The Best Toilet and Shower Options for Vanlife

*This post may contain affiliate links, which means we’ll receive a commission if you purchase through our links, at no extra cost to you. Please read our disclosure policy for more information.

Selecting the best toilet and shower options for vanlife can be difficult but is crucial to being comfortable. Your choice will depend on your needs and preferences. In this guide, we’ll explore various toilet options, including urine-only and composting toilets, as well as shower choices to help you make the best decision for your van conversion.

So let’s start with choosing the toilet you want to use, not the most exciting thing to talk about but definitely an important one because it is something you will be using often. The first thing you have to decide is how often you want to use the toilet in your van. Some people prefer to have this as an emergency option only and use public restrooms or even dig a hole when out in the woods somewhere but others (like us) use our toilet as the only toilet 99% of the time. We like this because it is always more comfortable to go in your own home. If you are going to have the toilet for emergencies only then you don’t need to have anything big or elaborate. The same goes for if you only plan to go number 1 in the van and save number two for other restrooms So here are some options for urine-only toilets:

We personally could not live without our composting toilet, because we often find ourselves out on BLM land or in a place where a toilet isn’t always available or convenient. To have the option to poop in your van is something you may not appreciate until you have to and can’t lol. Trust us our toilet didn’t arrive before we first left in the van and we went 2 weeks without one and it was not an easy time. Some also think that this will make your van smell bad and honestly, it doesn’t smell at all, actually, it’s 10x worse in a regular bathroom. There are different kinds that you can get but we really like having a composting toilet, specifically the Nature’s Head. Most composting toilets work the same, they have a separate pee container and a compost compartment for number 2. In here you put a compost mixture like peat moss or coco coir, after you are done you spin a dial that turns an agitator to mix the compost. The nature’s head lasts for 4-6 weeks before you need to change it out. When you need to do that you dump the compost in a bag, throw it away, and add new peat moss or coco coir. Also when you are dumping it, it really is just dirt at this point so down thing its bad lol. Here are some options for composting toilets: 

There are some other options for toilets that aren’t composting but still allow you to go number 1 and 2 in them. They basically have a bag that number 2 goes into and you throw away and then a container for pee. We are not completely sure how these work but have seen some people using them in their builds. 

Showers

The next thing for your bathroom is deciding if you want to have a shower or not, and then if you do what do you want it to look like. You can have a fixed shower, pop-up shower, portable shower, or an outdoor shower. This all depends on your layout and how much space you want your shower to take up. We prefer the fixed or pop-up option with the option of also having an outdoor shower. Now I’m sure this all can sound confusing so here are some pictures of each to help show what the possibilities can be so you can decide what is best for you. If you are looking for more information to make the best decision for your van check out our other post on toilets and showers.

Want more van build content?