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The Cleanwaste Go Anywhere portable toilet was one of the first toilet solutions that I chose for my camper van. It seemed like a great idea since it is small and takes up a minimal amount of space. It’s also lightweight and easy to carry from place to place as needed.
Another great feature of this toilet is the waste bags that it uses. These come with a powder that turns your waste into a gel so it’s easier to deal with after you have done your business. I purchased this toilet in hopes of using it as my main toilet when I travel on short trips and weekend getaways. It would allow me to have a temporary setup for when I needed to use the bathroom and then be able to store it away once I was finished.
In this article, I’d like to review how this toilet has worked out for me, how it could be better, and whether or not I would recommend it or not.
First Impressions
One might wonder why you would purchase a toilet like this when you can simply use a bucket with a toilet seat on top. After all, it is the same concept and once you put a bag in the bucket, you are left with pretty much the same thing. While this may be true, there are still some reasons to choose a toilet like this over the bucket type.
First of all, I like the fact that it is small and lightweight and can be stored out of the way very easily. Unlike a bucket that can’t be folded up and put away. It also has a handy carrying handle on it that makes it very easy to use in the van but also in a more primitive style of camping scenario. You can pick it up and easily carry it wherever you need to go.
Upon opening the box, I noticed that the toilet is very well-made and looks exactly as I expected it. It’s basically a standard-sized toilet seat on supports that allows you to hang a bag in it that catches your waste.
One thing that I noticed when opening the product is that it is made in the USA. However, it seems that only the outer shell is made in the USA because the netting that hangs from the toilet clearly says made in China.
I am not sure how much of it is made in the USA but it looks like it’s a combination of USA and China. On further inspection, I see that the toilet itself is made in the USA and the Go Anywhere toilet kits are made in the USA. The hanging net seems to be the only part that is not made in the USA.
The toilet is a bit heavier than I had imagined it would be. It weighs in at just over 7 lbs. It is built rather substantial and seems like it will hold a person’s weight very well. The company claims that it will hold up to 500 lbs and I can totally see that being true. The toilet seat seems as though it is the same size as a standard toilet seat so it should be comfortable in a practical sense.
Using The Toilet
The key to using this toilet is making use of the Cleanwaste toilet kits that contain a material called Poo Powder that reacts with the liquid waste to harden it into a gel. We’ll see how well this works a little later in the article when I give it a test run. It also is a deodorizing agent so it should help to lessen the smell of this essential chore.
The first step to using this toilet is to unfold the legs so that it will have something to stand on. This is simple to do as they just pull out and lock into place. It’s designed well with one leg in the front and two in the rear. With only one leg being in the front, your feet have a place to rest on each side of the leg.
Sitting on the toilet doesn’t feel much different than what you would feel from sitting on a standard toilet in a home. It’s fairly comfortable and the same size as a standard toilet seat would be. It’s also roughly the same height as the toilet although it is slightly a bit lower than the ones I currently have in my home.
The Go Anywhere Portable Toilet height measures in at 14.25 inches tall from the floor to the top of the seat while my home toilets measure in at 15.75 inches tall.
Cleanwaste Poo powder
For testing the Cleanwaste Poo Powder that is in each bag, I will spare you from using actual waste. Instead, I will use water to show how the Poo Powder turns from a liquid to a solid. Obviously, from the name of the product, it should work for number one and number two.
As you can see from the images below, I poured an amount of water in the toilet bag similar to the amount you would expect from relieving yourself. It took about 20 seconds for the water to become fully absorbed by the powder. It was turned into a substance that has the consistency of a gel like material just as the product describes.
With the hardened material, you can remove the bag and easily carry it to a trash container and dump it in without a mess.
I won’t get into details about putting solid material in one of these bags. In my experience, it doesn’t work the same and it doesn’t harden very well with the powder. It also doesn’t magically remove the smell but it does help a little bit. However, it still makes it easier to dispose of once you are finished. You can seal the bag up and then place it in the second bag and there is no more smell. The only thing left to do is toss it in the trash.
You can purchase the Poo Powder separately and add it to each bag so that you can get multiple uses out of it. I have never done this and generally only use these for one time use but I could see where this would come in handy if multiple people needed to empty their bladders.
Using The Cleanwaste Go Anywhere Toilet In A Camper Van
I originally purchased this system to use as the main toilet for my van. However, after a few trips with it, I knew that it would not work for me as a long-term solution. Instead, I chose to purchase a cassette toilet which makes it much easier to use regularly without the waste of disposable bags.
Another reason that I did not want to use it in my van is that it takes up too much space. Yep, even though it’s a small toilet when the legs are opened up, the footprint is larger than my cassette toilet. Because of this, it would not fit in my shower stall where I currently keep and use my cassette toilet.
In the end, I chose to keep the Go Anywhere portable toilet as a backup system for emergencies. I also use it anytime I need a portable toilet when camping in a tent. It works great for those purposes but it didn’t get the job done for me as a toilet solution for my van.
Pros
It’s comfortable
The toilet seat on this portable toilet makes it feel like you are sitting on your toilet at home. The height is comfortable for people of average height. It’s a luxury for those in a camping environment.
It’s easy to fold up and store away
If you need to save space, this toilet folds up and stores away easily. It’s like carrying around a briefcase once you have it folded up so you can easily slide it into a crevice in your camper or car. I keep mine in the garage of my camper van and it serves as a backup toilet for me but it is always out of the way and I hardly even know it’s there.
It’s good quality
The quality is good for a portable toilet. It is sturdy and will hold a good amount of weight. I get the feeling of a solidly built product when I sit on it and it doesn’t feel like it is rocky or going to tip over or fall under any kind of weight pressure.
It makes neat work of a messy job
Doing your bathroom business is a messy job that no one wants to talk about. It’s nice to have a toilet like this that can make the process clean and neat. With this system, you don’t have to experience the icky factor as much. You can do your business and then seal it away in the bags and then toss them the first chance you get. This makes a clean experience for those who are looking to use the toilet when camping.
Cons
The legs are hard to fold back in
Pulling the legs out to stand the toilet up is easy peasy. However, once it’s time to release the legs and fold them back in, it’s a pain in the butt. On the one hand, this is good because it means that the toilet won’t accidentally be folded in on itself. On the other hand, it makes it difficult to work with. I wish there was a better locking mechanism that could be released so that the legs could easily be folded back in.
It’s wasteful
Using a bag like this to do your business is handy but it is also wasteful. I am not a big fan of one-time-use products but I can make an exception in an emergency. Some of the Cleanwaste toilet kits say biodegradable on them but the ones I have don’t.
It doesn’t mention this anywhere on the waste bag itself so if it were biodegradable, I would think it would be better advertised as such. Even still, it’s a one-time use product that gets thrown away. I would rather use my cassette toilet the majority of the time and utilize this toilet for emergencies.
Conclusion
Overall, the Cleanwaste Go Anywhere portable toilet is a great option for those in camper vans, RVs, or those who go primitive camping. Combine one of these with a portable bathroom tent and you have yourself a private bathroom while out in the wild.
I’m not sure I would want to use this as my main toilet but for short amounts of time, it works great. As mentioned above, there is a lot of waste that you will be throwing in the garbage if you use this regularly. On a weekend getaway or an overnight camping trip, it provides a great solution for when nature calls.