One of the most discussed subjects on-line is the use of RV toilet paper vs regular septic safe toilet paper. This is a hot topic for RV folks for a number of reasons.

  1. RV Toilet paper is relatively expensive, actually over twice as expensive as regular septic safe toilet paper.  As an example most RV toilet paper is going to cost you about $1.25 per roll or more.   Septic safe toilet paper will cost you, depending on the brand, about $.50 per roll and that’s a huge difference.
  2. Anytime an RV person has a septic issue they always jump to the conclusion that toilet paper is the cause.  If you saw the cheap sensors that are inside your black tank you would probably change your mind.   These sensors are mounted on the wall inside the black tank and look like small round washers.  It is easy for build up on the walls to cover the sensors resulting in a false reading.  For all the improvements that the RV industry has made in the last 30 years; the sensors are not one that they seem to be concerned about.  In fact, the sensors on your black and grey tanks haven’t changed at all in the last 30 years and I don’t see that situation changing anytime soon.  There are sensor alternatives on the market that the RV industry could use;  but they are always trying to keep the selling price of the RV down under some mythical price point.  This is one of the many areas where buyers would be happy to spend an extra $50.00 on their travel trailer,  if they knew the implications.  Well enough ranting, this will probably be a topic at some future point.
  3. Many folks online have never had a septic system so they jump to the conclusion that there is something very special about RV toilet paper and how it breaks down.

Let me say from the onset that the RV toilet papers we have used during 30 plus years of RVing, and we have used all of them, do what they are intended to do – breakdown.  In addition you have choices you can make in the RV toilet paper field;  whether it’s a brand name like Thetford, Camco, or Scotts or the thickness (1 or 2 ply).  I don’t recommend 1 ply toilet paper,  and studies have shown that people that use one ply toilet paper use twice as much as those that purchase 2 ply; so you are not saving money or cutting down on the amount of TP that has to dissolve in your black tank.

You need only look online to see that many tests have been done comparing RV toilet paper to septic safe and the results are almost always negligible between the two.  That’s not to say that some RV toilet paper doesn’t break down as easily as regular septic safe, it all depends on what brand you are comparing…but it’s all by degree.

We think there are two septic safe toilet papers that seem to breakdown just as easily if not better than RV toilet paper, and they would be Charmin Ultra Soft or Scotts 1000 septic safe.   Tammy and I did our own test comparing Camco and Thetford to Charmin Ultra Soft.  The results were that all three toilet papers broke down almost identically.  We actually felt that Charmin was the winner in our test.

Given the results of our test we actually threw away our RV toilet paper as the last brand we had purchased was horrible (I can’t remember which brand it was) from a quality standpoint.  As far as the Scotts 1000, we have no direct experience with it but have seen a lot of information on-line where people have used it and tested it with similar results to what we have found with the Charmin.

If you want to do this test yourself, it is really quite easy.  Fill a few glass jars with water and tear off 2 sheets on each toilet paper you are testing.  Next,  submerge them in water for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes give each bottle two rapid shakes and observe the results, it’s probably going to surprise you.  So if you feel like you want to make the jump to regular septic safe toilet paper; do the test yourself and see if it meets your standards.

Now let me say, If you feel that RV toilet paper gives you some piece of mind; then you should continue to use it – but you really don’t need to.  Aside from the cost factor of the RV toilet paper there is still the matter of convenience.  It’s much easier to find septic safe toilet paper at any store than it is to find RV toilet paper.

Most folks probably wont flinch over the cost of RV toilet paper at $1.00 per roll,  and that’s fine.  The real question you have to ask yourself is this;  is RV toilet paper really that much better than septic safe toilet paper in your black tank?  We don’t think so.