Gamma Lid bucket smells horrid inside

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

CosmickGold

Well-known member
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
549
Reaction score
472
Location
Arlington, Texas
Even though my poop is in plastic bags, taking the lid off my Gamma Seal bucket (to add another poop-filled bag) releases a horrid odor!  I wish I could afford a composting toilet to solve the problem; but until I can, I need to fight the germs and odors that are running wild under my Gamma Seal Lid.  Is there something that would be effective to do, such as pour in some white vinegar each time I open the lid?  Or what have you found to be effective?
 
We use sealed air tight double bags and only solids go into the bag along with the powder that comes with them. Urine goes into a separate bottle. Nothing goes into the bucket that is liquid or that could deteriorate the plastic bags. The drier it is the less the smell. When we empty the bucket we spray some Lysol on a rag and wipe it out and leave it open to air dry before putting in any more bags. We empty the bucket as soon as possible. There are plans on this forum to build a cheap separating toilet. Cedar shavings that are used for animal bedding work well in those. I guess you could put some of those in the bottom of the bucket as well.
 
There are also things you can do to improve the odor of your poo. Drink more water, eat more fiber, eat less meat and sugar, exercise more, get more prebiotics and probiotics in your diet.
 
Are you separating you urine or does it go in with the poop?
 
When my luggable loo gets stinky, I air it out in the sunshine for a few hours. Seems to do the trick. Also, spraying the inside with heavy duty litter box or kennel spray or even Febreze works pretty well if you can find a spray that isn't too stinky itself.

the longer you let it go, the harder it is to de-stink it.
 
It is pretty much impossible for most women to poop without releasing a small amout of urine during the event. Most especially true as you get older and it happens even if you pee seperately just before. Peeing first and keeping that liquid separate from the poop is an essential step that must be done to control odor if you are going to bag poop.

So this is why some women put a small amouint of scented cat litter in the bnotyom of the plastic bag each time they poop. That might make enough of a difference to help control the oder issue. An alternative is the cedar small animal bedding chips that are sold in tyhe pet aisle at plaves such as Fred Meyers, Walmart and latger grocery stores as well as pet stores. Those too woll absorb the liqiud and help keep odor down.

What happens in the composting toilets is a urine diverter directs the urine into its own contaier for disposal. The solids go into a bin where they are mixed with a material that absorbs moisture out of the feces.(a desicant). That desicant additive is what helps with odor control. Just bagging feces without a desicant is OK if you are going to be putting the bag into a dumpster every day ot two. But not suitable without the desicant if you are only doing an every week or two trip to a dumpster. If you are going to wait that long between disposal trips you need to use a desicant substance in each of the daily use poop bags.

I wouls suggest that if you are not around a place for frequent waste disposal that you use a 5 gallon bucket, a diverter that empties into a pee boytle to create a DIY composting toilet. There are project videos, articles and even kits for doing this. A good project for those on a small budget and it does not require a lot of handy person skills.
 
Poo Powder deodorizes fecal material and urine.

Needs liquid to activate the product, if urine is separated (as I do), add water to cover the solid material.

The intended usage is that each movement is separately bagged and tied off.

The word "size" below refers to the container's size.

Large size container 120 uses
https://www.amazon.com/Cleanwaste-Large-Powder-Waste-Treatment/dp/B000SOJRXE

Regular size container 55 uses
https://www.amazon.com/Cleanwaste-Mini-Powder-Waste-Treatment/dp/B002AEHYP8
 
Poo powder uses the same type of pellets that are added to the soil for floer points to hold moisture for slow release to the rots of the plants. It can be purchased in bulk from agricultural greenhouse suppliers. You will have to add a deodorant if you desire one. Some person cant use scented deodorizers so the moisture absorbing beads from the greenhouse suppliers work for them.

Of course both pine and cedar shavings have a natural scent to them.

Odor escaping bags partly depaends on how well they are tied off. But many plastic bags will allow odor to emit through the plastic. That is why I use the 13 gallon size bags. You can tie a knot just above the contents then fold that section back inside the upper section and tie it off again. That makes it double bagged with very little extra effort.
 
Your info and suggestions have really helped me decide what to do.  I've placed a stainless-steel wire rack into the bottom of my 5-gal Gamma Sealed bucket.  I pour white vinegar below the rack, and drop my poop bags on top of the rack.

I did a google search for "vinegar porta-potty" and found these comments regarding the vinegar idea:

[font=Roboto, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,]"White vinegar works as well in a portapotty as anything else.  And FYI, that "blue" stuff is lethal...the active ingredient is either formaldehyde or--if the label says "non-formaldehyde"--glutaraldehyde, ...which is even MORE toxic than formaldehyde."[/font]

[font=Roboto, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,]"[size=medium][font=Roboto, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,]I've used vinegar for a couple of years now and it does work great. You can get a gallon of the stuff at Walmart for a buck or two and pour a liberal amount in the holding tank. It neutralizes the odors."[/font][/font][/size]
 
There is really no such thing as a "composting toilet" that fits in any style of camper. The Sun-Mar, Nature's Head,
BioLet, etc, are "separating toilets".
 
maki2 said:
It is pretty much impossible for most women to poop without releasing a small amout of urine during the event. Most especially true as you get older and it happens even if you pee seperately just before. Peeing first and keeping that liquid separate from the poop is an essential step that must be done to control odor if you are going to bag poop.

So this is why some women put a small amouint of scented cat litter in the bnotyom of the plastic bag each time they poop. That might make enough of a difference to help control the oder issue. An alternative is the cedar small animal bedding chips that are sold in tyhe pet aisle at plaves such as Fred Meyers, Walmart and latger grocery stores as well as pet stores. Those too woll absorb the liqiud and help keep odor down.

What happens in the composting toilets is a urine diverter directs the urine into its own contaier for disposal. The solids go into a bin where they are mixed with a material that absorbs moisture out of the feces.(a desicant). That desicant additive is what helps with odor control. Just bagging feces without a desicant is OK if you are going to be putting the bag into a dumpster every day ot two. But not suitable without the desicant if you are only doing an every week or two trip to a dumpster. If you are going to wait that long between disposal trips you need to use a desicant substance in each of the daily use poop bags.

I wouls suggest that if you are not around a place for frequent waste disposal that you use a 5 gallon bucket, a diverter that empties into a pee boytle to create a DIY composting toilet. There are project videos, articles and even kits for doing this. A good project for those on a small budget and it does not require a lot of handy person skills.

It's not really so different with guys, especially as time goes by.  Everyone's valves get looser, not just one sex's.  I mentioned that before in another thread and got some grief for it; oh well.  So it goes, even here.

I have for a long time tried to pee first elsewhere only then poop in my bags.  But the stinkification is catastrophic without kitty litter regardless. Even without liquid, even squeezing all the air out.  But here is something I learned from my Master Gardener classes, take note - it is anaerobic, not aerobic decomposition that stinks the worst and produces the most toxic byproducts.

Folks with composting toilets, from what I have seen, vent their poop to the outside.  Wood chips, kitty litter, whatever -- aeration matters. That's why they have mixing paddles and such-like, to keep aeration going.

What we baggers, who have no such ability to make sure aerobic decomposition doesn't turn into anaerobic decomposition, can do, is to eliminate moisture as much as possible so as to first control natural smells and second keep them from getting worse.  And then get that poop the heck outta dodge so its odor doesn't permeate by dumping it ASAP.

In the meantime, control is the issue.  I lay down a couple/few cups of kitty litter before I do my thing, and then a cup or two after. That helps dry things out so if I can't throw stuff out immediately, it might not be as cripplingly repulsive.

Surprisingly enough, it usually is disgusting if you do 90% plus of your job.  Luckily enough, the last 10 percenters can usually make it work for at least a while.  Just get better kitty litter, use it both on top and on the bottom of your poop, and try your damnedest to make pee something you do before and after, even if you feel like you're forcing it and on pins and needles while you wait, rather than during.

It may not always work.  But that's what extra kitty litter is for, and double-bagging, and even trying things like odor-control bags and clumping kitty litter.  I used to go dirt-cheap on that, but recently am finding the slightly more expensive-per-poop stuff is well worth the pennies.  It can be a night and day difference, seriously.
 
There are a number of factors involved in how bad your poop smells:

First is how sensitive your nose is to the smell and how your brain interprets those signals.
You can change over time.

Second, mixing stool and urine (I think quantity of urine is important).
A separating toilet is the best solution here.

Next, your gut bacteria has a say in the odor.
This can be changed but not easily.

And your diet contributes to the smell.
One can experiment by adding or subtracting foods to see if that makes a difference.

I have a bucket toilet with a gamma seal lid.  The odors are contained in the bucket (beagle tested) and mildly unpleasant when opened (I'm single, so no second opinion), and not smelled after closure.  I put about a cup of sawdust into a bag before I deposit, concentrating on the front since I 'leak' since prostate removal.  Bags are tied off and the bucket sealed.

There are a number of you-tube videos on making a separating toilet from a 5 gallon bucket.
 
I changed to a 40 oz. stainless container with a latching lid similar to what "Crofter" mentioned above. I forget think it was a tobacco humidor. Anyway I painted it with rusty brown colors to make it look worthless and bolted it to the back bumper of my Box Van.
From my indoor 4 gal. SS waist basket, double lined with plastic bags, to the back bumper for storage where it lives until it gets emptied.

I don't like any smells festering in a plastic bucket inside my small home. Gawd that stinks.
 
I would like to see the look on a thief’s face when he open up the lid! Lol!!!
 
bullfrog, I have noticed a couple times since it's installation where someone has opened the latch, but for some reason they left without disturbing the contents. :)
 
maki2 said:
Poo powder uses the same type of pellets that are added to the soil for floer points to hold moisture for slow release to the rots of the plants. It can be purchased in bulk from agricultural greenhouse suppliers. You will have to add a deodorant if you desire one. Some person cant use scented deodorizers so the moisture absorbing beads from the greenhouse suppliers work for them.

Are these the type of pellets you are referring to? Limestone pellets that dessicate?
https://www.amazon.com/Walts-Ag-Lime-Pellets-10/dp/B0170WSX4U
 
Top