Inside and Out Cleaning guide for Vanlife

Introduction

Your campervan is probably due for a sparkling cleaning, ready for the coming season as winter is around the corner. Cleaning your RV might not be as easy as you think, especially if you have to get to the hard-to-reach places or remove the black streaks. Van life travelers must know that it is essential to keep their van clean from time to time. However, how you use the campervan is shaped by how often you clean your motorhome. For instance, if you are a camper who travels more often in summers, this period can be dusty, so you have to clean your van regularly. Likewise, van life travelers who travel in winters or springs need to clean their vans once in a while. 

To blow away the Cobwebs, campers who use their vans seasonally will often carry out a proper spring clean ahead of their first lifestyle on the road. You will find yourself having more cleaning to do when you’ve got a permanent high-top motorhome. This post helps you learn how to do a general cleaning of your van, how to reach difficult-to-clean areas as well as essential tips to make the task easy and fast. It also contains significant supplies to keep your van, campervan, or motorhome always clean. 

Campervan Cleaning Guide

There are a few essential things to do before you go to the store and purchase a bunch of supplies and dish soaps. One of those things is a close examination of your van. You must consider the size of your RV before taking any step in cleaning it. Campers with large RVs will not only need to get extra supplies but also additional cleaners. Likewise, people with large vans need tools such as a mop handle or brush to clean the hard-to-reach places in their van. 

Also, campers must know if the body of their van is painted or not. If it is painted, is it with decorative decals or not? Trailers designed with decorative decays need special and careful cleaning. Moving on, breaking the cleaning processes into sections makes the work easier and fast. For instance, you can choose to clean the exterior that entails the tires, body, as well as truck first before moving inside, where you will have to clean the kitchen, bathroom, walls, ceiling, and many other parts. 

Meanwhile, campers should know what type of rims the campervan has to help choose suitable cleaners and tools. For instance, the supplies needed to clean Arsenal Sand on Black (12”) or Arsenal Sand on Black (9.5”) will be different from the one required to clean Barstow Matte Bronze with Matte Black Lip Ring. Also, you need to be sure if your RV is made of metal or fiberglass. Unlike the fiberglass campervan, metal vans are easier to clean and maintain. They require fewer tools and cleaners, compared to motorhomes made of fiberglass. The roof of the campervan is another essential part of the van to take into consideration when cleaning the motorhome. 

 

Exterior Campervan or Van Cleaning Tips

Like in your home, the way you clean your exterior van differs from the way you clean the interior. You tend to allocate a lot of time and concentration to cleaning the interior than the exterior. However, large RV might be a bit difficult to clean as it has a lot of hard-to-reach places. Instead, it is advisable to wash while on the road. Even though it will cost you some bucks, you would have time to check your email and communicate with your loved ones while the RV is being washed. Likewise, the wash saves you a lot of time and aggravation. For van life travelers who would always love to clean their motorhome themselves, here are a few exterior tips you should know. One of these tips is checking the decorative decals in an RV or campervan.

Unlike other recreational vehicles, decorative decals are usually found in vans, RVs, and campers and. Not only do these decals give a trailer an elegant look, but they also protect it from discoloring or fading. This is why it is essential to check for these decals while washing recreational vehicles. You should prevent washing the van with pressure water, instead visit a local RV dealer to purchase a bottle of the specialty cleaning agent. The specialty cleaning agent does not only protect the decals from peeling but also brightens their look. New RVs with a clear coat finish should always be washed with a specialty cleaning agent. Cleaning your van with the right materials keeps the exterior part in the best shape possible. 

Moving on, the finish of the van is another vital tip you should know. Apart from the clear coat finish, aluminum is a finish found in many RVs, campervans as well as Airstream Interstate. Inappropriate cleaners and tools should not be used to clean these recreational vehicles; instead, use caution with a pressure washer. The pressure washer should be applied 18-24 inches away from the body of the campervan. 

A high-quality wash, as well as the wax product, are the perfect cleaners to apply on camper vans or RVs made of fiberglass finish. Most of the vans available today are constructed with fiberglass. The wax product and high-quality wash are available in many RV dealer stores. Unlike other exterior parts of a trailer, the rims on the truck are the most straightforward parts to wash. Use caution with heavy-duty brushes for chrome rims. Prevents using chrome scrubbers on the rim as it can scratch the clear coating off the rim. More so, like the rims, you would have no difficulty cleaning the roof, especially if it is made of fiberglass. With a proper fiberglass-cleaning agent and a ladder, you can always give the roof of your RV a sparkling look. As long as you are cautious around the AC units, antennas as well as vents, you can apply a pressure washer around these areas. 

Many old RVs are made of rubber roofs. Don’t apply any kind of coating on it, instead, visit an RV dealer store to get the perfect cleaners as well as tools to clean it. 

How to Clean the Exterior of your RV or Van 

Cleaning the exterior of your van or RV all starts with the wheels. If your van is muddy and also contains a lot of molds, you will need a first hose down. To prevent getting muck from the wheels to the already cleaned paintwork, you should start the spray from the wheels. Afterward, you can hose the underside and wheel arches. Avoid using a pressure washer on seals or areas with easy-to-damage items. You can proceed to stray the wheel cleaner. Get a stiff brush to scrub the tyres and a toothbrush to get into any smaller grooves. 

Having explored hundreds of cities while you were on the road a few days ago, we are sure your campervan would have picked up oils as well as a layer of dirt that is often difficult to get rid of. This dirt and oil picked up are usually referred to as the traffic film. The traffic film remover is the best cleaner to remove this dirt and oil without causing any damage to the mechanical parts of the van. When you shampoo your RV later, the (TFR) will help to protect the trailer from scratching and, at the same time, remove most of the grit. 

Since most of the grit, mold, as well as dirt, removed from the van, contain lots of harmful agents, you must keep yourself safe from them. You can do this by getting a cover for your skin and eye protection before starting the campervan. Using the TFR at the more massive duty end of the scale might cause a lot of damage to the area. So, it is ideal for applying a lower-strength TFR there. Meanwhile, the application should be carefully done and should be on profound clean occasions. 

Immediately after applying the TFR as well as the lower-strength TFR, the van should be rinsed off. The paint of the truck can corrode if the TFR dries on it. To wrap up the exterior cleaning of the RV, you need a shampoo to wash and rinse it, then later dry and wash the motorhome. You need buckets filled with warm water to use the shampoo. Use a wash mitt to shampoo the van top-down. Be sure to rinse the RV thoroughly with a cold hose. 

Then, you should dry up the camper van with a rag or cloth. It is essential to know that the motorhome should not be left to air dry as it can leave uneven patches on the body of the van. So, avoid washing it while it’s sunny. The next thing to do is to wax the RV panel by panel. The waxing should be done on every part of the van. 

Interior Campervan or Van Cleaning Tips

The essential exterior cleaning tips also apply to the exterior cleaning processes. However, the interior of your RV requires regular cleaning than the exterior. This is why you need to keep the inside of your campervan in good shape. Another vital tip in cleaning the surface of your RV is getting the right supplies and cleaners. Having these essential items will help you clean your van effortlessly and fast. Some of these tools include multi-surface soap or wipes (Clorox disinfectant wipes), glass cleaner (Windex), broom and dustpan, vacuum with attachments, paper towels, as well as a bathroom cleaner. 

How to clean the interior of the RV

The first step to take when cleaning the interior of your RV is to open all the windows. By doing so, overwhelming chemical smells can quickly diffuse out of the campervan. Using the top-down method does not only do the cleaning of your van stress-free but also perfects it. Kick-off your washing from the ceiling and walls down to the floor so you won’t have to clean the bottom again. Make sure you clean the vents with multi-surface wipes while cleaning from the top. 

Then, you take away all the items placed on it. The fragile ones, as well as the things that can be easily damaged by chemicals, should be placed in boxes. The shelves and cabinets should be carefully cleaned in and out. You should polish and dust down the cabinet and shelves. Likewise, make sure you dry the surfaces after cleaning the cupboards and inside lockers. The inside of the fridge should be cleaned using a gentle anti-bacterial cleaner. A microfiber cloth is the most suitable cloth to wipe the surface dry. Wipe down the kitchen surfaces with an anti-bacterial spray. Also, give your upholstery as well as carpets a good vacuum cleaning. Get rid of the unwanted materials from the storage trays and pocket while cleaning. All glasses should be cleaned with a microfiber cloth and a glass cleaner spray. If the seats are dirty, use an upholstery cleaner to give it a sparkling look. 

Afterward, you move down to the bathroom. The sink, shower, as well as the toilet, should be sprayed and disinfected with the cleaner. Then, you clean the bathroom floor and other essential areas in the bathroom. Aside from water solution, vinegar is another suitable supply to clean the shower. The floors are also another vital part of the van you should clean regularly. Even though many campers give little or no attention to cleaning the floors, maintaining a clean floor allows it to last for an extended period, so you don’t have to replace it prematurely. You can wrap up the cleaning using an odor-neutralizing air freshener to give the interior a pleasant smell.  

Perfect RV, Campervan and Van cleaning Products and Tools

Although there are hundreds of thousands of tools to clean recreational vehicles, the ones perfect for RV, campervan and van includes car wash foam gun, Meguiar’s gold class shampoo and conditioner, flow-thru wash brush with extension pole, the absorber synthetic drying chamois, lambswool wash mitt, Nufinish polish, the grit guard and collapsible bucket. 

Conclusion

By cleaning your campervan or motorhome regularly, you can be sure that the recreational vehicle will last for a lifetime. RVs that are often washed give sparkling and elegant looks always. Meanwhile, every part of the van has different methods as well as tools to keep it clean. All these processes have been comprehensively discussed in the post. We wish you a safe trip on your next van life voyage.