How to Speed Clean Your RV Interior

Before moving into our Heartland fifth wheel, I absolutely loathed cleaning our huge 3,600 square foot, 5 bedroom, 3 bath home. It was daunting, boring, and incredibly time-consuming. It literally took me, not hours - but days, of endless dusting, polishing, vacuuming, sweeping, and swabbing. And, wouldn't you know it, when my last room was finished, it was time to start all over again. But living in an RV has certainly changed that! I actually don’t mind cleaning it.

Now we call it ‘speed cleaning’...

Our Heartland Landmark interior is less than the size of our former home’s kitchen and dining area. Now, I can clean the entire RV in a little over an hour; leaving us more time for exploring.

Since it’s just us Dan and me, RV cleaning is fast and easy; especially if we do it together. In between thorough cleanings, we keep our fifth wheel tidy and surface clean. We have noticed though, smaller spaces do need daily attention but still, require less time for thorough cleanings.

So, if you're a new(er) RVer or you just need a little guidance on how to clean your RV interior, this self-help guide is just for you!

How we clean our RV...

Bedroom

Our Landmark 365 RV model's bedroom has a king bed, a built-in small armoire, sitting bench, corner vanity with sink, and nightstand.

We start our RV cleaning by dusting the ceiling, corners, accent moldings and cabinet doors. We then clean all wood cabinetry with furniture polish. We do this prior to changing the bed linens so any dust that falls, doesn’t settle on our clean sheets and quilts. We have two sets of bedsheets, so we don’t have to launder immediately. We move onto scouring our sink vanity in our bedroom with baking soda and a green-product all-purpose cleaner. With the same all-purpose cleaner and hot water with a sponge in one of our collapsible dishpans, we wipe down all lateral surfaces and the wall behind the sink to clean off soap and toothpaste spatters. We polish the mirrors above the sink and on the dual closet doors.

Bathroom

Our fifth wheel has a split bath that separates the bedroom from the downstairs kitchen, living, and workspace areas. The toilet and sink are in a closed room and the shower is across the small hallway that divides the two (see the floorplan graphic above).

We start with Swiffer-dusting and polishing our cabinetry as we do in the bedroom. We scour the sink and again with the all-purpose cleaner; wiping all lateral surfaces. In a spray bottle, we spritz the inside toilet bowl moderately; allowing it to sit for a minute or two, and then brush clean and flush.

In the shower, we spray the same all-purpose cleaner all over the shower walls and inside doors and wipe down.

TIP: We squeegee the shower doors and walls after every shower. We also do not use bars of soap as they are the culprits that cause soap scum on shower surfaces. We use bath gels instead.

Kitchen

Our 5th wheel RV kitchen has a ton of cabinets with an island that separates from the dining area and the living area.

Without sounding redundant in this blog, everything we’ve done in the bedroom and bath is cleaned in the same consecutive order. We also spray polish all stainless steel appliances. After we wipe down the counters and backsplash behind the stove cooktop, we wipe down all the vinegar bottles and small appliances (we have an air-fryer). I also shine the spice tins on the refrigerator so they sparkle and display our spices and herbs nicely.

Living Room & Workspace

Our living room and workspace area are in the same room with the two recliners opposite the television. Our workspace is in the rear of the fifth wheel looking out the back windows. It consists of a large full-width table with two office chairs.

We clean the entire space the same as the others; adding in giving the ceiling fan a good dusting with our Swiffer. Depending on if we’ve been in a dusty region, we may do a quick vacuum of the window valances since they are fabric. Since the recliners are made of pleather (plastic leather), we clean and polish them to retain their suppleness and to prevent cracking and peeling.

In the workspace, we remove everything and give it a good spray cleaning with the all-purpose cleaner; also wiping down our file organizer, art frames, and plant buckets. I will take the plants outside and give them a good blow to get the dust off.

The very last thing we do is clean our floors. First, we dust mop since most of our floor is vinyl. One of the slides in the living area is carpeted so we thoroughly vacuum with our Dyson vacuum. Let me tell you, this little handy vac is awesome! We have two long hair cats and it sucked all the hair out of the carpets and bare floors easily without switching detachments. The long arm can be detached for hand-vacuuming tight spaces, corners, and furniture.

Once all floors are clear of dust, dirt, and cat hair, we give it a good mopping and VOILA!! We're done lickety-split with plenty of time to hit the trails or do some sightseeing.

Our entire coach’s interior amounts to about 350 total square feet. It takes only a tenth of the time that it took in our S&B house. Who can argue with that? Now onto our RV cleaning tools of the trade.

So, that’s how we do it! Our Landmark is spotless in less than an hour and I barely broke a sweat. That should give you an idea of how to keep your RV interior clean, healthy, and smelling wonderful leaving you more time to play outside!

If you enjoyed these RV cleaning tips and tricks, you may want to read one of Always On Liberty’s others: 14 Tips on Keeping Your RV Cool in the Summer