Use These Products to Clean Your RV! •

A few months ago, I purchased a 1988 Ford E250 Camper Van. The camper van had been sitting for several years and therefore was in desperate need of major cleaning! After researching cleaning products to use on vans, campers, RVs, etc., I decided on what products I would use to clean my camper van. So, if you’ve found yourself needing to clean your RV, van, camper van, etc. too, then let me share the products I used to clean the inside of mine with you!

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Awesome

Usually, my go-to cleaning product is an all-purpose cleaner called, Awesome. It can actually be found at the Dollar Tree and it works so well on most surfaces! My family has seriously been using this cleaner for years!

I used Awesome to clean the walls and cabinets of the camper van. It was especially helpful in removing some old food stains that were inside of some of the upper cabinets and it didn’t harm the actual surface. I definitely recommend using Awesome for tough stains in your RV.

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers

I didn’t use the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers much but when I ran out of the Awesome cleaner, they were my back up cleaning product for the cabinets and walls.

My only problem with the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers is that they don’t seem to last a long time. I would use one and before I knew it, it was dingy and crumbling in my hand. For small areas or light cleaning, I would keep them on hand though, simply because they are good to use for small areas.

After cleaning the walls and cabinets, I started researching ways to clean the upholstery in the camper van.

Hydrogen Peroxide + Dawn Dishwashing Liquid

While looking on Pinterest, I found a cleaning solution that others have been using for upholstery and it seemed to work.

The solution I used calls for one cup of hydrogen peroxide and ¼ cup of Dawn dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle. Then, fill the rest of the bottle up with warm water. I’ve seen that some solutions also added white, distilled vinegar but I just used the hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid.

It’s best to test the cleaning solution on a small part of cushion or upholstery that you’ll be cleaning.

I knew that I would most likely be covering up the cushions with some sort of fabric cover anyways, so I didn’t mind if the cleaning mixture messed up the coloring of the cushions. Therefore, I just went for it. I sprayed a small area of the cushion with the hydrogen peroxide and Dawn dishwashing liquid mixture and then rubbed it in with a microfiber cloth.

I continued spraying and rubbing in the mixture on all of the upholstery in the camper van and was pleased that it did not ruin any of it! In fact, the hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid solution cleaned all of the upholstery better than I thought it would. Small stains that were on the cushions cleaned up well and it didn’t leave any cleaning chemical smell behind.

There are variations of this upholstery cleaning mixture so choose which one that fits your needs best. I definitely recommend giving one of the variations a try on you RV cushions and upholstery, though! If needed, I will be using this mixture again for sure.

With the walls, cabinets, and cushions in the camper van clean, I decided it was time to clean the carpet.

Resolve

The only reason I’m mentioning Resolve is because it may work for some carpets and rugs. However, it didn’t work well in my camper van.

The carpet in my camper van is old, dirty, and smelly. I came to the conclusion that I would use Resolve on it. I had used it on carpet in my house so I figured it would be a great cleaner for my camper van carpet.

I used the cleaning product like the instructions said and while I think the Resolved helped clean the carpet some, it didn’t do a good job of removing stains from it.

RV cleaning products
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So, for me, the Resolve carpet cleaner is not a product I would use again in the camper van. What I think the best solution is, in my situation, is to rip up the carpet completely and put down a hard flooring like laminate. That is actually what I will be doing later on in the renovation/update of my camper van.

After the easier surfaces of the camper van had been cleaned, it was finally time to face the worst area of the camper van: the bathroom!

Dawn Dishwashing Liquid + White, Distilled Vinegar

While researching cleaning products on Pinterest (Can you tell I love Pinterest?), I found a shower cleaner that contained just two ingredients: Dawn dishwashing liquid and white, distilled vinegar. I needed a cleaner for my bathroom/shower area of the camper van and decided to give this one a try.

I also ended up using this mixture in the refrigerator of the camper van as well. I was very impressed with the results in both the bathroom and refrigerator!

You see, during my research, I discovered that using bleach on plastic surfaces isn’t the best idea because bleach will eventually cause the plastic to deteriorate. So, I got an empty spray bottle and filled it about 2/3 with the white, distilled vinegar and then with about 1/3 of Dawn dishwashing liquid. I’ve also read that you can mix the ingredients 50/50 in a bottle as well. It’s up to you, with how much of each you’d like to use.

Another step that I read was to heat up the vinegar. I didn’t do this but I would imagine it would help break up tough stains even better!

You can also use essential oils in the mix as well! I forgot to use them in my mixture but I would recommend using a lavender, orange, peppermint, or rosemary essential oil to keep insects out of your RV, camper, van, etc. and make the area smell better.

Bleach and Hot Water

I used the Dawn dishwashing liquid and white, distilled vinegar cleaning solution in my bathroom area and was mostly happy with the results. The walls, floor, and outside of the toilet were cleaning up nicely! There was one spot on the floor of the shower though, that just would NOT come up.

So, in the end, I had to use a small amount of bleach and hot water. Eventually, the stain came off of the shower floor. Again, I would not recommend using bleach on plastic surfaces. For me, it was a last resort solution and I only used it on the plastic surface, in that small area.

While I’m on the subject of the bathroom area, I want to mention how I cleaned the RV toilet. It was by far the scariest thing I had to clean in the ENTIRE camper van! I didn’t even want to lift up the lid to it.

It was horrific.

Baking Soda

I decided that the horrible stains inside of that atrocious toilet needed to be broken up somehow so I used the Dawn dishwashing liquid and white, distilled vinegar mix plus baking soda. I figured the reaction of the vinegar and baking soda mixing together would help eat away at the stains and gunk inside the toilet and the dishwashing liquid would just be there to help cleanse it further. It was just a guess.

With thick, rubber gloves on, I carefully lifted the toilet lid and sprinkled baking soda all around the inside of the RV toilet. I then sprayed my dishwashing liquid and vinegar mixture all around the toilet as well. Next, I poured hot water into the toilet, letting it fill almost to the rim. I let that concoction set for days, no joke.

After a few days, I opened up the lid, let the cleaning solutions and all the nasty gunk empty out of the RV toilet and repeated the process again.

It worked!

I didn’t take before and after photos of the toilet because honestly, it was so nasty, I didn’t want any pictures! The RV toilet isn’t completely stain-free yet but it is a hundred times better than it was before. At least now, I can touch it without cringing!

So, everything I’ve mentioned is the actual cleaning solutions I used to clean the different surfaces in my camper van. However, I also, of course, used other products to help actually scrub and wipe down those areas.

Spray Bottle

I used a few empty spray bottles to mix the different cleaning solutions I used in the camper van. I labeled each bottle with a Sharpie marker so I wouldn’t forget what was in each bottle.

Paper Towels

To wipe down surfaces, I simply used paper towels. My favorite brand is, Viva! There was a lot of dirt and grime on some surfaces so it was best to use paper towels to clean and then dispose of them.

Microfiber Cloth

Aside from paper towels, I also used microfiber cloths when cleaning some surfaces. I actually found a 2-pack of them at the Dollar Tree! They are great for dusting and also for rubbing in the upholstery cleaner into the cushions.

The fact that they can be washed and used over and over again, is a definite plus!

Toothbrush

Lastly, I used a cheap toothbrush at times, to clean the camper van. There were sections of the refrigerator that I couldn’t reach with my hand or cloth, so I found a toothbrush, sprayed a bit of cleaning solution on it, and was able to get into those hard-to-reach areas.

Here’s a few before and after shots of the camper van! I’m really happy with how well it all cleaned up!

Alright, I believe that is all of the cleaning products I used to clean the inside of my camper van! If you lost track of what I used, no worries. Here’s a quick recap of all of the cleaning products:

These cleaning supplies can be used for campers, RVs, vans, and even inside your house. I haven’t gotten around to cleaning the outside of the van yet, but when that happens, I’ll be sure to write a blog post all about it as well!

What are your favorite cleaning supplies? Is there anything I should try out in the camper van? Let me know in the comment section below!

If you want to know more about my camper van and why I chose it to travel in, check out this blog post!

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