank, and it requires emptying with a hose. So you attach the hose. And if you’ve ever seen the amazing film with Robin Williams, RV – if you haven’t, you need to watch it. It’s hilarious. He gets into a lot of trouble emptying his toilet, as I have in the past. And if you’ve listened in the past, you’ll know. You’ll remember a story where I emptied my American motorhome and it all went a bit wrong, but you need to go to somewhere where you can take this big, thick, four-inch hose, and it may even be bigger than that, down into a drain, and somewhere where you pull the drain valve and it all comes out the hose and into a drain. So that is a gravity toilet.
Keith Gooden 20:15
Incinerator toilets. You don’t set it on fire, do you?!
Matt Sims 20:19
So these are interesting. These have been around for some years.
Keith Gooden 20:23
Do you strike a match when you’re in the toilet to get rid of the smell? Like in an airline?
You don’t want to be setting fire to the toilet on an aircraft!
Or striking a match, by the way.
Matt Sims 20:32
These burn your waste into a sterile ash using a gas supply or electric supply. No tanks, no chemicals, no emptying other than the ash. Literally, there’s a tray. They are remarkable. They turn your poo and wee into ash like you get out of your fireplace at home, and then you just take that out and put that on the soil, empty it anywhere.
Keith Gooden 20:55
Is it a quick process, or do you cook it for a while?
Matt Sims 21:00
Bake it for a while. Put it in the oven 180 degrees! There’s a manufacturer of these called Cinderella, and I’ve seen them around a few times. I think there’s only one supplier of them in the UK. I might be wrong. There might be more. But I’ve spoken to Cinderella a couple of times, particularly when I was out in Germany at Caravan Salon, a great show in the summer. Cinderella often have a stand there, and they are amazing, but they are quite expensive. They are thousands of pounds, versus many of these – a Porta Potty is 100 quid.
Keith Gooden 21:29
But I suppose with incinerator toilets, you’re left with something which is completely different from wee and poo. It’s not in a bag, it’s gone.
Matt Sims 21:38
It’s just ash. Literally like cigarette ash. Doesn’t smell like cigarette ash. I don’t really know what it smells of. I’ve never actually used one. Maybe I’ll get to try one one day. But they are quite expensive, and you can fit them into a motorhome or campervan or boats, which is where they’re most common. So yeah, Cinderella is one to Google if you’re interested in this. Apparently, they’re growing in popularity in expedition builds, I’m guessing because the waste is easy to dispose of. It’s just ash!
Keith Gooden 22:06
Fantastic. Now, what do you have to consider before you choose some of these that we’ve listed here?
Matt Sims 22:11
How often are you willing to deal with it? So if you’re going to be using the loo a lot because you’re off grid and that is your toilet solution…
Keith Gooden 22:19
Or there’s a lot of you.
Matt Sims 22:20
Or there’s a lot of you, or you like a lot of beer and a lot of curry, that may be a factor. What power have you got? So if you’ve got no power, a toilet cassette just literally needs a tiny 12 volt feed for the flush. But the cassette itself doesn’t need any power, unless you’re going to fit a SOG to it, and the fan needs a little 12 volt supply. A Cinderella needs a gas supply or electrical supply. So it’s quite a considered installation. Thinking about chemicals as well – what’s your view on chemicals? Now, I’m a fan, very publicly, of Solbio. I’m seeing lots of blue chemical that contains formaldehyde, and I think it’s disgraceful that as an industry, we sell a chemical that gives you cancer. It’s carcinogenic.
Keith Gooden 23:00
Yes, it has been linked to some cancers.
Matt Sims 23:03
I think it’s wrong.
Keith Gooden 23:04
Especially after extended use.
Matt Sims 23:05
So we don’t sell it at That Leisure Shop. We sell other blue and green products that don’t have formaldehyde in. But they are harmful, and there’s very clearly on the bottle says, “Harmful, will kill fish.” It shouldn’t go in the waterways. Solbio is completely harmless. I have drunk it. I don’t recommend you do, but I did it to prove a point.
Keith Gooden 23:23
And then ran to the toilet.
Matt Sims 23:25
Yeah! I’m fine now, but it’s completely vegan and it’s probiotic. Is that the word? So it exacerbates the bacteria, or pro bacteria, I should say. It speeds up that chemical reaction that your poo and weed goes through to dissolve down. So you need to think about your chemical use. So a cassette toilet that needs a chemical – you need to then decide what chemical you’re going to use, and I recommend Solbio to you. Go to That Leisure Shop to get yours. Maintaining it as well, what maintenance do you need? A cassette toilet is dead easy to look after. You just need to lube the blade that goes on it. I have to say, since we’ve been using Solbio in our cassette, I don’t need to clean it out. It’s really clean inside. Apparently years ago, Solbio cut two cassettes in half. One had only had blue chemical in it, the other had only used Solbio. And the blue one was like a blue ice cave inside, whereas the Solbio one was brand new. And our cassette, which is now years old, is immaculate inside. I wouldn’t eat lunch off it, but it is very, very clean and doesn’t smell at all. Consider maintenance of your cassette. Ventilation.
Keith Gooden 24:32
Very important.
Matt Sims 24:34
It is if you’re going to go for something that isn’t a contained box of some sort. So the cassette toilet is a sealed unit on the top, so everything’s contained in there. And on a hot day, my advice is, if you’re ever going to open that blade with the cassette out of the toilet, open the blade, twist the lever and then slide the cover back. The number of times I’ve slid the cover back and then twisted the blade and been splashed… actually once I emptied a toilet, and someone had obviously been very unwell. It was from a hired moto home. They brought it back full. They’d been sick in it. They’d obviously had a very, very upset tummy. And I opened the slider, twisted the top, and it splashed all over me. I actually got salmonella poisoning. I was really, really seriously ill for about two weeks. I lost three stone and spent 23 hours a day in bed for about a week. And I’m sure it was from that toilet cassette. So be very careful when you’re opening someone else’s or even your own on a hot day, which it was, because it expands! The gas expands. So ventilation in a composting toilet is very important, so you need to think about that, and then you avoid the smell. Storage. If you’re going to go for a toilet that’s a separation toilet or a composting loo, they need more space. So a composting loo, you know, as I say, friends of mine, theirs is the size of a tea chest. In fact, I think it was based on a tea chest. So that’s a consideration, as well – how much have space we got?
Keith Gooden 26:03
Okay, then, so your real world tips, because we’ve covered the types of toilets and the uses of them. So what is the most convenient, inconvenient? What’s the one that’s going to work for you?
Matt Sims 26:16
Using a cassette, learn how to open it – safely! Twist it, and then slide the slider, especially on a hot day. Keep a set of rubber gloves. That’s really key. Hygiene is really important. So wash your hands.
Keith Gooden 26:28
Maybe a face mask as well. After the pandemic, we’ve all got some stored away. x
Matt Sims 26:32
I don’t know if you need to go as far as a face mask, but be very mindful that this is, you know, hazardous waste. My advice is use to use Solbio. I can’t endorse that product enough. I think any product that does what Solbio does has to be a winner. It’s good for the environment. It’s good for us. It’s not going to harm any animal, dogs, fish. If your dog starts drinking out the bowl, it’s not going to hurt it. So do consider using Solbio.
Keith Gooden 26:58
Fish?
Matt Sims 26:58
Well, if you pour it in the riverway… on blue chemical chemicals, it says not to. Of course not.
Keith Gooden 27:05
Well, we employ water companies to do that!
Matt Sims 27:11
And there’s a reason to use Solbio, because we can’t trust them! If you’re composting, you need to learn what’s known as the sawdust ratio. This is a whole thing about how much sawdust to use, and the more you do it, the more you’ll learn. I’ve never really had experience of doing it, so I can’t tell you what the ratio is. If you’re watching or listening and maybe you know, drop it in the comments. We’d love to know. If you’re using a SOG, they are a game changer if you hate the idea of chemicals, because you can use your toilet cassette without any. So if you’re really opposed to using toilet chemical – I know people who put dishwasher tablets in the toilet cassette and swear by it. And we had an episode some time ago, with Ian from Qualkem, and he dismissed that out of hand, as he did putting cola in your waste tank to clean it. Because he said, well, you’re just putting a sweet agent, sugar, glucose or fructose in your tank, which just attracts insects and mold!
Keith Gooden 28:07
And if you leave any of it behind, then it’ll start to ferment.
Matt Sims 28:10
Exactly. So he dismissed that out of hand, and I’ve tried it in the past. It didn’t really work. I’ve never put a dishwasher tab in my toilet cassette, but I know lots of people do. But if you’re opposed to any sort of chemical then a SOG kit might be worth looking at. Porta Potties are great as a backup toilet. If you’re going away in a tent, or you’re in a campervan or VW and you don’t have a toilet in it, then a Porta Potty is a great solution if you’re camping or going away where you don’t know if you’re going to have access to a toilet. They’re portable, easy. They’re really easy to transport around, even when they’re full, and then you just need to go to a toilet to empty them. They do require some chemical, though, to make them work. Finally, the incinerator type. They seem to me to be great. I’ve watched videos on them. Never used one, but they are costly. If you’re living off grid, they could be worth it long term. If you’re going to be there for some time, it may be worth the investment. I’d love to try one one day!
Keith Gooden 29:08
I’ll make sure I’m out of the room at the time. Okay, so that’s your toilets. Thanks very much, Matt, and we’ll give you details of how to get in touch towards the end of the podcast. It’s the Motorhome Matt Podcast with me, Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims 29:21
And me, Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden 29:23
It’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.
Matt Sims 29:27
Get 15% off your insurance premium by quoting the code MOTORHOMEMATT over the phone or simply click the link in the description.
Keith Gooden 29:35
It’s our Q and A, questions and answers. We do it every podcast, where you ask the questions and Matt, the expert, he will answer them. And as I say, every week, if he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll find somebody who does. First of all, we’ve got Susie.
Susie 29:48
Hi, Matt. So my partner and I are looking at potentially getting VW California campervan second hand. And we listened to one of your podcast episodes where you said that the campervan market is slowing, and now might be good time to buy. We also heard that the VW campervans tend to hold their value secondhand more than other campervans do. So I guess it would be great to know what’s going on in the market with VW campervans in particular, and how much we should be looking at spending.
Keith Gooden 30:21
That’s Susie, and Matt’s in love with Susie’s voice.
Matt Sims 30:24
What a lovely voice.
Keith Gooden 30:27
Matt and Susie sitting in the tree. K, I S, S, I N, G!
Matt Sims 30:32
Steady! All I did was listen to the question three times as I tried to get to sleep.
Keith Gooden 30:37
What’s the answer?
Matt Sims 30:38
You’ve got a lovely voice, Susie, thanks for asking it. We did speak on a social post as well about this, and I said, would you mind sharing this as a question on the podcast? Because I’m sure lots of people are intrigued by this. So the VW market, Susie, you’re right, does remain strong despite a slowdown. But you’ve got to remember that the new VW is a transit. So the T6 market has lots of loyal followers because they’re purists and they want a genuine Volkswagen chassis or van to drive around in. But the pressure is on for the price. We’ve found that key milestones of 10,000, multiples of 10,000, is really key. I’ll give you a real world example. We just sold a 2019 VW, a beautiful conversion, brand new, never used conversion. It had blingy Big Muddy Fox alloy wheels and big tyres, lithium install, loads of bling on it. A really lovely example. As soon as we dropped that price below £40k it sold straight away. And I think that’s a milestone point for that kind of age. I’ve been recently trying to value a 2018 model. Full conversion, 25,000 miles on it. It’s been used. The customer recently paid, I think 18 months ago, £56k for it. I said it’s it’s worth £40k. It can’t be more than £40k, not at 2018. But you look online, and they seem to be between £25k and £55k. There’s a real range. So I can see why it’s really confusing. And prices do vary all over the country. So trying to value a 2019 model, I would say it’s anything between £30k and £45k. The spec is critical. The mileage is key. The service history is really important, and also, who did the conversion? Are they a well known converter, or are they a corner converter doing two or three a year? That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because their quality may be superb with everything hand built, but branded conversions are certainly easier to value, and those are all the factors to consider. And at the end of the day, if it’s up for £45k and you’re prepared to pay it, it’s worth £45k to you.
Keith Gooden 32:45
And that’s the thing is, it’s what people are prepared to pay. It’s like houses, isn’t it? The asking price is the laughing price. Well, I’m laughing now, so… talking seriously. Dave Burden’s in Grantham and he says, “I’m currently exploring the UK and Europe in my American Skoolie and small motorcycle. Both are registered in the US and I have a US license. I have to follow the Schengen rules, but as far as I know, I can stay over here indefinitely, as long as I keep the registrations up to date. Do you know if this is the case?” Well, that’s the thing. I mean, Schengen, that is the border free travel area in the EU, isn’t it? We were never part of it when we were in the EU. Ireland’s not part of it. You have to have a passport or documentation to cross the border. But I never thought about how it might affect somebody from the United States.
Matt Sims 33:31
The US, of course, still has to comply with the same Schengen rules as us. So the 90-day restriction applies. But what he’s asking is, do I have to register my American school bus and America motorbike here? My understanding is that you have to register the vehicle here or in the country you wish to stay in after it’s been there for 12 months.
Keith Gooden 33:53
So when you say here, what do you mean?
Matt Sims 33:55
So in the UK, or if he’s choosing to stay in Germany, it has to be registered there. My understanding is the UK rule – and please somebody correct me if I’m wrong. I did check this with my good friend James from Empire RV, and they import, sell and hire American motorhomes. And he said after 12 months, it has to be registered in the UK. But it might be different if you jump out of the UK to somewhere in Europe. Obviously you can only stay there for 90 days, so you need to be careful where you register it. But I don’t think it’s the case if you keep it up to date in the US, you can keep it out of the US indefinitely. I don’t think that’s true.
Keith Gooden 34:30
And what about all this fannying around, if you forgive the phrase? Does it affect your insurances?
Matt Sims 34:36
Yeah, absolutely. So it may be that his insurance company are US based. And if he’s out of the country for an extended period, they might have a problem with that. So yeah, that’s going to be another layer of consideration and probably complication.
Keith Gooden 34:51
Okay, we’ve got a Facebook user here. Please give us your name and where you’re from. It really humanises you. Makes life easy for us as well, and you do want to make life easy for us. I’m going to call you A N Other or if you’re a woman, Anne Onymous. “Hi, Matt. I have a question I see on Facebook groups about motorhomes. When people’s renewal quote from Caravan Guard is due, a question they’re all now getting asked is, do you go wild camping? And if they explain the van is designed to go off grid and they park on designated park ups, they get told that Caravan Guard will need to speak to the underwriters to see if they will be insured, and that their breakdown cover might be affected. Why?” Just quickly, an underwriter – the insurance business is a bit like the betting industry. If a bookmaker gets a huge bet, he’ll lay off the bet. In other words, take portions of that huge stake and give it to other bookmakers, so they all share the risk. And underwriting is the same thing in insurance. If somebody is insuring something large, the insurance company will go to an underwriter, or several underwriters, and they will say, yep, we will take ultimate responsibility for this risk. So that’s an underwriter. So Matt, what is the answer?
Matt Sims 36:04
I approached Caravan Guard for a comment, as they were named in this post. And it was a big discussion on Facebook, and there seemed to be a lot of people being asked about this wild camping, which, of course, is going off grid. And more and more motorhomes are capable of doing this, of camping off grid for lengths of time. And Liz at Caravan Guard kindly came back and said, “If it’s apparent a customer’s motorhome has four wheel drive or off road capability, our advisors are trained to ask if the customer is planning to drive their motorhome in extreme off road conditions. Note, we do not provide insurance cover if a motorhome is to be driven off road over rough or unstable terrain. Of course, we will cover customers to drive off a public road onto a private track or road to get to a recognised campsite or an off grid site where they have the permission of the landowner. There’s certainly some confusion around off grid motorhoming. We see off grid motorhomers staying in official camping or parking locations, but where there is no electric hookup, such as basic campsites, pub stop overs, or in designated overnight motorhome parking bays in public car parks.”
Keith Gooden 37:08
Okay, then. Our Facebook user has also gone on to say, “One post said if you park on private land and don’t have permission from the land over they wouldn’t be insured. Thankfully, the van owner was quick enough to say they parked on private land with the owner’s permission.” They go on to say, “Surely an SfS or P4N listing is okay, isn’t it?” What the…?
Matt Sims 37:30
If you were down with the kids, you’d know what that meant – a Searchforsites or a Park4night listing. So these are apps where you find these off grid locations. And there’s one near our house. I’m not going to reveal it because it’s beautiful and it’s very busy. It’s on Park4night, and there’s an amazing view. And last night, there were six campervans there. There’s only room really for four. I’m sure the local people that live next to it weren’t very happy. But Searchforsites, Park 4night – Brit Stops is another app where you can find these park ups which are not a campsite.
Keith Gooden 38:01
Okay, so we’ve heard from Caravan Guard. Now, Ripe were approached and they say, “Ripe don’t ask this question about wild or off grid camping. We’re happy with people using their vans to stay in places other than campsites, but we would expect them to be responsible when choosing where to stay. For example, if the van is in a remote or inaccessible place, it may not be possible for a recovery vehicle to get to them, in which case they would not be able to claim for breakdown. This is just one example, and might seem obvious, but sometimes these factors aren’t considered. So we would encourage people off grid camping to consider the potential risks.” And the Ripe team says, “Thanks again.” And this is the thing. An insurance policy isn’t just you buying something, it’s a partnership, isn’t it?
Matt Sims 38:47
You down a country lane to this really lovely view, and you can’t start the van. How’s the recovery truck going to get to you? It’s a very valid point. And of course, we refer back to the story of Claire and her husband who went off road in their Hymer MLT and rolled over, put it on its side, and their insurance company – it wasn’t Caravan Guard or Ripe – but their insurance company said, nope, you’re not insured. And it was because they were not on a recognised road. Claire thought was because they were in Europe, and she’d paid for European cover. It was because she was off road. And this is a big issue, and it’s something that if you’re buying or making a motorhome or campervan off road capable, so you’re putting those big tyres on and raising the suspension, you’ve got to consider your insurance. There is a risk that you’re not insured. Common sense has to prevail from your perspective and the insurer’s, which is what these two respective insurance companies are saying. If you’re on an approved site with the landowner’s permission, they will insure you, but you run the risk of not being insured if you take the risk.
Keith Gooden 38:47
The thing is, isn’t it, Matt – ask, ask, ask. As I said, this relationship you have with the insurance company – a lot of people resent buying insurance, but if you’re unsure or you’re going somewhere and you want to stay there, the insurance companies don’t mind if you call up and ask them whether you’re covered. And if you’re not, they will probably offer you an addendum to your policy, which will cost you literally small change, a few pounds. And that’s your peace of mind. That’s your pride of joy insured and the insurance company are happy that you’ve called.
Matt Sims 40:22
As long as the underwriter can do it, they would be happy to do it, and they might carry a fee, as you say. But I think if you’re planning to go to some extreme locations, you need to be prepared that you’re not insured. And I think being clued up is the sensible thing here.
Okay, Matt, if people want to get in touch, what should they do?
We’d love it if you did, because these questions are our gold, aren’t they? I always say, if you have a question, the chances are there are thousands of others with the same question. So please ask it. Just head to mhmp.info/askmatt. You can record it, and we’d love it if you did. Tell us where you are. Click the orange button, record it, listen to it back, and then submit it. Or fill in the form, and we’ll read it for you.
Keith Gooden 41:01
And you should share it with a friend as well. But if you’re watching on YouTube, what should you do?
Matt Sims 41:06
Please click subscribe, and the little bell and the gods of YouTube will tell you where a new episode is released.
Keith Gooden 41:14
Thanks for listening to the Motorhome Matt Podcast. Remember to check back here for more episodes full of hints and tips and helpful advice. We’ll see you soon for another Motorhome Matt Podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com.
