Fine wood shavings as a compost toilet cover

What’s the best cover material for a compost toilet?

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Updated 27th March 2021

In a basic, simple compost toilet the perfect cover material does several things:

  • adds carbon, which will work with the nitrogen in the faeces (and urine) to create a balanced mixture for subsequent composting in your compost pile/bin/heap.
  • acts as a visual cover so people aren’t staring at poo!
  • acts as a bio filter that will stop your loo smelling

Some compost toilets, typically urine-separating models, don’t need any cover material at all according to the manufacturers (for example Separett Tiny, Villa & Weekend, and the Simploo). This is because they use a fan to actively remove odours and help regulate the moisture content of the solids container. They will need to have a carbon material and probably moisture added at the composting stage.

However, they might still benefit from an organic soak material in the bottom of the solids container to absorb any excess liquid that might get in – perfect in glamping or shared facilities where guests aren’t used to urine diverting compost toilets.

In addition, even if you have a fan, you might want to use some organic cover material to act as a ‘visual’ cover over the solids if your toilet doesn’t have a concealing or modesty cover.

For a cover material to act as an effective Bio filter, it mustn’t be completely dry. The easiest way to achieve this is to leave your cover material outside for a while – this way, it’ll probably get some rain in, and bacteria will start to break the contents down, creating an active bio filter.

If your compost toilet smells, it’s either because you’re not using enough cover material, or the cover material is not active enough in terms of bacteria (or a bit of both).


In this article, we’ll cover the most commonly used cover materials and give our view, and the views of others. Remember that everyone is different, and what works for you with your compost toilet, might not necessarily work as well for someone else.

When you’re starting out, don’t invest in too much of one material – keep an open mind and experiment to see what works best for you. Ask around to see what’s working for other people.

Even if your compost toilet has a fan for odour control, a cover material is sometimes used as a ‘soak’ at the bottom of the solids container (a 2.5 – 5 cm or so layer is ideal), and an occasional sprinkling of carbon-rich material over the ‘solids’ will help with the final composting process and provide a way for people to disguise their deposits if they wish to.

Coir bricks

Coir or Coconut Coir (pronounced ‘coy-err’) has gained a lot of attention in recent years as an alternative to peat).

Coir is a waste or by-product of the coconut industry, and it’s convenient to buy it in highly compressed blocks (about the size of a house brick) which are then reconstituted with water (warm or hot water does the trick even quicker).

A typical coir brick will expand to a volume of around 8 litres.

Coir brick used as a compost toilet cover material
Compressed coir brick

Although it’s a waste product, the distance travelled (air miles) can be an ecological issue to consider, but there are a few other practical issues that have come to light in terms of its suitability as a compost toilet cover material.

Firstly, in reconstituting it with water, you are making it quite moist, which goes against what most people would assume. However, some moisture is important, but not to the point that it’s sodden! Remember that instructions for rehydrating it are for its use as a garden compost – we would suggest placing the coir brick in a bag or other container, and adding around 1 litre of warm to hot water – you can break up any clumps by hand and add more water if necessary.

Coir is available in some garden centres, online and at many ‘hydroponics’ shops. It makes sense to buy in bulk as it’s reasonably easy to store in the compressed ‘brick’ form and will keep (as long as it doesn’t get wet).

In terms of its performance as a cover material, coir does well. It’s the recommended material for use in Air Head, Natures Head, and Compoost compost toilets.

Chopped straw or hemp stalks

Often sold as animal bedding, Chopped Straw, hemp stalks etc can be used as a cover material and soak. It’s not that absorbent, but it’s just about OK. Try to seek out the most ‘chopped’ variety with shorter stems.

Small bags (compressed) are often available in supermarkets and pet shops, and if you buy larger quantities from farm or equine supplies, it becomes very inexpensive.

Chopped straw as a compost toilet cover
Chopped straw

People using it have had mixed success with some saying it’s worked ok, and others saying that it’s not so good at odour control. It’s possible that people who have good results have let it become ‘weathered’ and hence populated by the bacteria that will do good work in your loo.

It might be an idea to try alternating covers, so you could try some and every other use, try sawdust or shavings.

If you have access to some, or can’t get your usual cover, then it’s worth a try.

Wood ash

Wood ash (never use coal ash as it’s highly toxic) is often available for free during the cooler months if you have a wood burner, and has excellent odour control properties. However, it’s not really recommended in compost toilets as it can cause all sorts of issues further on.

From a practical perspective, it is very messy and dusty in use. A composting expert friend of ours makes the following observations on wood ash:

“I choose not to use wood ash on compost heaps as when it meets up with high nitrogen materials such as manures or food waste, it makes ammonia which evaporates and thus you lose the nitrogen to the air, rather than having it as nitrates in the soil, where they are a fertiliser. Also, the nutrients in wood ash are extremely soluble so they wash through the compost if it’s open to the rain, as most of mine are. Wood ash is best used around fruit trees in the spring before they come into leaf, helps prevent against bitter pit in apples.”

John ‘Compost’ Cosham

Our personal take on wood ash is to only use it sparingly and always in conjunction with other cover materials.

Sawdust

Sawdust is a very broad term and can mean different things to different people.

The very fine, almost literally ‘dust’ from electric saws and sanders used in woodworking is in my experience too fine and too dry – it’s good at being absorbent but rubbish at odour control (although if you have access to some, you could mix it with other cover materials), so we don’t recommend this alone.

However, the chunkier bits or ‘nibs’ that might come off electric planers, routers and the like are better. Don’t ever use sawdust from treated wood, plywood or MDF as they contain a lot of glues or potentially other chemicals which might inhibit composting.

One of the best ‘sawdusts’ is the ‘nibs’ of wood you get from using a chainsaw – they are often slightly damp when fresh, but perform extremely well because they will have been exposed to good bacteria.

Sawdust, like other cover materials, perform best as a bio filter when it’s been allowed to mature. Left somewhere, slightly open to the elements (but don’t let it get too wet), and good bacteria will start to colonise it, making it even better as a cover as the biological actions of composting will have already started.

Fine wood shavings

The easiest option for most people is fine wood shavings. Usually sold as pet bedding in various sized compressed blocks and readily available on the high street at low cost.

As you can see from the photo below, the shavings are fairly fine, but not a true ‘sawdust’. Shavings are usually a waste product from timber processing companies, so they’re technically a local waste product and are very dry and easy to store.

Fine wood shavings as a compost toilet cover
Wood shavings (pet bedding) as a cover material.

Fresh out of the pack, they are far too dry, so we prefer to wet then slightly or they can be too ‘light and fluffy’. Like sawdust, it’s even better to let it mature outside for a while (let the bacteria get to start on it) if you can. The downside to using shavings is that they will take longer to compost in your compost pile, so if you want fast compost, maybe consider something else.

If you’re after larger quantities of wood shavings, try ‘countryside’, farm or equine supply stores – they usually sell large bales at a very low price compared to buying the small bags from the high street.

A good compromise is to mix dry wood shavings with some activated or mature sawdust. This way, you get the benefit of a dry cover material which traps oxygen within the mix, whilst the mature sawdust provides the odour-eating bacteria!

Compressed wood pellets

Compressed wood pellets, often sold as cat litter, stove pellets or horse bedding are a good choice and give a reliable ‘all round’ performance. Sprinkle or spray some water over them to ‘fluff’ them up and they’ll cover well.

Use them uncompressed as the soak layer at the bottom of your solids container and they’ll expand and soak up excess liquids.

They’re not the cheapest cover material (unless you buy the equine versions in large sacks), but are a reliable option that works and readily available from the high street or supermarket.

Wood based cat litter pellets as a compost toilet cover

And the rest…

If you can get something cheap or for free, and it’s fairly fine and organic, then give it a try! We’ve heard of people using spent coffee grounds obtained for free from high street coffee shops (the only issue with coffee grounds is that they can be too damp when fresh, so need a bit of drying out), but if you like coffee, your toilet will smell great!

Other people have tried dried leaves either exclusively or mixed in with other materials. Another person has mentioned that ‘shredded hemp stalk’ sold as horse bedding in equine supply shops “rots down quickly, is highly absorbent and reduces smells and is cheap in square bales”.

If you have an garden shredder, then shredded bush, tree and leaf prunings can be used and are probably the most effective cover material in terms of tackling odours because they’ll come ready-charged with bacteria so are a perfect bio filter. However, some people don’t like their appearance, looking a bit messy!

What about peat moss? Peat moss is a popular option in the USA and some Scandinavian countries, and works well as a cover, however, PLEASE DON’T USE IT – EVER! Peat moss is extracted from peat bogs – a wonderful habitat that’s equivalent to a rainforest, and they are in serious decline. According to Friends of the Earth, peat bogs are a rich haven for wildlife; improves water quality, helps reduce flood risk and acts as a massive carbon sink. Harvesting peat is usually done on an industrial scale and most peat sold in the UK is actually collected in Ireland.

The UK has now lost 94% of its lowland peatlands due to peat extraction and farming. If you have the slightest care for nature and the future of our Earth, just don’t use it (not even in garden compost!).


And the winner is….

I recommend you start with either fine wood shavings (pet bedding) or compressed wood pellets both as a soak in the base of the solids bucket and as a cover material.

They’re both readily available, easy to store and very dry on purchase. But, as mentioned above, they’ll work even better is they are left outside to ‘age’ for a while.

Shredded garden clippings probably perform the best overall as a bio filter, but don’t look as ‘neat’ as the pellets or shavings – personally this doesn’t bother me, but it might bother you. Best of all, apart the electricity to run the shredder and a bit of your time, they’re free!

Of course, if your compost toilet manufacturer specifically recommends something else, then you should follow their recommendations until you are familiar with the product and whole emptying and composting process.

What not to use

Joseph Jenkins, acclaimed author of the ‘Humanure Handbook’ mentions some things never to use as a cover material: “You can’t use ashes, you can’t use sand, you can’t use lime, and you can’t use dirt (soil). It must be a plant cellulose material”. So there you have it – the compost toilet god has told you!

What about toilet paper?

Toilet roll

The final issue is whether to put toilet paper in the loo (solids area) or not?

In a glamping/camping site or holiday let, the best option is to let people put loo paper in the solids bucket. Too many dos and don’ts will just confuse people, so keep it simple.

If it’s your own loo, you might want to consider having a separate bin for loo paper which can then be later composted, binned or burned.

Adding used toilet paper into the solids container will mean it fills up faster, but the flip side is simplicity. It’s up to you which you consider the best option.


What’s been your experience?

Why not let me know what you’ve been using and how well it’s worked for you? Tell me in the comment box below, and don’t forget to mention what make of compost toilet or separator you are using!

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10 Comments

  1. WE just found this Bog Blog. We have a Bog Blog too, which we have been perfecting for 25 years. Our web site is Good Gardeners International as we sell a micro-organic cover medium for compost toilets that acts faster than any other medium in decomposing your toilet waste. It’s called HH-5. ggi.org.uk

    1. Thanks for your comment. HH-5 looks interesting but obviously adds to the cost of operating a compost toilet.

  2. This is very helpful! We have a pee funnel in our camper van that diverts to a bucket beneath the van that we dump regularly, and use a 3 gallon bucket with a lidded toilet seat for #2. We use biodegradable bags inside, so we can either burry them or throw them away, depending on where we’re camping. And we buy either pine or cedar pet bedding at Walmart and have found that sprinkling the pile with a little bit of coffee grounds before adding the shavings helps with the smell!

    1. Thanks for your comment. That’s a nice simple setup and the coffee grounds will certainly help with some smell!

  3. We use the simple bucket/ toilet seat combo and pet bedding. We’ve never had an issue with smell and it seems to work perfectly.

    1. Thanks Eileen for your comment – it’s good to hear that. Can I ask how much cover material you usually use after each visit? I find 1 – 2 scoops/handfulls are needed but some cover material needs less than others.

  4. What about urine. We pee far more during the day than we poop. Should the same compost toilet be used for urine as for feces?

    1. That’s a great question! Urine equates to 80-90% of our outputs by volume. Personally, I find that having rules about one toilet for urine and one for faeces is too complicated, plus not everyone can control themselves 100% effectively. Having experimented with both urine-separating and ‘all-in-one’ style bucket toilets, I think for a house, I would settle on a separating toilet which diverts the urine away (so the container is just capturing solids). Urine can usually be run into a small soakaway pit in the ground, so is easy to deal with.

      The downside to ‘all-in-one’ or bucket compost toilets is that they fill up really quickly, so the maintenance aspect is greater. However, that needs to be balanced against the simplicity. The final decision will depend on your situation, taking all factors into account.

  5. Why can’t we just use kitty litter forget about the decomposing? I want it’s time to change it just dump it in a trash bag heavy duty type like I do for my kitty cat litter!

  6. Hello! Thank you so much for this blog! Such amazing resources.

    We normally use a toilet bidet instead of toilet paper in our regular water based toilet at home in the city and wanted to set up a composting toilet as an alternative in our country home.

    Just to be clear, these bidets are the ones that are directly attached to the toilet where you poop! It prevents you from having to hobble over with your pants down to another contraption nearby…. This means that the process of washing up would add some water to the compost every time; I’m guessing around 250-500ml depending on the user. Would that make it too soggy? Perhaps we should leave some of those wood pellets in their dry form in the receptacle?

    I’m assuming that if we have a urine diverter, at least the nitrogen won’t be adding to the mix and prevent bad smells?

    Would love your thoughts on this!