Are you looking for tips on how to keep your RV clean? Whether you’re taking your camper out for a long weekend, or you live in your RV full-time, you know that the small space can get dirty and messy pretty quickly.
It’s the place where you eat, sleep, and play. So how can you keep the small space in your RV clean? Well, these RV cleaning tips are sure to help you.
RVs are much smaller than the common house size, so you may think that it’s easier to keep it clean. BUT, if you ask anyone who’s lived in their RV full-time for a period of time, they’ll most likely tell you that because it’s smaller, all the areas are used more and there’s less free space.
12 Habits To Keep Your RV Clean
It can be a real challenge to keep it super clean.
So if you want your RV to look like those on Instagram and Pinterest, you should follow these simple cleaning an RV tips.
THIS ARTICLE MAY CONTAIN COMPENSATED LINKS. PLEASE READ OUR DISCLAIMER FOR MORE INFO. THIS POST WAS WRITTEN BY JILL GREISING-MURSCHEL, A FAMILY TRAVEL AND RV LIVING EXPERT.
1. Practice Minimalism
To avoid the possibility of a mess, let’s start with having less stuff around the RV. The first step to RV living is practicing minimalism.
From living in a normal house to living in a tiny home, it’s inevitable to let go of a lot of things or go through what we call ‘purging’ during the beginner phase.
Most of our RV kitchen accessories are collapsible and have a minimalist design as well. Check out this collapsible strainer and collapsible measuring cups. Having these types of designs helps us in saving space.
You can only keep a few things in your RV, so we suggest to only keeping those that are multi-purpose if possible. This way, you’ll have more space and less things to clean up.
Think about less dishes to do clean!
Learn exactly how to become a master at keeping your RV organized and looking great without feeling overwhelmed when you grab a copy of our 73-page ebook. Click here to grab a copy of Organize Your RV Like A Pro.
2. Organize and Secure Everything
Everything starts with good organization. If the things around your RV have designated locations or containers, there are less chances of making a mess.
Keep things secure. Utilize cupboards. Everything has to be INSIDE a drawer or a holder since the RV moves which can cause things to fall down the floor.
Click here for organization ideas that are bathroom-specific.
3. Don’t Allow Footwear Inside
… except if you have indoor slippers. Imagine where you walked on outside using your shoes, and then imagine it on your RV floor. That’s basically what happens when you wear your shoes inside.
You bring along the dust and soil from outside and it can be a hassle to wipe it on the floor (especially if it’s dried mud and you don’t have a mop).
It takes less energy to just remove your shoes before stepping in, really.
4. Sweep The Floor Daily
We lived in our motorhome full time with our 4 kids, but the goal was to spend little time IN it.
We wanted to spend most of our time exploring outdoors. Still, the RV is where we made our meals, slept, and sometimes played. So we still had to clean it all the time.
Sweeping the floor should be done every now and then. Daily would be a good start. It will help you prevent getting ants in your RV!
Pro Tip: Consider buying an RV vacuum cleaner if you have a lot of carpet in your RV, or if you have dogs in your RV or pets along for the journey.
5. Never Let Anything Pile Up
Dishes, clothes, toys, and everything else that can be piled up after usage should NEVER be piled up.
It’s best to clean up things right after using them. Wash the dishes after every meal, and put used clothes in the proper laundry bin.
Because once things are piled up, you’ll think that it’s too much work to get it cleaned and will probably make you prolong the cleaning even longer. Especially in a small space.
6. Wipe Surfaces Daily
Just like on the floor, dust settles and accumulates on any other elevated surface like your countertops and cabinets. Especially if you opened the windows to your RV while it was windy outside.
Dust can be a huge problem — it can trigger allergies and other complications. Make it a habit to wipe surfaces with a damp cloth every day to avoid this.
7. Clean The Fridge
All of us have experienced forgetting the leftovers we left in the fridge. And aside from that being a waste, it can also add a foul smell in your RV fridge, and soon to be in your tiny space in your RV.
It’s good to check the fridge at least once every three days to avoid this problem and add a small box of baking soda to help reduce odors.
Read related blog: How to Get Rid of Bad Smell in the RV
8. Invest In A Dehumidifier To Keep Out Mold
The big issue many RVers have with keeping their RV or camper clean is keeping out mold. Especially if they are camping in areas with high humidity, such as Florida.
We’ve been there before, so we had to find a solution for this problem. We came up with using a dehumidifier when we camped in high humidity areas.
9. Check Your Tanks
Some RVers opt for good composting toilets in their RV. And some of these composting toilets are really good at keeping the smell down, surprisingly.
If you don’t, then remember to dump the black tank once it’s two-thirds full, just like your grey tank. It will help keep the smell down.
10. Wash the Bedsheets Weekly
Bed sheets are used daily, and in an RV you are most likely a bit dirtier than in a regular house. If you can, try to wash the sheets weekly.
Not only will the RV smell fresh and clean each time, but you’ll be forced to check under the mattresses for any missing socks or toys, and you can do a quick vacuum or wipe down any sand or dirt in the beds.
11. Avoid Using Abrasive Cleaners
Here’s a tip I usually share with my co-RVers especially those who RVs with kids. As a part of RV maintenance, using cleaning supplies in general is crucial for the cleaning process.
Making sure you avoid using those abrasive cleaners that contains harsh chemicals is an important note. This could potentially damage the finish for your RV, through metal surfaces etc.. Make sure you choose mild detergent and other cleaning solutions and a soft sponge to remove dirt buildup from your RV.
12. Conduct a Monthly (or weekly) General Cleaning
Let’s be honest, no matter how dedicated we are to sticking to these cleaning habits, we still forget it at times. This is where the monthly general cleaning comes in!
Check the organization of your things, think if you’ll have to rearrange them, and see if you have to declutter/ throw away some stuff that is not useful.
Depending on how you use your RV, will really depend on how often you’ll clean it. If you live full time in your RV and keep it stationary living, you may need to set up a weekly cleaning schedule for yourself.
If you just use your RV for vacations, you will most likely clean your RV when you get home each time.
Or, if you travel in your RV full time and stay at campgrounds or fun boondocking locations for about 1-2 weeks at a time like we did, then you may use your ‘travel days’ as deep cleaning days. Deep clean before you pull the slides in, and travel to your next destination.
These listed habits may seem like small tasks that you can just skip when you don’t feel like doing it. However, it’s essential to keep these kinds of habits if you want a squeaky clean RV.
Also, before I forgot, in keeping our RV’s exterior clean, we usually have it cleaned when possible at a car wash, if not, we find a spot like those RV parks that offers a hose and supplies for cleaning.
For those who are traveling with kids, this may be a little harder — given the toys and all that. But it’s NOT impossible!
So start these habits now and your RV experience will surely be better AND cleaner!
Hi Jill,
some very good advice, thank you.
Over the many years that Gail and I have camped in various motorhomes and caravans, we decided very early on that we would not cook INSIDE the vehicle. This has the added advantage of keeping out cooking aromas as well as not fouling the interior with steam laced with vegetable or meat juices.
Now that’s a smart idea. I bet all of your motorhomes and caravans remain pretty clean that way!
Reminds me I need to clean the fridge this spring. Any advice on keeping the fresh water fresh between trips,
Now that’s a tough one. If the trips are back-to-back weekends, you are probably safe to keep the fresh water onboard. Or, if you plan to use a Berkey Water Filter to purify any water that comes out of your fresh water tank before drinking it, then you might feel okay leaving the fresh water tank full between trips. As long as your RV won’t be sitting in freezing temperatures. If you want to learn more about the Berkey system here’s a post I wrote recently: https://www.letstravelfamily.com/best-counter-water-filter-for-rv-and-home/