Bamboo Toilet Paper - What!?

[ben2go]

I use standard Angel Soft 2ply and it dissolves fairly quickly in water. There was a youtube video doing TP tests and my brand out preformed most and it's one of the least expensive. I believe I may install a bidet on my next boat and plumb it with fresh water.


Link for reference.
https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Soft-To...language=en_US

[desodave]

Not all bamboo TP is suitable for the marine head. Try the dissolving test first before you use it. We had been using a brand of bamboo TP for some time and it dissolved extremely well. It wasn't available in the store one day and my wife decided to just get another brand of bamboo - and didn't mention it to me. I ended up having to unplug the head shortly thereafter - it didn't dissolve at all.

[AlanT]

Originally Posted by desodave

Not all bamboo TP is suitable for the marine head. Try the dissolving test first before you use it. We had been using a brand of bamboo TP for some time and it dissolved extremely well. It wasn't available in the store one day and my wife decided to just get another brand of bamboo - and didn't mention it to me. I ended up having to unplug the head shortly thereafter - it didn't dissolve at all.

Thanks for the 'heads up'. We tested the bamboo and it dissolved well. Will bear your comments in mind if we ever run through the enormous Costco package
~Alan

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by desodave

Not all bamboo TP is suitable for the marine head. Try the dissolving test first before you use it. We had been using a brand of bamboo TP for some time and it dissolved extremely well. It wasn't available in the store one day and my wife decided to just get another brand of bamboo - and didn't mention it to me. I ended up having to unplug the head shortly thereafter - it didn't dissolve at all.

Isn't this true of all TP? Some dissolve easier than others. I suspect it has more to do with the way the fibre is pulped and processed, vs the type of source fibre.

I don't really care anymore since I have a composter. It doesn't care what type goes in .

[merrydolphin]

Bamboo is an incredible renewable. Don’t know about paper, but I am currently living in eastern NC. And they are clear cutting here at an alarming rate. I see it constantly. And the trucks loaded with logs are very plentiful. What bothers me the most is that a lot of this is being done by a cash industry that helps no one around here or in the USA. They process it into wood pellets for heating in Eastern Europe!! It breaks my heart to see our forests going to that!

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by peghall

I'm really amazed that what I've come think of as the Great TP Panic of 2020 hasn't created a huge demand for bidet toilet seats in homes....there are a quite a few that aren't expensive. But I've not seen any indication of that.


--Peggie

I’ve had a fancy one for years and love it. Also have a $25 addition to the toilet in the guest room. We don’t use much tp at home . Don’t see why you couldn’t to it on the boat but your holding tank will fill up much faster.

[paul2884]

Originally Posted by peghall

First I've heard of this, but I'm not surprised that someone with an advanced case of environmental protection-itis would decide that, because bamboo is a renewable material, bamboo toilet paper would save trees...not realizing that paper is made from pulpwood trees that are farmed "crops" and therefore just as renewable as bamboo. Paper also use scraps-small branches, twigs etc too small to become lumber--which means they're recycled instead of burned. So bamboo toilet paper doesn't save a single tree. But I'd bet it does cost a LOT more than paper TP--much of which is made from recycled paper!

Btw...I googled Caboo tp and came up with their website: https://cabooproducts.com/


Now to answer your question....

Any toilet paper that can pass this test can safely be flushed through any marine toilet:

Tear off a couple of sheets and put 'em in a mason jar or glass of water. Come back in an hour and shake the jar or stir the glass. If the water is milky and all you see is "snow" that TP is can safely be flushed through any marine toilet. But if the sheets are still intact or even mostly intact, try another brand.

--Peggie

Also I was told that the bamboo takes a lot of processing to make it usable as a substitute for Cotton/Paper etc. and was not very environmentally friendly, if you are using it for environmental reasons you might want to do some more research

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by paul2884

Also I was told that the bamboo takes a lot of processing to make it usable as a substitute for Cotton/Paper etc. and was not very environmentally friendly, if you are using it for environmental reasons you might want to do some more research

Source please. Told by who?

Knowing a bit about the pulping process myself, I don't see any obvious reason why bamboo would be much harder to deal with. But as always, I could be wrong.

[billcrowley]

Mike, my son and I did a canoe trip down the Willamette River in Oregon in the early ‘90’s. Along the way, we passed a paper mill where the upstream clear water turned to brown, and remained that way for several miles. Not sure if it is still that way.

[Flagfish]

Originally Posted by AlanT

Thanks Peggie,

Needs must. We bought it because it was the only type still in stock (apparently we are in another wave of TP shortage in the PNW). That said it was price competitive, however it is also distressingly thin single ply. Its headed to the boat because we cant imagine using it in the house

~Alan

Nothing worse than breakthrough!

[clockwork orange]

So, i still have no idea how you dry off after using a bidet. Do you still use TP?does each person have a washcloth hanging in the head? Do you use precious fresh water to flush and wash your butt? As someone mentioned earlier you would fill up your holding tank quicker. I have several friends who use bidets at home and swear by them but i am not sure they would be practical with a marine toilet. I would sure like it if someone would answer the questions posed above.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by billcrowley

Mike, my son and I did a canoe trip down the Willamette River in Oregon in the early ‘90’s. Along the way, we passed a paper mill where the upstream clear water turned to brown, and remained that way for several miles. Not sure if it is still that way.

Brown is probably bad, black is worse. I've paddled in the former, although in my case it was for an investigative news story I was working on (I'm a former environment reporter who was working in BC at the time, covering the forest industry).

[SailingFan]

I currently work near a paper mill (a Georgia Pacific mill) that processes trees for timber and pulp, and also makes TONS of Kimberly Clark products, and Angel Soft toilet paper. At least in THIS area, it IS farmed trees, not old growth forests, going into pulpwood and toilet paper. I raised some myself in fact about two decades ago. Not a myth, not a con, it was really farmed pulpwood made into toilet paper. They also pumped a LOT of water out of the aquifer, however, to facilitate the cooling towers, and leave a horrible smell in the air on a daily basis, so they are far from ecologically pure... Palatka has a... character to the air that only Jacksonville's Tyson processing facilities can match.. HA HA HA!!

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SailingFan

I currently work near a paper mill (a Georgia Pacific mill) that processes trees for timber and pulp, and also makes TONS of Kimberly Clark products, and Angel Soft toilet paper. At least in THIS area, it IS farmed trees, not old growth forests, going into pulpwood and toilet paper. I raised some myself in fact about two decades ago. Not a myth, not a con, it was really farmed pulpwood made into toilet paper. They also pumped a LOT of water out of the aquifer, however, to facilitate the cooling towers, and leave a horrible smell in the air on a daily basis, so they are far from ecologically pure... Palatka has a... character to the air that only Jacksonville's Tyson processing facilities can match.. HA HA HA!!

It's certainly true that some pulp and paper comes from farmed woodlots. It's more so in the USA than in Canada. It's also true in some Nordic countries. Unfortunately, this is not the norm around the world, where virgin forest is the most common source of fibre.

As for pulping, I'm most familiar with the craft process. It tends to produce that lovely "pulp mill" smell that only those who live downwind of one can truly appreciate.

I've lived in pulp mill towns, and the locals would always jokingly dismiss it, saying, "It's the smell of money." Sadly, visitors never seemed to appreciate the quip .