Should You Use RV Dump Gloves?
There are basically two types of gloves for handling the dirty work of dumping RV holding tanks. RV dump gloves seem to be either flimsy disposable gloves or more durable sanitation gloves that are meant to be washed and reused.
Of course, disposable gloves can be washed and reused as well, but they have a tendency to tear and/or get small holes in them after several uses. There is a surprising amount of controversy among the RV community about whether you really need to wear gloves for dumping your RV.
The health danger from RV sewage comes from E.coli and other bacteria that inhabit the digestive system. If you’re only handling plastic hoses, can’t you just wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after you dump? In this article, we’ll try to sort out what the facts are, and we’ll look for the truth in this ongoing debate.
Dumping RV tanks without gloves
Advocates of glove-free, bare-handed dumping argue that using dump gloves is wasteful and bad for the environment. They make the point that they are only handling the exterior of plastic hoses used exclusively for their own family’s black tank matter. No sewage gets onto the hoses. As long as they wash or sanitize their hands afterward, they are just as safe from becoming ill as they would be wearing gloves for dumping their tanks. Here is a sampling of what the bare-handers are saying:
“I don’t use them and have never gotten wet or contaminated. My hoses have always been clean and dry externally. Nothing has ever escaped on gotten on anything it shouldn’t.” – TN Chuck100
“Always. Even if I dont have any issues, Who knows what accident the previous person had and what they touched.” – clubhouse
“I always use gloves. Many people do not wash their hands after visiting public restrooms to do their business (both #1 and #2). I think that most of us have observed this fact no matter what public restroom is used. I assume that some of these are the same folks who do not wear gloves nor wash their hands after visiting the RV dump station. Even if there is no spillage, an RV owner still has to handle the sewerage hose, unscrew it, wash it out, and then work to stuff it back into the bumper or other holder.
As clean as someone may personally be at the dump station, who knows what a previous person has done or touched? Many state parks have potable water stations located at the dump station—usually about 25 feet away. I never use those fresh water sources because as both clubhouse and cm1159ps mention, who knows what a previous user may have done with not only the non-potable water source, but the (allegedly) potable one nearby?” – dewey02
The argument for gloveless, bare-handed dumping seems to make sense (on the surface). However, there are some very strong arguments for using dump gloves whenever you dump your waste tanks.
The case for wearing RV dump gloves
It goes without saying that RV sewage is as smelly and gross as any sewage in your house sewage system. But it’s not only smelly and gross. RV sewage is a health hazard because it contains fecal matter. Fecal matter contains E.coli bacteria.
For the most part, E. Coli bacteria lives unnoticed in your digestive system. However, in large enough concentrations, certain strains can wreak real havoc on your health. Droplets of sewage can contain a high enough amount of E. coli to cause severe stomach cramps, vomiting and nausea, diarrhea, or even death within three or four days of handling it.
On top of that, numerous intestinal parasites, norovirus, Hepatitis A, and Rotavirus are spread through contact with trace amounts of feces, including microscopic droplets that may be present at the dump station.
Our hands might not be in direct contact with sewage when we are dumping our tanks. However, we can’t say that about all the RVers who hit the dump station before us. Maybe they got splashed and then rinsed their hands and sewer hose, using the hose and tap handle at the dump station. Now our hands will be contaminated with someone else’s sewage if we use that hose or tap. Gross.
“Over Labor Day weekend, we witnessed a guy who got splashed real good with his black tank contents. I felt so bad for the guy because he had it all over him. My 6-year-old daughter asked out of the blue if I thought that man was married. I said, ‘Probably, why?’ She replied, ‘Because he probably has her poo all over him too!’ I couldn’t argue that logic!” – CruizinKim
Yes, you can wash your hands and/or use sanitizer after dumping your tanks without dump gloves. However, this isn’t as effective for disease prevention as using disposable dump gloves and then washing your hands afterward.
You can get ill from contact with trace amounts of sewage. RV dump gloves will completely block contact with sewage, drastically reducing the chance you’ll get sick. It just makes sense to use them.
Take your dump gloves off properly
After you dump, it’s important to use a good sterile technique for taking your dump gloves off. This way, any sewage or droplets that land on your gloves won’t wind up on your skin. Here’s a video about how to do that.
Forums such as iRV2.com and blog sites like RV LIFE, Do It Yourself RV, and Camper Report provide all the information you need to enjoy your RV. You’ll also find brand-specific information on additional forums like Air Forums, Forest River Forums, and Jayco Owners Forum.
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Cindy says
I have never used gloves…but I am a solo RVer and it’s just my stuff. I also have a water bid w/ hot/cold water at my tank controls and immediately was my hands….and maybe more than once… 😉
Cary Towery says
Really..learn 1st rule of a Plumber don’t lick your fingers. 2nd wash your hands before eating, 3rd..well doesn’t apply esp if you have a macerator. Have we become a Nation of people with no common sense!
Mike says
Lead photo shows gloves but what about the sandals.??
Jerome says
Stayed at a reasonably nice KOA last weekend. Their dump stations all had hoses already attached and they asked guests to use the attached hose rather than their own hose. Since most of the sites didn’t have sewer hookups, every morning there were a lot of folks lining up to dump. Having the hose already hooked up properly to the hole and only having to twist it onto your rig, dump and twist off, tossing the hose back into the dumpsite area did speed up dumping… a lot. This makes the case for using gloves as you are using a communal hose. But even when I use my own hose, I use disposable gloves. Accidents can happen and I don’t want to touch raw sewage. On top of that, I always wash up immediately after dumping before taking off so that I don’t bring any contaminants into my rig or on my steering wheel.
Engineer says
I haven’t used gloves since the time I threw away the slinky stinky and all the crap that goes with it and went with a Sanicon system.
Loren says
I use heavy duty gloves intended for farm chemicals. Easy to wash off if needed, easy to remove and don’t add to the land fill.
Glennie says
Did you put gloves on to change your baby’s diaper and do you do it to wipe your butt?
BILL CHESNEY says
This is the best response yet
Vince S. says
Nope but only one butt defecates into my baby’s diaper. There’s also one familiar butt at the end of my wiping hand. Can’t say the same for my black water tank or the tank I’m dumping in.
The good news is I don’t eat French fries from your plate or grapes from your bowl so do as you do.
Me personally, I use gloves and store them in a jug half full of bleach solution. They’re wet inside and out when I put them on but that sterilizes everything they come in contact with. Bleach smelling hands also tends to remind me to rinse after taking off and storing the gloves.
Happy camping ya’ll!
Mike Smith says
So, you’re saying if it’s family e-coli, it’s OK. But if it’s someone else’s e-coli, then there are issues?
Does e-coli know the difference?
Jeremy Elston says
No, but the contents of the diaper did not swirl around in a mixed container of filth for days, weeks, … Presumably building up increased concentrations of bacteria.
Vince says
You just won the internet.
Tom Miller says
I hauled and unloaded hazardous chemicals in bulk tankers for 35 years. The waste coming out of the RV tanks is just as hazardous. I use black chemical gloves when dumping the waste tanks.
GR Johnson, MD says
As a surgeon and highly tuned in to sterile technique and contamination issues, I see FAR MORE problems WITH gloves than without gloves (outside of the operating room, that is). When a glove gets contaminated on the outside, so many start TOUCHING other things and then whatever they touch becomes contaminated by the gloves. They take off the gloves and think they have been “sterile.” Gloves or no gloves, after handling black tank anything, one MUST SCRUB with soap and water while you sing happy birthday to yourself twice…..as a minimum. Alcohol gel can be used if you cannot scrub. PLEASE SCRUB. I do not use gloves when doing black tank chores. Why? It makes one “extra careful” how you handle things and you can feel any contamination and know you have to scrub it off well.
Vince says
Coming from someone who seems heavily invested in Germ Theory, that was a very cogent and well informed opinion.
Tina says
I see a lot of cross contamination going on when people where gloves! Those that don’t seam to be more careful! I had 7 kids do you know how many diapers I’ve changed? Never used gloves for that!
Jack Hall says
I agree with the surgeon. I also work in health care and took multiple bacteriology courses, although I am not a surgeon. Reusable gloves are a joke and a SOLID guarantee of contamination if you do not wash them AND your hands thoroughly. The problem with disposable gloves is that you have to take them off, and, unless you have been lucky during the dump process and careful removing them, you now have contaminated hands ANYWAY, and need to wash them thoroughly. I think disposable gloves give people a false sense of security, I dump bare handed, am careful when I do, and IMMEDIATELY wash my hands thoroughly inside the rig with soap and hot water. I am germophobic enough that I ask my wife to open the door for me so that I do not touch (contaminate) the door handle. Sorry, but if you are behind me in line when I dump, you will just have to wait for me to wash my hands before I pull out. On rare occaisions, when the line is three deep or more, I DO drive out of the way before washing my hands, followed by a full wipedown of the door handle, the keys, and the steering wheel with a bleach soaked wipe. I keep bleach in a small bottle in both the bathroom and the kitchen, and I use a regular wet wipe and add my own bleach. Now that I think about it, I think I will get a dollar store bottle of bleach and put it in my storeage compartmen filled with a 50/50 solution, and just splash some on my hands for when I need to leave quickly.
jjr says
people useally get immune to each others bacteria
in a household. but if someone is ill you really should use pp . medical lab courier we had nitrile
gloves and hand gell or foam in all cars. even though the tubes were in bio hazard bags
better safe than sick. and you do need to remove them properly not like you see on Hollywood medical shows in fact most medical shows would kill half or more patients
Gary Broyles says
I keep a bottle of bleach/water in the rear compartment of the Airstream to use on the sewer hose connectors and to sanitize my hands. I then wash my hands. I also keep a soap/water spray bottle in the same bucket to check for propane leaks.
Vince says
Just a quick and honest question… name another mammal apart from homo sapiens that is as worried about germs as man is.
Jeremy Elston says
Many mammals have additional antibacterial in their saliva. Helps with them licking themselves clean for example – not familiar with any humans that do a lot of this. My dog can safely it raw meat as well as other things I can’t.
Generally, other mammals don’t share common digestive systems with humans. Despite US societal trends in humanizing our pets, they are not humans.
Bill Jones says
Good thoughts, doc. As an ER volunteer, I know the gloves are one time use only and dumping requires at least 2 pairs of gloves. One pair to hook up and a second pair to tear down.
Mike B. says
Good article. Thank you. I have used gloves most of the time and plan to always use them in the future. I also keep a push dispenser bottle of hand sanitizer in the wet bay & use it after I’m done & have removed the gloves.
Some information on types & sizes of gloves would be helpful. All the gloves I have tried are a hassle to get on & off. I’ve ripped more than one trying to get them on. Currently I have one size fits most powderless vinyl gloves, but they are too small and hard to get on.
My hands are pretty average size. I see XL gloves with powder on Amazon and wonder if they would be better.
Glenn says
I use disposable gloves to initially connect the hoses together but if we are staying in a park long term I don’t use gloves to pull the valves.
Bill Jones says
I use these in XL – https://www.amazon.com/Medline-FitGuard-Nitrile-Powder-Gloves/dp/B07DM25YR2/ref=sr_1_3?crid=99KAJZTP5IX8&keywords=medline%2Bprocedure%2Bgloves&qid=1694636762&sprefix=medline%2Bprocedure%2Bgloves%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-3&th=1
Bill Jones says
I volunteer in an ER. I wear gloves for everything and change them after every task. I also wear them when I set up and tear down for dumping. the secret is to remove the gloves withiut touching your skin with the outside of the gloves.
Pinch the outside of the first glove with your gloved hand and remove it. Them slide your index finger under the second glove and remove it. At this point, only the inside of the gloves should be exposed, then wad up the gloved and dispose them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTYioOo__6U
Sue says
Instead of sliding your index finger into the remaining glove. Use the first glove, which should be inside out after you removed it, to remove the second glove.
Handeman says
You are a medical professional and know how to use the gloves. Too many people put the gloves on, do the dump, and then go and handle the potable water before removing the contaminated gloves. They don’t know they should remove and replace the gloves whenever they handle a new system so they don’t transfer the contamination. That or they are just too cheap to use that many gloves since they have to buy them, unlike medical facilities where they are supplied.
Jeremy Elston says
True, but isn’t a good bit of this article intended to provide more guidance to people?
Also, I have seen some people dump gloveless then open the driver door and take off. Most people do not adequately scrub when washing. Does not necessarily mean that using gloves / not washing properly is not an improvement in reducing risk.
Handeman says
I’m with the no glove folks. I make sure everything flows through the hoses. I don’t touch anything until I clean and sanitize.
I’ve seen too many people wearing gloves use the dump stations and then move over and handle the potable water while wearing the same gloves they used to dump with. Gross!
Soap and water will clean your hands if you use it, but when you expect everything to stay clean because your hands are clean and you handle the potable water with your sewage gloves on, you are part of the problem.
Jj says
Bacteria doesn’t travel through your skin. You don’t need gloves if you’re any good.
Just wash your hands when you are done. Problem solved.
John says
I ALWAYS wear gloves. Either medical surgical gloves or heavy duty water proof ones. I also use antibacterial wipes on the water faucet hose outlet at our site. We’re probably over doing it but you do what you feel is best for your situation. We love RVing so we’re just going to take extra steps to be safe and healthy. Seen far too many disasters when it comes to sewer/draining your sewer.
D.W. says
The photo at the start of this blog cracks me up. The individual is all gloved-up, but yet is wearing sandals/flip-flops at the dump station. I see this all the time. I’ve seen folks take off the gloves an apply hand sanitizer to their hands, but no one ever bothers with their feet.
Douglas says
Thank You D.W., everyone is talking hands, but your right, how many wear sandals when they dump ? Seen to many !
Clive Apps says
Technically if you have a problem with sewage splashing anywhere on the outside of the system you should also be wearing a face shield and mask. Don’t forget what while the sewage sits in the tank the concentrations of little beasties increases, possibly to harmful levels. There might also be a mess from someone else at the dump area who was not very careful when emptying tanks; then you are dealing with more than your own groups’ little micro beasts.
Definitely one area where it is better to take the precaution than suffer the illness after.
Dean says
HOW ABOUT THE BARE FEET NEXT TO THE DUMP PORT ?”?!!
NO POOP EVER BEEN ON THAT SPOT.
Some people don’t wear shoes inside (do you see why?)
How about dump shoes or covers?
AllenS says
People think their hose is clean, but your hose, power cord and water hose have been laying on the ground where a thousand others have dropped their hose.
There’s no way a hose stays clean outside.
I used to use heavy gloves, but then I’d toss them into the bumper storage with the wet hose. Yuk.
So now I use disposable gloves and peel one off so it’s inside out in the palm and then pull the second so the first is inside the second and both are inside out.
BTW, I’d never wear flip flops to drain the tanks either.
David says
The bottom line is it doesn’t matter. A person who is concerned about being sanitary will be whether or not they use gloves. How many people have you seen wearing gloves handling their sewer, and freshwater hose, walking in and out of their rig with the gloves on? Not using gloves and using sanitizer has a lot better chance of not spreading germs if done correctly as does gloves. I always wipe off hose bibs with a bleach spray because you don’t know what the other person did and I have never used anyone else’s hose or washed my hose out with a water hose (That is what grey water is for).
Bill Jones says
I dump wearing gloves but then, I’m a hospital volunteer (ER) so gloving up is no big deal for me. Yes, I know how to remove and discard the gloves without touching the outside surface of the gloves.
Lee says
This is a case of you’re not going to convince them otherwise and “they won’t be confused by the facts”.
Sure, you’ve done without gloves for a bazillion years, but tomorrow is a different day.
Maybe Darwin was right.
Vernon Hawks says
Some of the comments make me laugh. If you use gloves or you don’t use gloves. Washing your hands thoroughly (not just getting them wet) then sanitizing. I worked in the food industry for 40 years. A minimum of a 30 second scrub was required then immediately sanitize. If you picked anything off the floor or anything you must sanitize.
On a lighter note we use tell this Joke. An employee walks out of the restroom and his supervisor says you didn’t wash your hands after going to the bathroom and going back to work. The employee quickly responded I’m not going back to work I’m going take my lunch! 🤢
Tom says
I’m a hit or miss with gloves. I do however wash thoroughly with soap and water after finishing my chore. Seriously, you should be more concerned with the public bathrooms. As was stated before, the number of people who don’t was their hands when they are done in the bathrooms is enormous. I use a paper towel if available to open the main door to get out. Talk about spreading potential nasty stuff. These people are touching everything in the store when they are done.
Jay says
I am an ER physician. Did you wash your hands before donning the gloves? If so, how did you dry them? Gloves won’t easily go onto wet hands. Where do you store your hose? Everything in that area is contaminated by the hose. The gloves are contaminated by your hands as soon as you touch them. Everything in and on the compartment where your dump valves are located is contaminated. If you have soap there, it is contaminated. The door and latch are contaminated. What else is in that compartment? The fresh water connection! It’s contaminated, too. You correctly pull the gloves off while inverting them. Where will you go with those gloves and what will you touch? The front door handle and latch. So, the gloves, do they really make a difference in how and where they’re being used? Well, if you think they do then you probably also believe that the masks for Covid worked too.