Cleaning, laundry & Toiletry Products Fosse septic

Sorry if this request for information seems rather stupid but…
The house that we are moving into needs a thorough clean. (It has been empty for about 9 months). It has a septic tank and neither myself or my husband have any experience of using this kind of system so we don’t want to mess it up. If it’s allowed could people provide the names of French products that are ok to use on surfaces (including some parquet flooring)? In addition, which washing machine, dishwasher products, toiletry items e.g. shower gels, shampoo, conditioner, shaving foam? Finally, what do we need to do at at various intervals to keep the system functioning ok?Many thanks - if it’s not allowed on the posts please feel free to PM or email me.

I’d buy or bring a powerful vacuum cleaner, steam cleaner and a floor mop, the odd brush, broom and dustpan, and a mop suitable for walls + ceilings after the passage of the steam cleaner. Then loads of cloths of various types for cleaning up.

The steam cleaning will take you a long way. Others will know better about chemicals. I tend to use dishwashing liquid in very hot water for a lot of things, with splashes of disinfecfant where necessary. For anything more specialist I look online, possibly on carrefour.fr or amazon and check for reviews on sites or generally using "évaluation [productname] " in google.

If you want to shell out about 48 euros per calendar year you can get access to quechoisir.org’s database site which is stuffed full of independent reviews of products across categories and lots more besides.

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Seems a lot, TBH, when the 'net is full of reviews.

Are they related to “Which” at all?

They’re what Which used to be a very long time ago when it was good. Totally independent French consumers association. Very comprehensive reviews. Unlike the internet, unbiased.

They also do a lot more than Which. For example they’re one of fhe groups formally consulted by the government on options for government intervention to help consumers in the fuel price crisis. They also take the government to task, comment on legislation (I suspect they are consulted on some) and advocate for consumer safety, environmental awareness and consumer benefit on a wide variety of issues

Sign up to their newsletter (it’s free) and rootle round their site - quechoisir.org - you’ll see

EDIT PS their monthly magazine costs more than just the online database access - we don’t have kiosques here like Paris where it would be but it’s in most supermarket magazine sections

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Luckily, I have most of that equipment on the way - our furniture etc hasn’t arrived from the UK yet :blush:

In your local supermarket you will find cleaning products compatible with a septic tank, sometimes in their own sub-section of the cleaning department.

If it hasn’t been used for a while you may need to add enzimes and a starter kit to your srptic tank - just see how much it smells when it has been used. We add a sachet of enzimes every 2 weeks to ours - also available in supermarket.

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Thanks for that information. Sorry for this very basic question - where do you put the enzymes into the tank?

Flush down the toilet. It’s called Eparcyl

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:+1: Thanks :blush:

make sure that your toiletpaper is compatible with the Fosse… the packets will be marked and if they (or anything) does NOT say OK for Fosse… don’t buy it…
and please, don’t flush paper tissues/kitchen roll, linguettes, nappies or anything similar… just the approved toilet paper…

and yes, Eparcyl powders, regularly… will keep the bacteria etc working well.

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We use bleach to clean the toilet and the sinks, if you have a look at domestos in in the supermarket, it says ok to use in the fosse,

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That’s it: COMPATIBLE AVEC LES FOSSES SEPTIQUES

@MauraChambers1 keep your eyes open for this phrase… on anything you buy which will end up going down the drain one way or another… this is what you want…
EDIT: Even so, you might need to limit the usage… what kills germs/bacteria… can also kill a Fosse…
just follow instructions for use with a Fosse and you should be alright.

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I’m not sure about “foss friendly” bleach. It says on the bottle that if kills 99.9% of bacteria, but that’s how the bloody things work (bacterial digestion ).

I think the limit is something like 1 small glassful per week shared between all toilets and sinks and whatever… something like that from memory… and preferably less than that, even… I use it very, very sparingly.

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Mark must admit that was my-first thought, we have used it for a number of years with no problem, and again use it sparingly

The person who installed our fosse told us not to use it.

Not to buy this brand??? or fosse-compatible javel in general???

Our (French) installer had a similar view too…
“pas nécessaire” was his advice… I think his view is based on the fact that in many cases, its just a commercial plug for business. A properly working fosse shouldn’t need additional stuff in it except perhaps to kick it off in the first place and not putting harmful stuff down the sink or in the loo. (ISTR someone suggesting a dead rat or a pot of yoghurt at some point in the past).

Not to use bleach at all.

Sometimes it can smell like someone put a dead rat down there. :wink: Not after I’ve been of course.

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