Nilodor BEON Urine Enzymatic Cleaner — or just Urine Digester as most people call it — outperforms both vinegar and sugar for keeping a composting toilet’s urine container odor-free and deposit-free.
The standard advice for composting toilet urine containers is to use either white vinegar or sugar — a splash in the container after emptying it, and a spray on the bowl after each use. Vinegar is the better of the two: it controls odor reasonably well and costs little in most places. A spoonful of sugar in the container after dumping it works in a pinch but is not nearly as effective in controlling odor.
We used vinegar for several years, and it worked okay — but had a couple of frustrating problems:
- First, solids kept building up in the urine container no matter how carefully we rinsed it out.
- Second, it’s bulky to carry and not always easy or cheap to source when you’re outside the US.
A reader told me about Nilodor Urine Digester in the comments on my composting toilet tips article, and I’m glad they did. We switched and never looked back.
Nilodor Urine Digester
Nilodor Urine Digester is a bio-enzymatic liquid originally made for treating pet accidents on carpet and upholstery. It turns out it works extremely well for composting toilet urine containers. Here’s how it compares:
- Controls odor as well as vinegar — and far better than sugar
- More effective than either vinegar or sugar at preventing mineral deposits from building up
- Smells better in the head when you spray it after using the toilet
- You use much less of it — one gallon mixed 50/50 with water lasts close to three months of full-time use
How to Use It
The routine is simple:
- Fill a spray bottle 50/50 with Nilodor Urine Digester and water.
- When you empty the urine container, add about a cup of water, swish it around, and empty it again.
- Give three or four sprays of the diluted Nilodor inside the container.
- After every use of the toilet, spray two or three squirts into the bowl. This cleans the bowl and adds a bit more Nilodor to the container as it drains.
That’s it. The container stays clean, odor-free, and deposit-free.
Where to Buy Nilodor Urine Digester
It’s available on Amazon in two sizes. The gallon lasts about three months with full-time use when mixed 50/50 with water. The quart is a good option if you want to try it first or need less for occasional use.
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Carolyn Shearlock has lived aboard full-time for 17 years, splitting her time between a Tayana 37 monohull and a Gemini 105 catamaran. She’s cruised over 14,000 miles, from Pacific Mexico and Central America to Florida and the Bahamas, gaining firsthand experience with the joys and challenges of life on the water.
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Bill on SV Denali Rose says
Thanks, Carolyn. It is good to hear about the bio-enzymes that work for their intended purposes.
I can’t find an unscented version of Urine Digester. How strong is the scent of the version you are using? [Asthma keeps us wary of scented products…] We want to give it a try.
RE: Urine jug odors and scale: As you mentioned, we too had little success with sugar; vinegar was better. But the odor [when emptying] and scale issues still remained.
Experiments lead us to Oxyclean powder [unscented of course…]. We add ~ 1/2 tsp to the jug after emptying and rinsing. There are absolutely no odors, and no scale build-up. [The first application will remove residual odors and scale as well.]
And we already have Oxyclean on hand for laundry…
I hope Nilodor releases an unscented version of Urine Digester in the future so we can add it to our arsenal… Meanwhile we make do with the no scent Marine Digestit and Clean Potty bioenzymatic ‘cleaners’.
PS: One of my next projects is replacing the urine jug on our Nature’s Head with a hose to a holding tank much lower in the boat. Urine Digester may be perfect for keeping that tank treated. Stay tuned…
Ana SV AMI VOS says
Great advice here and from Bill, above. Just a comment with vinegar, you can buy concentrated acetic acid from amazon and make your own vinegar percentage. From 30% to I think 100%.
Carolyn Shearlock says
I’ve written before about concentrated vinegar: it sounds like a great space-saving alternative but is EXTREMELY corrosive.
Sailing Cyclops says
Oxyclean is the best choice, in my couple years of experience. I began using vinegar, but found that it left crystals in the collection container, didn’t prevent pink slime mold from growing inside the urine drain area, and (of course) smelled like vinegar. Oxyclean solves all of those problems, and one tub of it will last a year or more, while taking up next to no storage room. If any Oxyclean powder is evaporated onto the bowl, a spray of vinegar will dissolve it immediately. I find that I do this every 4-8 weeks, so very little vinegar is used.
Sailing Cyclops says
Update, I’ve switched to using a wash bottle instead of a sprayer. A wash bottle is a squeezable soft plastic bottle with a very thin outlet “spout”, typically used in chemistry labs, and they are very cheaply available on Amazon. Its directed stream works better than a spray bottle, as there’s no overspray.
Donna Blaszcak says
I’ve been using this product ever since I saw your write-up about it, and it works great. However, unfortunately this product has been out of stock at Amazon for a while : (
Carolyn Shearlock says
I got some last March and at that time they were “temporarily” out of the gallon bottles, so I bought a quart. Here’s the link: https://amzn.to/39Z4p0M They’re in stock.
Deneen says
Will this product affect the urine when used (diluted) to fertilize plants in garden? What about oxyclean….same question.
Carolyn Shearlock says
Yes, both will.
Trish says
Thanks for the post.
Would this product dissolve crystals that are already there?
Carolyn Shearlock says
Yes to some extent, but either Marine Digest-It or Super Digest-It are even better: https://amzn.to/442VhDc
Read my article on either one: Marine Digest-It: Holding Tank Treatment for Boats OR Super Digest-It Safe Drain Opener for Boats
Trisha Forrest says
We have a composting toilet. Just began to use the Marine Digester. What a dramatic difference.
Thank you so very much
Trisha aboard Sovereignty