If you’re like me and your RV cleaning typically looks like a wipe and sweep, then you probably need a good mid season deep clean like we did!
In the chaos of use, unpacking and repacking it’s pretty easy to do that quick wipedown and sort of forget about these other spots! I know I tend to look over things because I’m so used to my cleaning routine that I’m almost on auto! However my husband does have a more keen eye, so we put together a list of spots we wanted to focus on with this “deep cleaning” RV session.
This stuff definitely doesn’t need to be done after every trip, or perhaps only once a season if you don’t have kids! I did want to show you guys some surprising spots that some ickies built up in!
Here we go!
P.S. If you’re here for that spiffy checklist, you can sign up for it at the bottom of this article and I’ll send it on over!
Here’s the video of MY camper deep clean for some motivation!!
Under the bench seats (if yours are removable for storage)
I discovered this one by accident while showing my mom where we store some extra things! HOLY COW were there alot of cheerios and other various items! It seems items had been pushed to the edge of the cushion and managed to fall under the piece of wood that the cushion sits on down into the bowels of the camper!
This one is easy enough to do with a vacuum, luckily. I did, however, find a couple of lost crayons so that is a bonus!
The kitchen stove top vent fan cover
So you probably wiped down the hood over the burners, and maybe even took the the tops off of the burners to get underneath them. But did you look up under the hood and see that sticky vent fan cover?
It’s definitely a place that can trap smells (this is even truer if you tend to cook in your camper!) so take it off and use some powerful grease cutting soap and scrub it all off!
The drip pan in your RV refrigerator
Am I the only one who thinks RV refrigerators seem to just hold any and all smells? I definitely make sure that I wipe out the entirety of the fridge with an antibacterial wipe after each trip.
Even if nothing spilled, for whatever reason, mold seems to develop once you turn it off and the tiny particles just sit in there!
HOWEVER, I do think that if you dump and clean your drip pan every time, it can reduce the smelliness of your refrigerator!
I use an antibacterial wipe in a pinch, but it might be beneficial to actually wash this guy in the dishwasher if you have the time (as well as the rest of the items that are removable!)
P.S. if you struggle with your RV fridge still being smelly, you should definitely check out these handy camper fridge deodorizers that take up hardly any space… but work!
Along the edges of the kitchen counter and sink
If you tend to keep a couple of items against the walls in your kitchen (spices, cookware, cords for electronics etc) then you should definitely actually move everything away from the wall to clean behind it!
I also found alot of gunk in between the sink and the faucet – I really thought I was good about reducing any splashing because I’m paranoid about warping the wall or counter, but there was a surprising amount of cleaning to do in the area from splash outs!
Under the sink drain strainer
Those things are so small that it’s hard to clean them with even your finger and a paper towel (which is my normal cleaning routine!)
I instead got a Q tip for between the drain “arms” (not sure what the extensions from the middle of the drain to the sides of the drain are called) and a very tiny kids toothbrush to really scrub the sides off!
Bottom of the tub (especially if you typically use this as storage!)
Firewood storage, kid toy storage, overflow food storage… all are different things my RV tub has turned into! So you bet that at the bottom of everything there was a bit to clean out!
I always sort of procrastinated cleaning it out because that I meant I would have to take EVERYTHING OUT… and after months and months of use, quite a bit of random stuff had accumulated in it!
The bathroom vent screen (and fan if needed!)
If yours is caked with dust, then it’s time to clean it! You could definitely take the whole thing off (and then able to access the fan) or simply get a micorfiber cloth!
The best method seems to first wipe off what you can dry, then wet it and get the rest off!
The AC evaporator coils
You might have a filter on yours that keeps alot of the stuff out (for some reasons our doesn’t!) but it’s good to check these coils! Ours were filthy!
While there are plenty of VERY in depth ways to clean them, the easiest way while still getting a good clean is to get a brush such as a nail cleaning brush or a hair brush (the kind with actual bristles) and brush DOWN with the grain!
This will get alot of the gunk off and might even improve how your AC works!
I’ve included a video of someone using this method below!
Tip: I didn’t have a nail brush, but I did find that a boar bristle brush like this gets the job done fast and doesn’t break the bank!
Against walls where you *think* you have good organization in place!
We use a shoe bin and a shelf near the entrance of our camper. But, unsurprisingly at this point, we found a lot of things that had fallen off the shoes or fell between the wall and the shelf!
I definitely recommend getting a vacuum and then finishing with a wet rag to get everything out! General sweeps aren’t normally good enough to get that dust and crud that’s stuck against the wall!
What was the most surprising hidden dirty spot you found in your camper? Leave it in the comments below!
Let me know, I’d love to add it to the list! This kind of deep clean is really good for prep before storage, or really just mid season if you have been going out camping alot!
Get this RV deep cleaning checklist so that you don’t miss these spots like I did this whole time!
I didn’t even think of some of these spots in the camper, and it honestly does smell alot better now (there seemed to always be a food smell that suck around before!)
Get the checklist with bonus areas to look out for below (don’t worry the watermark will be removed for you guys on my list!)
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