Tips and Tricks for Better RVing

December 17, 2010

If you've ever found a way to make a tool or useful item from the things you found laying around the house, you'll love RVing. There's no better place to put your creativity to work than by finding ways to make an item do "double duty" in the RV.

For instance, did you know that by cutting both ends off of a 2-liter soda bottle and then cutting a vertical slit in it from top to bottom you have a perfect cover for your paper towel holder? Just pop the plastic onto the roll to keep the paper towels from unrolling while you travel. Use a small soda bottle and do the same thing with your toilet paper roll.

Silencing a noisy water pump

Water pumps are one of the noisiest things on your RV. Not only do they rattle and thump, but they can also create a racket in your pipes as well. You can't insulate the pump - it might overheat and fail. But you can quiet some of the noise by making sure the bolts and screws holding the pump in place are tight. And, by putting a section of foam insulation, the kind you'd insulate your pipes with at home, around the pipes where they go through walls and cabinets will make a big difference in the noise levels. If your pipes touch a drainpipe under the sink or shower, put a piece of insulation there too. Secure the foam with some duct tape and enjoy the quiet. The foam helps keep the pipes from singing and rattling and makes for a quieter experience every time you turn on the water.

Clean Your Blackwater Tank The Easy Way

Once of the nastiest and hardest jobs you'll ever have is cleaning out the paper, gunk and mess that hangs up on the gages and protrusions inside your blackwater tank. There are wands you can get, but it's almost impossible to reach all the cracks and crannies. That's why seasoned RV'ers know that by pouring a 20-pound bag of cubed ice into their blackwater tank, and filling it half way with water and a capful of liquid laundry detergent before heading to their next destination, they can do the job faster and easier. The ice cubes will slosh and bang around inside the tank without doing any damage or hurting anything, and over time will melt, creating a sort of slush that acts as a kind of abrasive that will chip and scour at hardened deposits on your tank's walls without hurting the walls. They also help the soap scrub off some of the grease and residue water alone can't touch. The ice then melts, leaving you with nothing to do but dump the tanks the next time you're at a dump station.

Save Your Antenna or Satellite Dish

It only takes driving off once with your antenna or satellite dish up to wish you had a way to remind you to crank it down. Many RV'ers simply place their ignition key on a special ring and attach it to the crank once they're parked at a campsite. You can't drive off without the ignition key and having to reach up to the crank to get it is a sure fire way to force yourself to remember to crank things down. Speaking of keys, it's a good idea to keep a spare set of all your keys in each vehicle.

Color Code Your World

You know how "Pink is for girls and Blue is for Boys"? Well, use color-coding for your RV trips as well. Make sure everyone has a chair; towels and whatever else there are duplicates of, in their own color. If you don't want chairs or other items in every color of the rainbow, use plastic zip ties or colored electrical tape to mark everyone's chair, floatation toy, or beach bag. Not only will it save a lot of argument's over "whose it is," it will help you identify at a glance who needs to be picking up their things!

Hitching Height

Before you unhook your trailer from your tow vehicle use a piece of string or measuring tape with a small spring clip on it. Measure the height from the ground to the hitch. Mark this length on the string or tape using your clip. When it's time to lower or raise your trailer to hitch it back up, you'll know exactly what height to return it to so you can back up your truck to the right hitch height without a lot of guesswork.

Blackwater and Greywater Duty

Use Velcro to secure a plastic Kleenex box cover to a space inside the area (high - preferably above the hoses) where you access your black and greywater hookups. Buy a box of disposable rubber gloves at any pharmacy and put them inside the box. This way you'll always have a pair of clean gloves handy when it's time to empty the hookups and you won't have to worry about digging around looking for the gloves, or wondering if anything has dripped on them.

Scare Off Spiders

Spiders love the smell of propane and no matter what time of year it is they'll try to nest or hide in your propane lines. Use small mesh bags you'd use for holding potpourri or drawer caches and put a few mothballs in them. Use a pushpin or twist tie to secure the bags near the propane lines of the water heater and refrigerator. This will help deter spiders.

Collect Your Own Tips

There are literally hundreds of tips and tricks to making RVing easier and more fun! Write down your favorites on index cards and share them with other RVers wherever you go. Simply trade one of "your" tips for one of theirs by handing them an index card and asking them to write down their favorite trick or tip for you! When attending Rallies, do the same. You can even have your favorite tips printed up ahead of time with your name and email address to hand out instead of the same old boring business card. Be creative! It's fun!