5 Top Tips to Freshen Up a Motorhome

Just because your motorhome is old, doesn’t mean it has to smell old. Whether you’ve recently purchased a new-to-you RV, or you’ve had yours for years, it’s probably time to root the ‘old’ smell, not just cover it up with air freshener.

1. Hunt down the mould. If you have any water leaking from the exterior, or from internal plumbing you have to find the source and seal it. Mould doesn’t just produce a bad odour; the spores can be down right deadly. Scrub down any signs of mould once it’s sealed. If you ignore that tiny drip, the mould will continue you to come back. 2. Wash everything you can in a washing machine. This includes curtains, drapes and cushion covers.

3. Clean any blinds or have them cleaned. The accumulated grime is a combination of dead skin, cooking grease and smoke. Yuck!

4. Rent or buy a steam cleaner. Steam clean the carpets and any furnishings that are fixed in place. The heat emulsifies grease and chemicals and pulls it out. It will also kill dust mites in the furniture with the heat. You can also use it on vinyl, lino- leum and hardwood – just keep the head moving so you don’t burn anything. Avoid anything made of wood or particleboard like cabinetry. You can also use it to clean your oven, and a little scrubbing will help. As un-Canadian as it sounds - in all applications, read the instruction manual first.

5. Empty and clean your holding tank. Draining your holding your tank is not cleaning your holding tank. My best results (and easiest) have come using products from Happy Campers, but other enzyme cleaners work too.