If the toilet in your camper is clogged, don’t panic! We have been there ourselves on a few occasions and discovered 4 great methods that always do the trick. Here is a complete guide on how to unclog a camper toilet (the right way).
The most effective ways to unclog your RV toilet are pouring boiling water into the toilet, using a tank toilet wand, using RV safe unclogging chemicals, using a toilet snake, and using the ice cube and water method.
Here is a detailed summary of each method, and also some helpful tips on how to prevent future clogs from occurring in your camper or RV toilet.
Camper Toilet Clogged? 4 Smart Ways To Unclog It
There are four smart and easy ways to unclog a camper or RV toilet, so let’s take a quick look at each of them.
1. Boiling Water
Perhaps the easiest way to unclog that RV toilet is by using boiling water. This is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to go about it.
You just need to boil several pots of water, preferably a few gallons and pour it right down the toilet into the tank.
You should then let this water soak overnight. Even better is if you drive around right after pouring the boiling water in, as it will really mix everything around.
2. A Toilet Tank Wand
The next option to unplug an RV toilet is to use something known as a toilet tank wand. This is pretty much a special type of high-pressure hose or pressure washer that attaches to the faucet in your RV’s washroom.
Just screw the one end of the hose onto the faucet, turn the faucet on, then place the nozzle end into the toilet. You’re going to insert that one as far down into the toilet as you can, and use that high pressure water stream to blast out any clogs.
3. Unclogging Chemicals
If the above two methods have not worked, another good idea is to use septic safe and RV safe toilet unclogging chemicals. Beware, you cannot use bleach, Drano, or anything else of the sort in an RV toilet, or generally in toilets of any kind.
This is usually going to be some kind of enzymatic toilet unclogger that uses bacteria and enzymes to literally eat away at the clogs.
For this method, you’re going to want to pour as much as is needed into the toilet bowl. You want to let it sit in the toilet bowl for a few hours, then flush, and then let it sit in the tank. Just like with the boiling water, drive around a bit to mix everything up.
4. The Ice Cube Method
The fourth method is known as the ice cube method. Here, you’re going to fill that toilet basin with water up to about a third. You are then going to fill the rest of the toilet with ice.
You then want to flush the ice down the toilet and go for a drive. Keep flushing with lots of water while you are driving, and this should take care of the issue.
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Tips To Prevent Future Clogs
Let’s now go over a few essential tips to help prevent RV and camper toilet clogs from occurring in the future.
1. Use Less Toilet Paper
The simplest way to prevent toilet clogs from occurring is to use much less toilet paper. Toilet paper is generally the number one leading cause of clogs.
If you use more water and less toilet paper, it should prevent the problem from occurring in the first place.
On a side note, for all of you ladies, feminine hygiene products will absolutely clog up an RV toilet. Do not put feminine hygiene products in an RV toilet.
2. The Right Kind of Toilet Paper
What is also going to make a big difference here is using the right kind of toilet paper. There is a special high-end toilet paper design specially for RV septic systems.
However, these can be very expensive. That said, there are much cheaper options out there, just normal septic safe toilet paper.
There is even a very special kind of RV toilet paper that will start breaking down within minutes of coming into contact with liquid.
Moreover, thicker types of toilet paper will cause more problems. Therefore, going for one ply or two ply toilet paper at most is recommended.
3. Using Drop-In Tablets
There are special kinds of drop-in toilet tablets specifically designed to help maintain RV septic systems. There are various drop in pockets, flow probe cleaners, and tissue and natural waste digesters (more on cleaning here).
These will usually feature a variety of bacteria and enzymes that actively eat away at and break down waste and disposable toilet paper.
4. Double Flush
The other recommendation to prevent clogs from occurring in your camper toilet is to double flush. In other words, if you have gone number two, flush as soon as you are done, before using toilet paper. Then, once you have flushed, wipe yourself with the toilet paper, and then flush again.
Can You Use A Plunger On A RV Toilet?
If you can see the clog, you may as well try using a plunger. That being said, RV and camper toilet systems are not really like home toilet systems.
In other words, more often than not, the plunger may just not work. It’s not like the plunger is really going to cause any damage to your system, but it’s probably just going to be a waste of time.
Can You Snake An RV Toilet?
If all else fails, another method at your disposal to unclog an RV toilet is to use a toilet snake, otherwise known as a toilet auger.
That said, the reason why most people don’t go with this method is quite simply because they don’t have toilet snakes. However, if you do have one, it makes for a perfectly viable method.
Through this blog, I want to share all of my hints and tips, along with reviews of the best RVing accessories. I hope this blog will help others with their RV trips, and make traveling easier for you.
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