How To Eliminate Odors In Your RV

As an RV owner, you will  eventually deal with odors. Fortunately, you do not need to live with odors. We will go through the various areas in the RV where odors can occur and explain how to eliminate them and keep them from happening in the future. 

Areas Where Odors May Occur

• Bathroom/ Toilet/ Black Tank
• Kitchen/ Gray Tank
• Appliances/ Propane 

Bathroom/ Toilet/ Black Tank

We will start with the most obvious area in the RV where odors can occur: the bathroom. Odors coming from the toilet typically can be eliminated by using enough water to cover the waste and paper that are inside the holding tank. When large amounts of waste and paper are in a holding tank they can sometimes rise above the waterline.

When that happens it has an effect similar to a porta potty. If there is enough of the blue liquid to cover the waste and paper, a porta-potty is relatively odor-free.

But when the waste and paper are not covered by the blue liquid, it will most certainly be far stinkier. Fortunately, in your RV you have the ability to add more water to the holding tank to alleviate this problem–just hold the flush pedal on the toilet until the waste is covered by water. You usually will not be able to see this through the 3 inch pipe from the toilet, so it may take a couple of times of adding water to the holding tank before the odors dissipate.

It is also important to use a high-quality holding tank treatment with the ability to break down the waste and toilet paper. When they are broken down, the waste and paper are more likely to stay below the water level, which also helps keep odors at bay. 

Another important thing to note when it comes to odors coming from the RV toilet is to always have several inches of water in the toilet bowl between uses.

This will create a vapor barrier between the RV black water holding tank and the rest of the RV. Since RV toilets work a little differently from household toilets you will need to add water to the toilet.

Do this by holding the toilet flush pedal down just enough to allow water to fill the bowl without opening the toilet valve. Keeping water in the bowl will also ensure that there will always be plenty of water in the black water holding tank when you flush the toilet. 

Sometimes, even if you follow all these steps, you will still notice an odor that smells like human waste. When this happens the best thing to do is to check the vent on the roof of your RV.

Occasionally the vent can become blocked by airborne debris, by leaves, or even by creatures making their homes in the vent. And in extreme cases, you might find when you check the vent that the manufacturer never cut the hole through the roof of the RV!

The vents on RVs must be open so as to allow air in and out of the holding tanks in order to keep the RV odor-free. Each holding tank on the RV will typically have its own vent, so it is a good idea to check all of the vents when you are on the roof.

The final piece of equipment in the RV bathroom that is very helpful at eliminating odors is the vent and fan. These can do a very good job of dissipating the initial odors when using the RV bathroom. It is typically a good idea to have the vent partially open and the vent fan running while using the bathroom. Leaving the vent open and fan running for 10-15 minutes after using the bathroom with the door closed in conjunction with the above recommendations should stop those bathroom odors from permeating your RV.

Kitchen/ Gray Tank

If odors are coming from the kitchen sink, other sinks, or even the shower, they too can be eliminated. Often these smells are similar to a garlic odor, and they can occur if too much grease has built up in the gray water holding tank. In order to eliminate these odors, there is a simple solution. First, get yourself a bottle of Dawn Ultra dish soap, which you will be pouring into the gray water holding tank. You will need to use about 20 or more ounces, so make sure you have enough. Start the process by closing the gray water holding tank valve.

Next, pour the Dawn down one of your sink drains. Follow that by running water down the drain.

Continue running the water until the gray water holding tank is nearly full. It is best to do this late in the day so you can let it sit overnight,  allowing the Dawn Ultra enough time to lift the grease buildup off the walls of the holding tank. In the morning, simply dump the gray water holding tank and resume normal use of your sinks and showers. 

Sewer-like smells can also come from the sinks and showers in the RV, but we’ve got you covered there as well. The first thing to check is that there is water in all of the P-traps around the RV.

You can do this by running each of the faucets or showers for around 10-15 seconds. This will create a vapor barrier between the gray water holding tank and the rest of the RV. If you are camping at a full hookups campground, leave the gray water holding tank valve open with the sewer discharge pipe attached, and add a P trap bend to the sewer discharge hose.

This can be accomplished by forming a bend in the sewer discharge hose, making sure that it dips below the slope of the sewer support. Be sure to fill the bend with water. This will create a vapor barrier between the sewer port and septic tank beyond and the rest of the RV. 

Sometimes a rotten egg smell can occur in the RV while running hot or warm water. This is caused by bacteria in the RV water heater, which forms on the anode rod, eating away at it.

Many RV water heaters have a magnesium or zinc anode rod which will degrade over time. Don’t worry; they are meant to do this. You just know that if you do have that rotten egg smell, it is time to replace the anode rod. Check out this article on how to replace your anode rod.

Another place where odors can occur in an RV kitchen is in the refrigerator. In the event of a power failure, or if you happen to run out of propane or battery charge while boondocking, your food may start to spoil, creating unpleasant odors.

The best way to eliminate these odors is with baking soda, which has been used for decades. However, if you just open a box of baking soda at the top and hope for the best, you will most likely be disappointed with the results.

The same applies to the “refrigerator specific boxes” which have the mesh on the sides, because only the surfaces with the mesh open will be able to absorb odors, leaving the bulk of the baking soda unused.  

In order to get the best results from baking soda, you need to spread it out in thin layers, creating enough surface area for the baking soda to absorb odors. 

Appliances/ Propane

The smell of propane is  from a chemical known as ethyl mercaptan, which is added as a safety precaution, since the gas itself is odorless. If you smell propane in your RV, whether you are using appliances or not,  immediately shut off the propane and exit the RV, leaving the doors and windows open. Wait until the propane smell has dissipated before reentering the RV.

Make sure that the propane is turned off before doing any further investigations. Once the smell has gone and you have gone back inside the RV, check to make sure that none of the burners on the stove/ cooktop were accidentally opened.

If they are turned off, next check outside the RV to make sure that no critters have made a home in the vents to the water heater or the furnace. If everything seems to be in good condition and you still have a propane smell inside the RV, leave the propane turned off and contact a professional RV technician. Since this is a safety concern it is far better to be safe than sorry. 

In Conclusion

Now you know that there are quite a few places in an RV where odors can occur. We hope that by using this guide, you will be able to remove those odors from your RV and enjoy an even happier camping experience.
Even though we covered a lot here, you might think of some things which were not covered. Please let us know if you have any questions or if we left out any odors that you have experienced. We are always learning and hoping to help out our fellow campers.

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