After 5 months of travelling without a toilet, the decision was made to purchase a new Thetford Porta Potti in May 2018. The model we have retails for around $199. Having a portable toilet opened up access to many more free and low cost campgrounds for our family. The reality is that most places do have some type of toilet facilities, but sometimes it’s not always practical to use them. A good example is when it is hammering down with rain or the mosquitoes are so big, you can see saddles on their backs. Sometimes, the dreaded “enviro drop” toilet is so rank, that it is far better to do a bush wee or use your own Porta Potti.
The Thetford Porta Potti is one of the shortest portable toilets available on the market. We chose it for its compact size and it can almost fit entirely under the dining area bed. Due to its small capacity (12L), it is only used when absolutely necessary and we don’t put any toilet paper down the bowl. We simply bin or burn the paper.
HOW TO CLEAN THE PORTA POTTI.
Cleaning the Potti is no body’s favourite chore, but this Potti has a cleverly designed “exit” funnel which makes sure there is no danger having any contact with poo particles when emptying. If you’re really petrified (like me) of seeing any poop, just aim the funnel towards the dump point hole, close your eyes and tip it in!
Thetford do offer cleaning products for their Porta Potti range. After trying the Green and Pink cleaning products, I decided that they don’t really improve the smell. It reminds me of someone spraying underarm deodorant on stinky BO. While using the cleaning products, there appeared to be film of yuck accumulating inside the walls of the waste canister. Storing the cleaning products was an issue for us in our compact caravan. To dampen the chemical smell, I placed each bottle inside an extra large clip lock plastic bag, which also gave me some reassurance that if they did spill, the liquid would stay contained inside the bag.
Instead of using the chemical cleaning products, we now use Napisan type laundry powder! It neutralises the smell, removes any trace of film or scum from the inside of the waste canister and dissolves the solids. There is no need to visit a camping store to buy Napisan. Plus, we can store it easily and it has dual purpose, we can use it for our laundry too! The Napisan goes into the waste canister and the Pink cleaning agent goes into the flush water canister. Easy Peasy!
PROS
Portable and compact
Easy to empty – Adam always does it!
Convenient – allows us to free camp in more places
CONS
If it was 1cm shorter, it would have fit completely under the dining table bed for storage
It accumulates dirt and grime around the flushing water pump and it is near impossible to clean.
VERDICT
Overall, having the Porta Potti is bloody awesome and has been a good investment. We are happy to recommend this product!
If you’d like to find out more about the range, head over to Thetford .
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