What is the Compo Closet Cuddy?
The Cuddy is a portable composting toilet made by the startup Compo Closet. As van lifers, we would also be amiss if we didn’t toot (punny?) that that Compo Closet’s Cuddy is a portable composting toilet made specifically for the van life use case. In this review, we are going to dig into the above statement, as well as our personal experience.
This is not a sponsored post, we chose, and purchased the Cuddy on our own dime, but they did hook us up with an affiliate code, so if you choose to purchase through any link on this page we will receive a small kickback! Let’s get to it!
Our Cuddy in a Bench
We personally store our Cuddy in our bench, which is also our pop up shower. Below you can see the dimensions, and how it fits.
The Cuddy for Van Life
The Cuddy composting toilet is built for van life in the following ways:
- Size: When designing a van build, every inch matters and that is exactly what drew us to the Cuddy composting toilet. As you can see above, the dimensions are just *insert chefs kiss* for storing inside a bench, which is where 75% of people end up putting their toilet in a van.
- Compactness: The agitator is fully accessible in front, and not protruding. This opens up more options for where it gets stored compared to other similar toilets.
- Simplicity: The Cuddy is simply a solids bin, a liquids bin, a comfortable seat, an LED indicator light (for when the pee jug is full), and a fan along with a carbon filter. That’s it! Everything is easily accessible.
Below you can see the Cuddy sitting perfectly inside our “shower in a bench” (30″x20″x16″) with the agitator pulled out.
Compo Closet Cuddy Basics
The Cuddy is a 15.1″ wide x 16.8″ long X 16.3″ high box. On the inside is a toilet seat with a urine diverter. You can then lift up the toilet seat to reveal a solids bin with agitator arms, and a liquids bin. The solids bin locks in place with the agitator handle, and the liquids bin fits snug. Behind the solids bin is a carbon filter and small fan. The fan is powered by an included DC power cable.
Now that the basics are covered, let’s address the most common questions.
Does the Cuddy smell?
Like dirt, yes. Like poo, no. 🙂 In all seriousness, the composting really works for us and does not smell. We use coco coir bricks as our composting medium so the solids bin almost always looks like a giant pile of dirt and is easy to deal with.
Frankly, we find the liquids container to be the bigger culprit in terms of smell. However, we quickly realized that spraying a mixture of 2 parts water to 1 part distilled vinegar into the diverter after each use helps that.
A note on composting materials
There are two forms of composting material you will hear about in the van life world: coco coir and peat moss. These are not the same thing. Coco coir comes from the recycled husks of coconuts, is environmentally friendly by saving the husks from becoming waste! Whereas, peat moss is strip-mined from bogs causing environmental and cultural damage. Peat moss is also hydrophobic in nature so it might prove more difficult to re-moisten for use in your composting toilet than coco coir does.
Our recommendation is to use coco coir bricks, unless of course you want to pursue a more DIY option like wood chips, coffee grounds, or other scraps.
How often does the Cuddy need emptied?
For the liquids bin, we need to empty it about every 2 days with two people using it for almost every “go”.
For the solids bin, I would say every 10-15 “goes”. This, of course, varies on many factors like how much composting material you use and how (uhhh…) much organic matter you deposit. As a baseline for how much composting material to use, CompoCloset suggests adding enough at the beginning to reach the bottom of the agitator arms, and then adding a scoop with every “go”. Personally, we use extra composting material just to be safe, so we probably have to empty more than we need to.
A note on the LED Indicator Light
We previously reported that the LED indicator light was unreliable, however, as of 2023, all liquid bottles now have a float switch solving the false indicator light problem.
Emptying The Cuddy
Colby (the female one of us) has done the emptying frequently so you can be sure it isn’t awful!
For liquids, the process is simple. Remove the black jug and empty it. We actually LOVE that the jug is black because it is a little more discrete. We have found the actual dump and pour to be a bit messy so we recommend bringing a paper towel, or our favorite wipes, to clean the sides. We also try to rinse the inside with water whenever the resources are available.
For solids, the process is a bit more time insensitive as you have to finagle the solids bin off of the agitator handle and carry it to a safe place for disposal. We personally prefer to dig a really deep hole and dispose of it there as it is composting material. This of course takes time to do properly (yay LNT!). The actual emptying of the solids bin once it is finagled out, is pretty clean. If the material has composted correctly it is like dumping a pail of dirt. Sometimes we need to wipe the agitator arms a little extra, but nothing major.
A Secondary Option - Ideal for Part Timers
In 2023, CompoCloset released another option for the solids bin; an agitator-less solids bin. The perk of this option is that you can utilize bags and make the toilet more of a one, or two, time use situation, compared to composting for months.
Even as full timers, we are going to be trying this option soon. We only use the solids portion a few times a month so are intrigued by the ability to ditch the “solids” more easily and more frequently.
Let's talk moisture
Our one sticking point with The Cuddy is that it is quite moist inside the box to the point where we will “air” it out on sunny days occasionally. Obviously moisture is hard to avoid completely when working with organic matter. However, we do wish more care was taken with the hinges. We have had to wipe rust off of them a couple of times when this potentially could have been avoided with stainless steel hinges.
Stainless Steel Hinge Upgrade [2023]
Another exciting update as of Summer 2023! CompoCloset acknowledged the rusting hinges and upgraded all toilets going forward to have Stainless Steel hinges.
If you have a Cuddy from before then, you can purchase and install the Stainless Steel hinge upgrade kit.
A note on exterior venting
Adding additional venting to our Cuddy would absolutely help with the moisture issue. However, we chose this toilet in particular so we didn’t have to vent outside. With our passion for winter van life, and the fact that we physically need to move it out of our shower occasionally, that would not work for us. But, it is worth noting that you can vent it exteriorly if you wish.
Is the Cuddy good for your van life?
If you are willing to spend money on a composting toilet, yes, we think The Cuddy is a GREAT option. As folks who DIY-ed our toilet in our first rig, and now have this in our second, we can say with confidence that it has increased our comfort greatly. There is something special about enjoying your bathroom situation when you live in a van.
Van Life Toilet Recommendations
If the Cuddy isn’t fitting your bill, have no fear, we have an entire guide to choosing the right toilet for your van life. Head on over there, or checkout the quick summary below:
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Best for Van Life
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Best for Easy Disposal
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Best for "tried and true"
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Best for Emergencies Only
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$780.00
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$895.00
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$1,030.00
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$103.51
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- Dimensionally space efficient
- Solids bin easy to empty
- Built specifically for van life
- Flimsy lid
- Minimal interior construction causes moisture
- $$
- Extremely easy & clean to empty
- No hardwiring (battery pack powered)
- Space issues (full size toilet) ~$2 per flush (for cartridge refill packs)
- $$
- Durable construction
- Well separated solids and liquids
- Requires the most (awkward) space
- Visible liquids container ("ick factor")
- $$$
- Affordable
- No electrical connection required
- Dealing with black water disposal
- Porta Potty Chemicals onboard
Compo Closet Cuddy Summary
The Cuddy is the toilet we personally have in our rig. We love that it is simple, space efficient, and can be removed from the van easily. If a composting toilet is up your alley, this is the most van build focused one on the market. If dealing with compost feels out of your comfort zone, check out the Laveo Dry Flush!
Thanks for being here! Happy building!
Eric + Colby
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Comments 7
Thanks for the review! Just wanted to note that coco coir and peat moss aren’t the same thing. (Peat moss is taken from peat bogs, and is environmentally way worse than using coco coir. So, I’m glad you’re using coco coir! 🙂
Author
Oh, no! Thank you for pointing that out. I will update!
How much composting material do you put in each time?
Author
We start each “batch….” with enough composting material to cover up to about 1″ up the agitator arms. Then, every time we go we add about a cup of loose composting material.
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Another annoying thing with it is the lid – it always wants to close when opened in vertical position.
Author
Oh! Interesting, we haven’t had this problem. I have seen some folks just take the lid off though and I wonder if that is why…