Good video. I met some people that lived in their van full time a few years ago, and they had used a rectangular ‘tractor funnel’ available at farming stores as the separator for their composting toilet. They cost around £10-£15.
That’s genius! I just googled it and it looks perfect. The separators are grossly overpriced for what is essentially a bit of plastic. I’ll pin this comment so people can see it, thanks for letting us know!
@@OurWildHorizons I used a 2 liter soda bottle and part of an old funnel drain tube and an orange juice container for the urine separator. I have been having to use a composting toilet for the cold seasons because the main drain line for the septic gets frozen and backs up due to getting frozen. I also have to be carfull taking showers in the cold seasons. I may only take like 2 minute showers and thats it in the cold months.
Coffee grounds are a great carbon based cover material and smell nice too! A lot of coffee shops give them away for free as you are helping them get rid of their waste.
From brazil here. I made one of those ( even simpler one ) out of pvc pipes and a round 20 liter plastic bucket we can easily find on any construction site and get them free of charge. These buckets come with a lid and a strap which is very handy. I bought a regular toilet seat ( seat and lid ) and kept only the seat bit of it that rests on top of the bucket lid when not in use. The seat is bolted to the pvc pipe frame in the same manner it would be bolted to a regular ceramic toilet. When I go do my business I just lift up the seat, remove the bucket lid, put the seat back down which now rests on the pvc pipe frame as well as on the bucket itself. I put a rubbish bag in the bucket and cover the very bottom of it ( inside the bag ) with a layer of card board ( I save cardboard boxes and cut them out in the right sizes ). Next to the toilet I have another 20 liter plastic bucket filled with dried dirt ( I spread the dirt in a thin layer over a plastic sheet and let it sit under the sun to dry out ). When I finish my business I take a piece of cardboard, put it on top of my deposit and squeeze it down evenly so my deposit spreads in a thinner layer taking less room upwards and requires less dirt to cover it. Finally I put a layer of dried dirt on top of the cardboard and put the bucket lid back on. The nice thing I like about using the original lid that comes with the bucket is that it pressure seals nicely. Let me know if anyone would like me to post pictures of my compost toilet design.
7 months late to your comment but if you could post pictures on imgur or something and link here I'd really appreciate it, wanna make the simplest compost toilet possible as crap at diy and don't have the correct tools. Pun not originally intended.
Very happy to see you have ditched your chemical toilet! We love our separating toilet and did build our own similarly to yours. We keep a spray bottle of vinegar near the toilet and spray down the separator after each wee--- it helps keep it clean and also eliminates odor. Thanks for this video! You two are our fav folks to watch!
That’s good to hear! We’re still waiting for our varnish to dry, so we haven’t been able to use it yet… Thanks for the tip with the vinegar spray, is it white vinegar you use and do you dilute it?
@@OurWildHorizons yes it is white vinegar. We do dilute it down 25-50% I admit I don't pay too much attention to the dilution so if someone has a strong opinion for you, you might go with that. I fill the spray bottle with 1/2 or more vinegar and top off with water and keep it handy near the loo. Even on hot days this summer it was very effective at keeping odors at bay.
Alternatively to the vinegar in a spray bottle, which smells pretty pungent and is very off putting to me - try a mixture of water, a pump of liquid dish soap, and a healthy dose of essential oil of your liking (e.g. orange or lavender). I have been using my separating toilet for 4 years full time now and have no pee smells, nor calcium deposits in my bottle. So much nicer smelling than vinegar!
FYI I sealed all the cracks inside the our box with seam sealer, and then painted the inside of our toilet box with a thick coat of waterproof paint (latex based, not oil). I used varnish on the outside because I like the look of wood, but I wanted the inside to be leak-proof and very easy to clean.
Ah that's a great idea and would have been easier, we ended up varnishing the whole thing and sealing the bottom area which took a very long time to dry. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Nice job.... Finished building my own in my motorhome 3 months ago and works so much better. I use Coco Coir as the composting medium. Good stuff but a bit expensive! I give a little squirt of very diluted vinegar in the wee part each time to clean and stop the smell. Also I have added a little 12V computer fan to draw out any stray smells. all the best, Steve ps: my compost toilet build video is also up o my channel.
Brilliant, thanks Steve! We'll get some Coco Coir and maybe mix it with wood shavings to make it a bit more economical for us. The vinegar trick is one we'll be using too so thank you :)
wow. i have to admit that is pure ingenuity! that is the way to go.. you need to construct as many as you can then sell them.. lovely innovations. keep up.
If you do that, always have the top “frame” lay on the legs. Sorry for my Swenglish! Its surdier then and lighter, don’t have to make so much support. Hope it makes sense. Best composting toilet I’ve seen made by Craftsman on the lake, Elegant minimalism Game of thrones. Just saying. Keep up your videos I will keep looking! Good video!
You know, I had my mind set on buying a natures head composting toilet, but I think I will try this out first and see how I like it. If I like it, this would save me a ton of money!!! Thanks for sharing!!
We found a used nature's head toilet years ago for cheap. Been using it as a second setup when outside on the farm. Don't like the NH design. Have to bend over to agitate the waste. Horizontal mixer means you are picking the waste up when you agitate. Better to have a vertical shaft and mix it that way. NH is also heavy and awkward to dump. The base is more square and with the circular motion of the mixer, stuff sticks in the corners. Going to build my own like you all did to eliminate the problems of the NH.
if you install a small wood stove, install the composting toilet close enough to the wood stove to put your toilet paper and scoop your poop into the wood stove to be incinerated. Police and city bylaw used to show up on complaints when my black water valve started leaking out after winter. this is also the same ongoing problem with people who have to live fulltime in their RV on a property and they get in a lot of trouble once there's a complaint or ongoing complaints over their black water tanks leaking or illegal sewage dumping. last year I removed the chemical toilet out of my RV after a stressful meet with police and bylaw officers. the cop ordered me to discontinue using the toilet in the RV. I tossed it. I previously lived in a scratch built converted cargo van and never had issues of any kind with parking bylaws or other problems related to living fulltime in a van or RV. Some people live in travel trailers but they don't drive or own a vehicle. some property owners allow them to squat on their property in the trailer. once they learn to remove the RV chemical toilet and switch it to a waterless composting setup, then add in a cheap wood stove and there's your incinerator toilet.
We don't have the space for that but that's one way to get rid of it! Sorry you've had stressful encounters about it, hopefully you've found the new way a lot easier to manage?
We’re very limited here in the UK, there don’t seem to be many options. We got it from freerangedesigns. £44 which is expensive considering it’s just plastic!
Oh that’s a good suggestion! We’re currently using a jug container that we had from using the chemical toilet before but when that needs replacing I’ll see if that works instead 😀
Woo! What a perfect box and I like Beth have to sand everything 😄. Sam and I fell out over that lots! If you can't find a wee pot, we ended up buying a 5lt water bottle as we wanted one to store drinking water whilst in Europe and then cut it to shape similarly to what you did with the bin so it fit in the curve of the separator. We were worries about it splashing as it didn't have a narrow head anymore but so far so good 👌🏼, we just make sure it never gets 3/4 full 😄. Love all your vids! Keep them coming 🤟🏼
Thanks Nic! That's a good tip with the water bottle and makes it easily replaceable too. Looks like you've been having a wonderful time so far and excited to see more of your adventures when you're back in Spain as we miss that place so much!
When you made the toilet, were did you get the diverter funnel / separator? It is hard to tell what it is. I liked the idea of it. Were can I buy one? Thanks Sunny
Great work, I see some people also use a small computer fan and run a pipe to the outside of the van, have you felt the need to do this to help further with smells or use a carbon filter?
Honestly we haven’t had any issues with any odors! The trick seems to be to just make sure it’s covered in the wood shavings and if it ever does get bad we can just bag it and bin it. It’s so much better and less smelly than our chemical one we used to have. But thanks for the tips!
Thank you!! Ahh amazing!! I haven’t seen you guys on instagram in AGES?! I’ll go unfollow you and refollow you so that you come to the top of my feed again!! ❤️😊
Thank you for the video. I'm in exactly the same situation, fed up of trying to get rid of the portaloo! After a yr of use, what's the verdict on smell and best thing to add in for composting? Do you think a sealed lid would make a difference? Any advice would be welcome and thanks again for your input on what to do with our output
You're welcome, thanks for watching! We're still happy we switched. We haven't had any issues with the smell using a decent topping of woodchips/hamster bedding. We find as long as we don't leave it over a week before disposing the bag it's all good. I still like to use public toilets whenever available just to keep the maintenance lower than otherwise. I'm sure if you could seal the lid, that would definitely help. As well as having a dedicated boxed in area for the toilet.
Great video!! We've been thinking about making one for a while and saving ourselves £800! Thanks for the guide! Hope to catch up with you guys soon. Sophie & Mark
Hey guys, we are thinking of building one but really can't be bothered installing a van as we already have thick walls and insulation in place.. have you found it smells with no fan or has it been ok? Please be honest haha
Where do you dump the compost poo bag? Can it just go into regular trash? That’s the bit I’m trying to work out. Thanks so much for the great info! Will be building one!
Really appreciate the video is that separator something you purchase online? Starting to do research on my own little outhouse this was very helpful thanks!
Pros and cons to them both I think, but after a year of the chemical one we wanted to try the compost option. People say the smell is actually improved with a compost one, which we're keen to see is true.. But emptying the chemical one can be nightmare job, sometimes a messy one too. Thank you for watching!
I couldn't believe how expensive they were!! Thank you guys, it was great meeting you in Stratford and hopefully we'll see you on the road again sometime :)
Great vid again guys. Whats the update, how are you getting on with it? Did you end up installing a fan for it? We've decided to go compost and like the idea of it being not fixed but wondering if we're likely to need a fan or not? Many thanks for any advice
That was our primary worry but we've been so surprised that even with cheap pet bedding woodchips and no fan we haven't found it to be smelly! I think it helps that if we do start to smell anything we can just collect it and bin it. It's been so much better and less smelly than the chemical one we had for the first year!
Hi guys, I wanted to ask if while you're driving there is any problem with the toilet? Cause I saw other video people put some separators to hold the 2 container. The liquid doesn't splash out? Thanks
Thank you! We're not sure how the smells are going to be yet, hopefully the wood shavings will mask it enough but we may have to install a fan. It's actually on just dried enough for us to switch it out so we're back on the road and will be finding out tomorrow how the smells are ha!
@@OurWildHorizons awww blesss :) I saw at the international and overland show someone was selling these scented oils for your toilet :) It looks brilliant :) I have that £25 comfort toilet cheap thing it has a lid so I haven’t had any smells. But would like to build one like you both have and have it proper fitted:) looks great :) hope you both have an amazing weekend 🤗
The alternative is the chemical toilets which we had our first year. This won't compost with us but using compostable bags and loo roll should allow it to be composted after you deposit it 😊
Thank you very much for your teaching but like my country India that irine separator is not available and if I had to order from abroad it will cost 10000 rupees one month salary.
@@OurWildHorizons suggest using biodegradable bags to line #2 collection. Composting takes an enormous amount of time. With that, throwing away the biodegradable bag into normal receptacles actually would help break down anything going into a landfill that will end up next to your baggies. So even if not composting in the traditional sense, it's still very helpful in the long run.
Compost toilets don’t smell at all because of the sawdust 😊 the wee smells more than the poo to be honest but we don’t leave wee in there 😊 The chemical toilet was pretty smelly
When you separate out the urine from the poo and use sawdust or wood chips it basically just smells like an earthy compost. Also having worked as a plumber I can tell you that every time you flush a regular toilet the contents of the bowl are aerosolized and fills your bathroom even though you can't see it, so if you poo in a flush toilet then drain it all away by flushing, it actually fills the room with a fine mist adding to the smell. Sawdust toilets do no such thing. As long as you cover the poo each time with a layer of sawdust/wood chips the smell will be a lot less than a standard bathroom.
Are you using a pee jug or bottle that you cover with some type of lid? I imagine that otherwise the smell of stale piss would waft through the van each time you open the lid and the smell might soak into the toilet timber.
Yes we will be using one with a lid :) I don’t think we will leave any pee in there at any time to be honest. We didn’t pee into our chemical toilet for a year as we have separate pots for pee which we empty as soon as we can (to save space in our chemical loo got number 2’s only) 😊 so I think we’ll just do a similar thing with this compost loo to save smells :)
We just use compostable bags and paper. There wouldn't be enough space to actually allow it to compost in the van while continuing to use it. Thanks for watching! 😊
I don’t understand how you can separate it for a woman. I just asked my girlfriend if she poops and pees simultaneously and she said it happens sometimes. Doesn’t seem that there’s enough space between both coming out that separates it perfectly. She said she’d have to scoot forward and hold in her poop and then scoot back to finish pooping. Are you having any accidents? In all seriousness, because I have a camper van and need a new solution. We live in it every weekend for work. I have no issues peeing in a bottle. It only took slamming on the brakes once to realize a chemical toilet doesn’t work and literally had to gut my van floor after that happened. Spent hours cleaning and hosing it out 😢 not fun and never again.
Thanks for watching! We're just following the designs that are applied to these kind of toilets within the van life community and offering people an alternative to the overpriced pre built ones. This is quite an old video now and it's been working fantastically.
This is a about a toilet. You have links to everything but the separator funnel which is key. I saw a lot of talking heads and very little of the actual project build. Is this about you or the toilet? Shorten to 5 mins, show actual build and 1% of talking heads.
Our links are from our van build series which we include in every build related video. It's called Urine Separator, we don't link one because we found ours to be too expensive for a piece of plastic. I have mentioned the company several times to other viewers who asked nicely in the comments. You can find it there if you want.
Good video. I met some people that lived in their van full time a few years ago, and they had used a rectangular ‘tractor funnel’ available at farming stores as the separator for their composting toilet. They cost around £10-£15.
That’s genius! I just googled it and it looks perfect. The separators are grossly overpriced for what is essentially a bit of plastic. I’ll pin this comment so people can see it, thanks for letting us know!
@@OurWildHorizons thank you for pinning this... :)
I'm wondering would a sawn up car oil 5L jug work just as well?
@@OurWildHorizons I used a 2 liter soda bottle and part of an old funnel drain tube and an orange juice container for the urine separator. I have been having to use a composting toilet for the cold seasons because the main drain line for the septic gets frozen and backs up due to getting frozen. I also have to be carfull taking showers in the cold seasons. I may only take like 2 minute showers and thats it in the cold months.
Coffee grounds are a great carbon based cover material and smell nice too! A lot of coffee shops give them away for free as you are helping them get rid of their waste.
That's a great idea! Thanks 😊
Been watching your videos .. so nice to see a genuine couple not acting and just being themselves .. very easy to watch .. keep it up 👍
Thank you very much Glen!
From brazil here. I made one of those ( even simpler one ) out of pvc pipes and a round 20 liter plastic bucket we can easily find on any construction site and get them free of charge. These buckets come with a lid and a strap which is very handy. I bought a regular toilet seat ( seat and lid ) and kept only the seat bit of it that rests on top of the bucket lid when not in use. The seat is bolted to the pvc pipe frame in the same manner it would be bolted to a regular ceramic toilet. When I go do my business I just lift up the seat, remove the bucket lid, put the seat back down which now rests on the pvc pipe frame as well as on the bucket itself.
I put a rubbish bag in the bucket and cover the very bottom of it ( inside the bag ) with a layer of card board ( I save cardboard boxes and cut them out in the right sizes ). Next to the toilet I have another 20 liter plastic bucket filled with dried dirt ( I spread the dirt in a thin layer over a plastic sheet and let it sit under the sun to dry out ).
When I finish my business I take a piece of cardboard, put it on top of my deposit and squeeze it down evenly so my deposit spreads in a thinner layer taking less room upwards and requires less dirt to cover it. Finally I put a layer of dried dirt on top of the cardboard and put the bucket lid back on.
The nice thing I like about using the original lid that comes with the bucket is that it pressure seals nicely.
Let me know if anyone would like me to post pictures of my compost toilet design.
7 months late to your comment but if you could post pictures on imgur or something and link here I'd really appreciate it, wanna make the simplest compost toilet possible as crap at diy and don't have the correct tools. Pun not originally intended.
You're a genius! Never heard of the cardboard method before ❤
A year late to this post, but I am interested in pics of your design.
Very happy to see you have ditched your chemical toilet! We love our separating toilet and did build our own similarly to yours. We keep a spray bottle of vinegar near the toilet and spray down the separator after each wee--- it helps keep it clean and also eliminates odor. Thanks for this video! You two are our fav folks to watch!
That’s good to hear! We’re still waiting for our varnish to dry, so we haven’t been able to use it yet…
Thanks for the tip with the vinegar spray, is it white vinegar you use and do you dilute it?
@@OurWildHorizons yes it is white vinegar. We do dilute it down 25-50% I admit I don't pay too much attention to the dilution so if someone has a strong opinion for you, you might go with that. I fill the spray bottle with 1/2 or more vinegar and top off with water and keep it handy near the loo. Even on hot days this summer it was very effective at keeping odors at bay.
Where do you put you stuff to compost? We're planning on making a compost toilet as well but can work out what to do with it.
Alternatively to the vinegar in a spray bottle, which smells pretty pungent and is very off putting to me - try a mixture of water, a pump of liquid dish soap, and a healthy dose of essential oil of your liking (e.g. orange or lavender). I have been using my separating toilet for 4 years full time now and have no pee smells, nor calcium deposits in my bottle. So much nicer smelling than vinegar!
Great job! Putting a compost toilet at our off grid camp in Maine. Thank you for saving us a day of brain energy 😂.
FYI I sealed all the cracks inside the our box with seam sealer, and then painted the inside of our toilet box with a thick coat of waterproof paint (latex based, not oil). I used varnish on the outside because I like the look of wood, but I wanted the inside to be leak-proof and very easy to clean.
Ah that's a great idea and would have been easier, we ended up varnishing the whole thing and sealing the bottom area which took a very long time to dry. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
smart! I'm taking notes
THIS is what I needed! I have watched so many videos but yours finally showed just what I needed. I'm going to work on mine now. Thanks!!
Ok, my new version is almost done. Thanks for the gift!! Safe travels.
Hope we were able to help! Thanks for watching :)
Nice job....
Finished building my own in my motorhome 3 months ago and works so much better.
I use Coco Coir as the composting medium. Good stuff but a bit expensive!
I give a little squirt of very diluted vinegar in the wee part each time to clean and stop the smell.
Also I have added a little 12V computer fan to draw out any stray smells.
all the best, Steve
ps: my compost toilet build video is also up o my channel.
Brilliant, thanks Steve! We'll get some Coco Coir and maybe mix it with wood shavings to make it a bit more economical for us. The vinegar trick is one we'll be using too so thank you :)
Yay ... Suggestion for holding Pee diverter Magnets and a bit of metal glued on the other half ! ?????
Woaahhh thank you!! Brilliant idea!!! 😁😊😁😊
wow. i have to admit that is pure ingenuity! that is the way to go.. you need to construct as many as you can then sell them.. lovely innovations. keep up.
If you do that, always have the top “frame” lay on the legs.
Sorry for my Swenglish!
Its surdier then and lighter, don’t have to make so much support.
Hope it makes sense.
Best composting toilet I’ve seen made by Craftsman on the lake, Elegant minimalism Game of thrones. Just saying.
Keep up your videos I will keep looking!
Good video!
You know, I had my mind set on buying a natures head composting toilet, but I think I will try this out first and see how I like it. If I like it, this would save me a ton of money!!! Thanks for sharing!!
Couldn’t believe how much some of them cost!!
We found a used nature's head toilet years ago for cheap. Been using it as a second setup when outside on the farm. Don't like the NH design. Have to bend over to agitate the waste. Horizontal mixer means you are picking the waste up when you agitate. Better to have a vertical shaft and mix it that way. NH is also heavy and awkward to dump. The base is more square and with the circular motion of the mixer, stuff sticks in the corners.
Going to build my own like you all did to eliminate the problems of the NH.
@@steveb4656 Thanks for the info!! Good luck on your build!!
great job and thanks for sharing!! Those ready made on the market now are literaly cut throat from 200 to over 1000 pound!
Outrageous, isn’t it!
I appreciate this, truly!! I also didn’t want to buy one and every other DIY video I watched were just so intense with tools I don’t have !
Glad you found it useful 😀
Great walkthrough. Thanks for taking the time to make this. ✌🏽
Glad it was helpful!
if you install a small wood stove, install the composting toilet close enough to the wood stove to put your toilet paper and scoop your poop into the wood stove to be incinerated. Police and city bylaw used to show up on complaints when my black water valve started leaking out after winter. this is also the same ongoing problem with people who have to live fulltime in their RV on a property and they get in a lot of trouble once there's a complaint or ongoing complaints over their black water tanks leaking or illegal sewage dumping. last year I removed the chemical toilet out of my RV after a stressful meet with police and bylaw officers. the cop ordered me to discontinue using the toilet in the RV. I tossed it. I previously lived in a scratch built converted cargo van and never had issues of any kind with parking bylaws or other problems related to living fulltime in a van or RV. Some people live in travel trailers but they don't drive or own a vehicle. some property owners allow them to squat on their property in the trailer. once they learn to remove the RV chemical toilet and switch it to a waterless composting setup, then add in a cheap wood stove and there's your incinerator toilet.
We don't have the space for that but that's one way to get rid of it! Sorry you've had stressful encounters about it, hopefully you've found the new way a lot easier to manage?
Ingenious🎉
Great video. Just subscribed. This is the second time I’ve seen that same urine funnel/separator. Where are these sold?
We’re very limited here in the UK, there don’t seem to be many options. We got it from freerangedesigns. £44 which is expensive considering it’s just plastic!
@@OurWildHorizonssomeone posted on this feed about a tractor separator funnel which was much cheaper and worked well.😊
I came up with a thought you could use an empty container from windshield washer fluid or a empty 4 quart oil jug. Maybe? For the liquid stuff
Oh that’s a good suggestion! We’re currently using a jug container that we had from using the chemical toilet before but when that needs replacing I’ll see if that works instead 😀
Woo! What a perfect box and I like Beth have to sand everything 😄. Sam and I fell out over that lots! If you can't find a wee pot, we ended up buying a 5lt water bottle as we wanted one to store drinking water whilst in Europe and then cut it to shape similarly to what you did with the bin so it fit in the curve of the separator. We were worries about it splashing as it didn't have a narrow head anymore but so far so good 👌🏼, we just make sure it never gets 3/4 full 😄.
Love all your vids! Keep them coming 🤟🏼
Thanks Nic! That's a good tip with the water bottle and makes it easily replaceable too. Looks like you've been having a wonderful time so far and excited to see more of your adventures when you're back in Spain as we miss that place so much!
Excellent design and assembly work!
Thank you very much for watching 😊
I’ve got a portable blue diamond compostable toilet it’s great. Much prefer a compostable loo, I think it smells less than a chemical loo.
They look decent, and aren't too horrendously priced. We're dubious about the smells but keen to see how it compares haha...
When you made the toilet, were did you get the diverter funnel / separator? It is hard to tell what it is. I liked the idea of it. Were can I buy one? Thanks Sunny
Very interesting! Hmm will be keeping an eye out for the comparison to the chemical toilet.
Thanks! I think I’ll know within a week whether I prefer it or not 🤣😊
Thumbs up and subscribed guys! This is just the kind of info I'm looking for... thank you for the details! 🧡
Thank you very much for watching 😊 so glad you enjoyed it :)
Thanks so much for sharing this guys!!! So helpful!
Great work, I see some people also use a small computer fan and run a pipe to the outside of the van, have you felt the need to do this to help further with smells or use a carbon filter?
Honestly we haven’t had any issues with any odors! The trick seems to be to just make sure it’s covered in the wood shavings and if it ever does get bad we can just bag it and bin it. It’s so much better and less smelly than our chemical one we used to have. But thanks for the tips!
@@OurWildHorizons really helpful and useful to know, thanks so much!
Hi Folks, How are you getting on finding places to dump the composted waste in the UK? Campsites don't seem to be set up for disposal of this. Cheers.
Great Job & thanks for sharing 👍
And thank you for watching! :)
what do you do with the bins once they are full?
fascinating, thank you!
Thanks for watching!
Nice, I didn't use hinges for the lid. I used round dowels and just slipped the lid on top.
You've done a great job💪 Can't wait to see how you decorate it😁
Hehehehe I have a few ideas 😆😳🤭😁😁
Excellent. Think I’ll change mine to similar to yours. Question, how doesn’t the wood seat work for you?? Thanks, Jim
We find it comfortable enough, but mainly chose that because it allows for a better seal than a seat would 😂
U might need an extract fan though to get rid of the smell or maybe the wood straps might do the job :)
That’s the main thing we are worried about! Fingers crossed it will work out okay :)
Nice, simple and personable! Have a subscribe!
Thanks Brian! 😊
Good effort guys 👏👏👏 we’ve just done exactly the same thing - so tired of sh*tting in bin bags 😂😂 hopefully you’re finding it as rewarding as we are!
Thank you!! Ahh amazing!! I haven’t seen you guys on instagram in AGES?! I’ll go unfollow you and refollow you so that you come to the top of my feed again!! ❤️😊
@@OurWildHorizons we had our account deleted so starting from scratch! 😭😭 ahh you’re a legend thank you! 😊😊
you know whassuuuuuup
Thank you for the video. I'm in exactly the same situation, fed up of trying to get rid of the portaloo! After a yr of use, what's the verdict on smell and best thing to add in for composting? Do you think a sealed lid would make a difference? Any advice would be welcome and thanks again for your input on what to do with our output
You're welcome, thanks for watching!
We're still happy we switched. We haven't had any issues with the smell using a decent topping of woodchips/hamster bedding. We find as long as we don't leave it over a week before disposing the bag it's all good. I still like to use public toilets whenever available just to keep the maintenance lower than otherwise. I'm sure if you could seal the lid, that would definitely help. As well as having a dedicated boxed in area for the toilet.
Yay, welcome to the toilet box crew 😎
It's about time we joined!
Great video!! We've been thinking about making one for a while and saving ourselves £800!
Thanks for the guide! Hope to catch up with you guys soon.
Sophie & Mark
It was easier that we thought it was going to be. Couldn't believe the price of some of them! Thanks for watching, guys!
Thank you!
You’re welcome, thank you for watching!
Where did you get the separator?
From free range designs if you’re UK based
I would add a reg toilet ring/lid.
Definitely doable!
Very nice!❤
Thanks for watching Sarah!
Hey guys, we are thinking of building one but really can't be bothered installing a van as we already have thick walls and insulation in place.. have you found it smells with no fan or has it been ok? Please be honest haha
Compared to the Chemical toilet it doesn’t smell at all :)
Very nice thankyou
Thanks Wendy! :)
Where do you dump the compost poo bag? Can it just go into regular trash? That’s the bit I’m trying to work out. Thanks so much for the great info! Will be building one!
Really appreciate the video is that separator something you purchase online? Starting to do research on my own little outhouse this was very helpful thanks!
It's called urine separator, we found ours online but they're expensive for just a bit of plastic! Hope your outhouse build is going well!
@@OurWildHorizons I actually just bought one because of your video lol. Haven’t installed it yet but the outhouse is done…ish😄
From where did you buy your separator?
Very interesting, not sure what sort of loo to get 😃
Pros and cons to them both I think, but after a year of the chemical one we wanted to try the compost option. People say the smell is actually improved with a compost one, which we're keen to see is true.. But emptying the chemical one can be nightmare job, sometimes a messy one too. Thank you for watching!
Great vid where did you get the simple separater pls
It’s from free range designs ☺️
@@OurWildHorizons thanks 🙏
We built our own recently, for around the same price, ridiculous how much these things are!!
P.S. Love how you even built your own toilet seat 😂
I couldn't believe how expensive they were!! Thank you guys, it was great meeting you in Stratford and hopefully we'll see you on the road again sometime :)
Where do you put you stuff to compost? We're planning on making a compost toilet as well but can work out what to do with it.
I love it !!
Yay thank you!!
where can I buy the separator?
Great vid again guys. Whats the update, how are you getting on with it? Did you end up installing a fan for it? We've decided to go compost and like the idea of it being not fixed but wondering if we're likely to need a fan or not? Many thanks for any advice
That was our primary worry but we've been so surprised that even with cheap pet bedding woodchips and no fan we haven't found it to be smelly! I think it helps that if we do start to smell anything we can just collect it and bin it. It's been so much better and less smelly than the chemical one we had for the first year!
@@OurWildHorizons Good to know! Thank you for getting back to me!:)
Hi guys, I wanted to ask if while you're driving there is any problem with the toilet? Cause I saw other video people put some separators to hold the 2 container. The liquid doesn't splash out? Thanks
We never had an issue, just made sure to always empty it once it reached a certain level!
Could you probably link the seperator in the description? I can't find anything like that... Especially not that cheap
It was from “free range designs” 😊😁
good job
Thank you!
Thank you for a great vlog :) really impressive self build compost toilet :)
Looks amazing how do you stop the smells? 🤗♥️
Thank you! We're not sure how the smells are going to be yet, hopefully the wood shavings will mask it enough but we may have to install a fan. It's actually on just dried enough for us to switch it out so we're back on the road and will be finding out tomorrow how the smells are ha!
@@OurWildHorizons awww blesss :) I saw at the international and overland show someone was selling these scented oils for your toilet :)
It looks brilliant :) I have that £25 comfort toilet cheap thing it has a lid so I haven’t had any smells. But would like to build one like you both have and have it proper fitted:) looks great :) hope you both have an amazing weekend 🤗
@@OurWildHorizons hi how did you get on with the smells did it smell? Did you need a fan ?
Good job. We use hamster bedding or similar for our toilet.
where did you get the "wee" diverter? please
We got it from freerangedesigns 😀
It's a simple ,good toilet .
Exactly, does everything we need it to!
Where did you get the urine diverter from?
I'm waiting to see what makes it a composting toilet
The alternative is the chemical toilets which we had our first year. This won't compost with us but using compostable bags and loo roll should allow it to be composted after you deposit it 😊
Thank you very much for your teaching but like my country India that irine separator is not available and if I had to order from abroad it will cost 10000 rupees one month salary.
Oof that's crazy expensive!
You made this 3 years ago. Would you change anything after using it so long?
where did u guys find the urine part
It’s from free range designs :) it’s a cheap one but there are definitely better ones if you have a better budget :)
Where can I buy the urine diverter?
We got ours from freerangedesigns but if you google it you might be able to find a better cheaper alternative :)
How's your loo working out?
It’s been great! So much better to clear out and dispose of than the chemical one. Wish we’d done it from the beginning tbh!
@@OurWildHorizons Good news, we have one, paid a ££ for it well pleased though.
What will you be doing with your bags of waste? We are going to make a compost toilet for our van but can't think of where to compost it :)
We're still figuring that out. The varnish has only just dried so we haven't actually been able to use it yet!
@@OurWildHorizons It would be great to have an update in a video at some point if possible!
@@OurWildHorizons suggest using biodegradable bags to line #2 collection. Composting takes an enormous amount of time. With that, throwing away the biodegradable bag into normal receptacles actually would help break down anything going into a landfill that will end up next to your baggies. So even if not composting in the traditional sense, it's still very helpful in the long run.
I don't understand, how do you do so the smell of the poop doesn't go inside the van?
Compost toilets don’t smell at all because of the sawdust 😊 the wee smells more than the poo to be honest but we don’t leave wee in there 😊
The chemical toilet was pretty smelly
@@OurWildHorizons yes i have one chemical and it is smelly
When you separate out the urine from the poo and use sawdust or wood chips it basically just smells like an earthy compost. Also having worked as a plumber I can tell you that every time you flush a regular toilet the contents of the bowl are aerosolized and fills your bathroom even though you can't see it, so if you poo in a flush toilet then drain it all away by flushing, it actually fills the room with a fine mist adding to the smell. Sawdust toilets do no such thing. As long as you cover the poo each time with a layer of sawdust/wood chips the smell will be a lot less than a standard bathroom.
Ummm what’s just happened. Have I just become a carpenter? 🤣 it can’t be that easy!
We've found that most things just require willingness to give it a go! Mostly it works out! Thanks for watching :)
Haw has it worked? Do you use plastic bags for the poo?
It's great! We use 20l compostable bags 😊
Are you using a pee jug or bottle that you cover with some type of lid? I imagine that otherwise the smell of stale piss would waft through the van each time you open the lid and the smell might soak into the toilet timber.
Yes we will be using one with a lid :)
I don’t think we will leave any pee in there at any time to be honest. We didn’t pee into our chemical toilet for a year as we have separate pots for pee which we empty as soon as we can (to save space in our chemical loo got number 2’s only) 😊 so I think we’ll just do a similar thing with this compost loo to save smells :)
👏👏👏
Thanks for watching, Linda :)
1st🥇
Yay thank you!!
Don't you have to mix it all up though? 😬. Whats the plan for that?
We just use compostable bags and paper. There wouldn't be enough space to actually allow it to compost in the van while continuing to use it. Thanks for watching! 😊
The trobolo DIY cost $120 and with a 3D printer or plastic you can make something as beautiful as the separett tiny.
is there enough room for Willie?
It said "compost toilet"... how is the "compost" done?
It will break down over time since we use wood chips, compostable bags and paper. :)
"wee".....unfamiliar with the word urinate or urine?
I would design for a gravity sealing lid for odor.
hi good video where did you get the pee dIverter. Best Regards ARTHUR
Sorry, we can't remember now but the best search is "urine separator" and that'll point you in the right direction! 😊
So 2 years later - do you still use it?
Yes! It lasted every single day up until yesterday when we sold the van! 🚐 😁
I don’t understand how you can separate it for a woman. I just asked my girlfriend if she poops and pees simultaneously and she said it happens sometimes. Doesn’t seem that there’s enough space between both coming out that separates it perfectly. She said she’d have to scoot forward and hold in her poop and then scoot back to finish pooping. Are you having any accidents? In all seriousness, because I have a camper van and need a new solution. We live in it every weekend for work. I have no issues peeing in a bottle. It only took slamming on the brakes once to realize a chemical toilet doesn’t work and literally had to gut my van floor after that happened. Spent hours cleaning and hosing it out 😢 not fun and never again.
The costs for buying a composting toilet are a rip off.
I was so sick of emptying the chemical toilet!
Maybe you’ll only have to do it once more 😊
Hopefully it won’t be smelly 😆
Fingers crossed! 😁
Need to do more homework. You do NOT need a urine separater. And if you are worried about smell, homework again, several ways of eliminating smell.
Thanks for watching! We're just following the designs that are applied to these kind of toilets within the van life community and offering people an alternative to the overpriced pre built ones. This is quite an old video now and it's been working fantastically.
😂please show its operation
Why?
😢 unfortunately, if it's REALLY the simplest, there would be NO liquid separator.
I promise you that if you don’t separate them it will be far less simple and much smellier to deal with
Have some kids!
When you say have some kids, do you mean in the toilet? Like “dropping the kids of at the pool” if you know what I mean? 🤣
@@OurWildHorizons No, that would be black kids.
This is a about a toilet. You have links to everything but the separator funnel which is key.
I saw a lot of talking heads and very little of the actual project build. Is this about you or the toilet?
Shorten to 5 mins, show actual build and 1% of talking heads.
Our links are from our van build series which we include in every build related video. It's called Urine Separator, we don't link one because we found ours to be too expensive for a piece of plastic. I have mentioned the company several times to other viewers who asked nicely in the comments. You can find it there if you want.
Always blows my mind why people want to keep a box of dumps in their tiny living space
It blows my mind that people wouldn’t want that to be quite honest with you