Handy Tips for Properly Disinfecting Your RV

It’s been a long camping season and your RV is probably due for a thorough cleaning, right? Well, you’re in the right place. Disinfecting your RV is also a good idea in the age of COVID, especially if you have guests chilling in your RV on the regular.

But no matter what time of year or on what occasion, it’s always a good idea to deep-clean the inside of your RV at least a couple of times a year. Here’s how.

Grab Those Gloves and Paper Towels

Some may not regularly use gloves while cleaning, but when you’re giving your RV a deep clean, you’ll want to protect your hands when disinfecting surfaces. Also, wash your hands thoroughly when done. Use disposable paper towels instead of sponges or mops. These reusable items only serve to harbor nasty germs when not in use.

Get it Clean

There is a difference between cleaning and disinfecting. Cleaning is done with soap and water and simply removes dirt, germs and impurities on the surface of things. This doesn’t kill germs. But it’s still good practice to use soap and water regularly, especially on high-touch surfaces like door knobs, tables, countertops, light switches, faucets and sinks.

Now Disinfect!

Kiss those germs goodbye by following up with a good disinfectant. This separate step won’t necessarily clean your countertops and other high-touch surfaces, so don’t skip the cleaning step and go straight to disinfecting. Use a good one (if you want covid-19 specific disinfectant, they’re out there in spades) and a diluted bleach solution. Or 70% alcohol solution.

Keep the following in mind:

  • In many cases, you’ll need to leave the disinfectant solution on the surface for a certain period of time. So be sure to carefully read labels as different disinfectants have different directions.
  • If using a homemade bleach solution, use 5 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water, or 4 teaspoons per quart of water. Then leave on surfaces for one minute before wiping.

Don’t Forget Those Soft Surfaces

In addition to cleaning and disinfecting hard surfaces, do not overlook your furniture, carpet, bedding and drapes. This may sound like a pain, but there are many handy products just for this purpose. Whenever possible, wash materials in the laundry using hot water, and pay attention to the manufacturer’s recommendations when cleaning the fabric.

Clean Those Electronics, Too

We often don’t think about cleaning our phones, but we tend to use them day in, and day out, and before long they become slippery little germ bricks. Same with computers, laptops, iPads, games, and the like. The manufacturer often has suggested cleaning methods in their manual or online. Or use alcohol-based wipes or sprays that contain at least 70% alcohol. After cleaning, consider using a wipeable screen cover.

Now, that wasn’t so tough, was it? And now the inside of your RV is spic and span, almost like new!