For several years now I have always emptied the commode my wife has to use everytime she has used it & always wondered what happens to people who have 2 or 3 daily visits from paid carers instead of someone living full time with them to provide care. Then I had a worsening of my own medical conditions so had to look for ways to save myself work so i could still cope with my caring role. Through necessity I have found more efficient ways of doing things. As far as the commode goes, I wondered how I could keep the commode sweet smelling and hygienic when I could not always empty it straight after use. in the end I found a simple cure which works brilliantly and you can effectively just empty it once a day & have no toilet odours lingering.
I thought of the good old days when we used to have a touring caravan for carefree holidays which had a chemical loo. This was a blue liquid which contained Formaldehyde which frankly did the trick but smelled very strongly of chemicals. But on enquiring from a friend who still goes caravanning, she told me there was a new liquid made by the same manufacturer which is designed to be Eco friendly, made with entirely natural products and which has very little smell. You can buy this in 2 litre containers for around £10. Just a small amount in the bottom of the commode and topped up with an inch or two of water and you can use the commode all day for both liquid & solid matter and the room remains sweet & clear with no smells. You can empty the commode once a day and it stays fresh and smell free & above all, germ free. A 2 litre container will last a month or more easily so quite economical too.
Its widely available from many outlets including AMAZON and is simple to use and works brilliantly. Its called Elsan ORG02 Organic Toilet Fluid for Motorhomes, Green, 2 Litre. If you have someone who uses a commode, give it a try & you wont regret it.
We used to go to steam rallies, with me towing a caravan, for 40 years.
A Porta Potti is even better, as it has a flush facility and a trap door to keep nasty niffs away!
Porta Potties are OK for camping but if my wife was capable of getting on & off a Porta Potty, she would be able to use a normal toilet. The coomode his adjustable height, has removeable arms to help with transfer to & from a wheelchair. I agree that in the right environment, a porta Potty is great but not practical I am afraid. Thank you for your advice though.
My mum had a Porta Potti in her bedroom, to save her walking to the bathroom at night.
The OT provided an official toilet frame to go round it, height adjustable.
It’s not that unusual that my wife’s leavings in the commode actually block the toilet, (I keep an especially re-shaped S/S wall tie in there to deal with that, I bet not many people have to do that).
I dread to think what it would be like with three doses in there, fortunately she only goes once a day, (although she does regularly leave me a little surprise in her knickers).
The less offensive orifice of the two is serviced by a SP catheter.
As I only have to empty once a day, I just use some disinfectant on the last rinse.
Porta Potties are ok for camping.
For people who can only just walk, and live alone, a Porta Potti with a toilet frame is a good solution. It may not suit everyone but was a great solution for my very disabled mum.
Late to the topic, but thought I’d add my two cents. For easier and more hygienic handling of waste collected in a commode, it’s highly recommended that you also buy a pack of commode liners.