a question of cleanliness

[mint]

please forgive me, gite owners, for posting here.  i don't quite know where else to put my question.  it's about cleaning our loos.

we have a newly-installed fosse; all-singing, all-dancing variety.  never having had such a thing in my entire life, i am nervous about cleaning our loos.  my neighbour kindly came over and gave me a packet of the black powdered stuff to put down the loos.  now, that's all very well, but what do i actually use to clean the loos with?  i am told that bleach is a definite no-no.  so, how do you all keep your loos sparkling clean (as i am sure all your loos are)

just tell me what i can safely use that will not interfere with the bacterial action in the fosse, PLEASE! 

[Jc]

Read the packets in the supermarket;they say on the packet if they're OK for fosses.

[mint]

jc

thanks for the prompt reply.  when i am next over, will read all labels carefully.  cheers.

[Pads]

this might help(if it works[:)]

 http://www.lost-in-france.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=255&Itemid=28

 

[CatherineS2]

As someone said above, you can use most toilet cleaning products that you find in the supermarket, check that they say

"Sans danger pour fosses septiques".

Then once a week (or once a month if you buy the monthly ones), empty a sachet of Eparcyl down the pan and flush it.

Et voila! Job done (scuse the pun)

[The-Lovely-Wendy]

We are picking the keys up for our house in Treignac on the 15th Feb. And we have never had afosse before. So i have been stresseing about how to clean everything. You here so many things about not what to put down your drains, you get a bit paranoid, well if you are anything like me.

So i searched the web and phoned Tescos, they assure me that there own bleach, is safe. Also all Lever products are safe for the fosse also.

Hope this helps

Wendy

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="The-Lovely-Wendy"]

So i searched the web and phoned Tescos, they assure me that there own bleach, is safe. Also all Lever products are safe for the fosse also.

[/quote]

 Bleach can be used in moderation, but safe in large quantities it is not. I'm not sure I'd trust some pimply youth on a UK supermarket helpline to advise me on the suitability of any product for a fosse, and if their bleach does not kill the bacteria in a septic tank then I'd wonder if it's antiseptic properties were good for anything at all... OK, all that happens when a fosse is killed is a rather nasty smell: they will regenerate quite quickly, but it is still preferable to use products from French suppliers labelled "sans danger pour fosses septiques" rather than guessing and having to then move into the garden for a week until normal service is resumed.

[mint]

thanks for the advice, everyone.  i do appreciate how you have all rushed to help.  pads, that's a brilliant site and i think the products sound very good indeed.

[Eslier]

There is a very good fossse friendly toilet cleaning product called "Clarcyl" which comes in either blue or green bottles and is available in most supermarkets.

[Loiseau]

Yes, I always use Clarcyl too - you beat me to it, Eslier!

And Eparcyl (sachets of grey powder) to keep it happy.  When I arrive after a long absence, I put two packets down, and thereafter just one, about once a week, or whenever I think of it.

Angela

[videfleur]

Dont forget - no long hair (ie after youve cleaned it out of the shower trap dont throw it in the loo!), no sanatry bits and no kitchen roll (on those odd times you run out of loo roll).

 Happy flushing

Jane

[hastobe]

[quote user="Loiseau"]

Yes, I always use Clarcyl too - you beat me to it, Eslier!

And Eparcyl (sachets of grey powder) to keep it happy.  When I arrive after a long absence, I put two packets down, and thereafter just one, about once a week, or whenever I think of it.

Angela

[/quote]

I think the amount of Eparcyl depends on the number of 'users' so if we have a large group at the house I chuck an extra sachet down just to be sure..

Kathie

[Judyc]

Hi Sweet

A dose of bleach once in a while does not seem to do any harm.  Although I use the other loo products in the gites on changeover days and leave them there for day-to-day cleaning, I am always armed with my bleach on a Saturday in case they look a bit discoloured. 

I will not leave bleach in the gites as some people can be a bit liberal with its use and having left a full bottle in by accident one week, was horrified to find it empty by the following Saturday.  I feared for my fosse, although nothing awful did seem to happen.

Eparcyl on a weekly basis, depending on how many are in the house.

In our own house where we live, we put down a product that lasts a couple of years that was given to me by the fosse-emptying man.  Can't remember what it was, and this thread has reminded me that that was probably three or more years ago.  It still seems to be functioning fine with no nasty smells!

Judy

[Jc]

Most bleaches in Frasnce come in a range of different strengths.

[Will]

In practical terms, you can put most liquids down there, as with all thing, in moderation. If you can find something that works, is easily available, and septic tank friendly, so much the better, but other products will not matter too much, a the sort of quantities you use compared with the capacity of the septic tank means that they will be very much diluted. If you are worried, then just put an extra sachet of Eparcyl or Septics down the loo. In rural areas just about everywhere uses either a septic tank or a communal drainage system that works on much the same principle, so products on general sale will not be too harmful. Obviously you don't put a 5 litre can of bleach or large quantities of paint stripper into a septic tank, but on the other hand you don't need to worry excessively.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Will"]In practical terms, you can put most liquids down there, as with all thing, in moderation. If you can find something that works, is easily available, and septic tank friendly, so much the better, but other products will not matter too much, a the sort of quantities you use compared with the capacity of the septic tank means that they will be very much diluted. If you are worried, then just put an extra sachet of Eparcyl or Septics down the loo. In rural areas just about everywhere uses either a septic tank or a communal drainage system that works on much the same principle, so products on general sale will not be too harmful. Obviously you don't put a 5 litre can of bleach or large quantities of paint stripper into a septic tank, but on the other hand you don't need to worry excessively.[/quote]

Though one product to be avoided at all costs is hydrochloric acid,

much used for limescale removal in mains drainage systems and easily

available from bricos & supermarkets. This is a very strong acid

(in the chemical sense) and even small amounts (try half a litre in a 3000l tank...)will lower the pH of a

septic tank to levels where the bugs simply will not function. Time

alone will not be a very effective cure for this kind of death and

rehabilitation probably would involve addition of alkalis to correct the pH to

more normal levels. However badly stained with tartar the thunderbox

might be, don't be tempted.

[mint]

more thanks in order for everyone who has posted since my last post.  jon, i have made a note of hydrocholoric acid.

i believe that my neighbour gave me eparcyl; i just wish it is not that horrible black colour which makes the loos look dirtier than ever!

will try pads' sepclean as it's a white powder (if a bit expensive) and will probably resort to bleach once in a while.

i have what almost amounts to a fetish with loos (and ovens); they have to be spotless though everything else in the house can go hang!  i think the loo thing started when my son was young and i was afraid that he would flush the loo or hold on to the sides and not wash his hands properly!  therefore, the loos had to be disinfected nightly and given a thorough cleaning at least once a week.

[cooperlola]

Sweet 17, to avoid the Eparcyl lounging about at the bottom of your loo, always add it   during the flush - it goes down better.  In fact, that it was it tells you to do on the packet, but like me the first couple of times, you may have missed this.

[suein56]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

just tell me what i can safely use that will not interfere with the bacterial action in the fosse, PLEASE!   [/quote]

Hi

Just be aware that you will need to use extra Eparcyl, or whatever you use - I use WC Net monthly 'activateur biologique concentré' - if someone is on antibiotics for whatever reason. Antibiotics can have a much more devastating effect on the bacteria in the fosse than bleach.

Sue

[londoneye]

I have been wondering what hair dye and hair removal products do to a fosse?

Since i use both (!! yes i am female), I have so far done the deeds in a bowl and chucked in a hole in garden .....    is it ok to wash off hair dye in shower and similarly hair removal products ?

[AnOther]

I've heard that with a Fosse you should not use the toilet if taking antibiotics (obvious I suppose) but nobody has said what are you supposed to do instead.......a hole in the corner of the garden perhaps....!

[Danny]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

i have what almost amounts to a fetish with loos (and ovens); they have to be spotless though everything else in the house can go hang!  i think the loo thing started when my son was young and i was afraid that he would flush the loo or hold on to the sides and not wash his hands properly!  therefore, the loos had to be disinfected nightly and given a thorough cleaning at least once a week.

[/quote]

How about a bit of good old elbow grease to clean the loo(s)? It seems to me that the most effective cheapest and most eco (and fosse) friendly way is to just wash the loo with a bit of hot water and a loo brush. The outside and rims etc are easily cleaned with some hot water too and then dried. There is no real need for copious products. These are sold mercilessly through fear by huge corporations with the message "Loos are dangerous" and watch out parents (big guilt one there) - think of all those adverts with the little children - Oh my god, he's going to touch the toilet!!! "The poo is going to get you"

We use billions of euros on these products, then pour gallons of treated perfectly drinkable water down our loos and half the planet doesn't have access to clean water. It is truly bizarre. It drives me mad. A lot of people also spend their whole lives desperately trying to get rid of limescale but if one has hard water, it is always going to win in the end. It is perfectly harmless.

Think of what you could do with all the money you don't need to spend on "products".

Ok, rant over

May the fosse be with you

Danny

[mint]

danny

i am sure you are right.  i am suitably informed and chastised.  i do try to use less cleansing stuff; eg, i never use as much washing detergent as the amount recommended on the packets.

loos are a different matter, though.  they just look so horrible if they are not absolutely sparkling clean.  i think there is also the shame bit; you know, what a slut you must be not to keep your house properly clean.

i am guilty as charged!

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="ErnieY"]I've heard that with a Fosse you should not use the toilet if taking antibiotics (obvious I suppose) but nobody has said what are you supposed to do instead.......a hole in the corner of the garden perhaps....![/quote]

Ah - now this is a bit of a myth.* What comes out of a person who has been taking antibiotics is mostly the metabolites of the original drug and not the drug itself. There will always be some, but not a lot. Fosses are safe from this because:

- in general the metabolites are not in themselves antibiotic;

- the dilution factor of putting a bit of wee into 3000l tanks;

- the presence of probably tens or thousand different bacterial forms in the tank, most of which will be unaffected by the antibiotic in question even if it does get into the tank.

* as opposed to a "mithuth"

[Russethouse]

 A lot of people also spend their whole lives desperately trying to get rid of limescale but if one has hard water, it is always going to win in the end. It is perfectly harmless

It may be harmless but it looks gross as eventually it discolors. As the proud owner of two shiny new white toilets I can tell you that there is no way I am going through that again. At present I am using a toilet cleaner which is also a limescale inhibitor but I will also use vinegar. In a couple of months we will have a water softner fitted so that will be bye-bye limescale[:D]