Okay, fine. I’ll admit it. After four days cooped up inside our RV because of steady rain, little irritants can really get to me! I’m talking about those small inconveniences that make me sigh in frustration and wish for a simple solution. Maybe you’ve had similar moments and experienced these same problems in the RV, as well.
I’ve compiled simple hacks and tips that can make everyday RV living just a bit easier and hopefully less frustrating. The only criteria for potential solutions to everyday nuisances is that the “fix” must be quick and easy. See what you think and then add your own ideas in the comments.
10 fixes for irritating problems in the RV
The cutting board slide
I know it sounds a bit like a dance move, but there’s nothing smooth about this problem. Whether I’m cutting meat for shish-ka-bobs or slicing up an apple snack, the cutting board always slips and slides around on our RV countertop. The fix? I stretched a rubber band over each end of the cutting board. Now, no more slide!
Wrestling wrenches
My husband was frustrated with trying to find a handy way to keep all of his RV wrenches together. The solution? I gave him oversized carabiners like these. He uses the blue carabiner to corral all of his metric wrenches and a red carabiner to hold the others.
Truck seat black hole
Sunglasses, cell phone, pens, papers—you name it and it’s probably found its way into the “black hole” located between the edge of the truck seat and center console. Absolutely everything seems to somehow slide down this “hole” and somehow my hand is never quite nimble enough to retrieve the items. For an easy fix, my husband cut a piece of foam pipe insulation the length of the crevice. We poked the foam down into place and the “black hole” is closed for good. (Note: This nifty gadget works too!)
The stubborn lid
I sometimes have trouble removing jar lids. My tip? Grab your rubber glove. You don’t even need to put it on your hand. Just lay the glove over the jar lid and twist. The glove will grip the lid and help you open the jar.
Jumbled wires
Those tangled wires that lay willy-nilly all over the carpet cause me fits—especially when it’s time to vacuum! Corral them like this: Loosely gather the wires together so they’ll slip inside an empty toilet tissue cardboard tube (or paper towel tube). Then you can vacuum right up to and even under the contained wires without a problem.
Too many shoes
Can you ever have too many shoes? Yes! Especially if you don’t have a way to contain them. Here’s a free RV storage hack for shoes: Use empty wine cardboard boxes. Put one shoe into each bottle slot and voila—no more tripping over shoes.
Bushels of bags
Just like storage containers, plastic grocery bags can seem to multiply in the cupboard. Need a free solution? Poke the bags into an empty tissue box. Bonus! You’ll free up space inside that cupboard where the bags used to live. Note: Plastic bags can also be housed inside a paper towel tube.
Handy handles
When one of our RV hoses sprung a leak, we cut a small section out. We used a utility knife to slit one side of the hose, and slipped the hose piece over the wire handle on a five-gallon bucket. Now even heavy bucket loads are easier to carry.
Soap scum scrub
Use a dryer sheet to clean soap scum off your RV’s glass shower doors. I’m not sure why this works, but it does!
Wine chiller
Freeze grapes and then place one or two into your glass of wine for a quick cool down without watering down the beverage.
Do you have some quick tips or hacks to share? Please do!
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Our motorhome has an electrical outlet on the front of the bench under the table. Just a pain to plug into. I plugged a power bar into it and velcroed it to the wall above the table. Much more useful, and extra outlets for chargers. I also extended the outlet behind the microwave and installed an outlet above the couch for an IPad charger where my wife sits.
Live in a state that now bans plastic bags unless you pay for them. That will decrease the numbers quickly then force you to buy garbage bags instead of recycling plastic grocery bags.
Dryer sheet on the shower doors. Looking forward to trying that one. The rest are pretty much handled, mostly as you suggested. All good tips.
We got a couple of those closet shoe hangers. Mesh thing that looks about like a shower curtain, with lots of pockets for shoes. We have one for shoes, and a couple others for various small items. Saves lots of space.
You can also purchase stick on rubber feet at electronics outlets (like Mouser, Digi-key) and probably Amazon and Walmart online (which is not necessarily the store, they’re in competition with Amazon).
And for various cables, like USB, I use the plastic or rubber coated wire from garden centers. Saves more space and you can tie them to the cable so you don’t lose ’em.
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For plastic bag storage I cut about 1.5″ – 2″ round hole in a one gallon plastic milk container. Stuff the bags in – pull out individually as needed. A 1 quart bottle could work also. Light weight and easy to store. The cutting board we have is tempered glass – I put a drop of silicone on each corner which stabilized it – but it is still also moveable/slideable if desired.
(Look that one up in your Funk & Wagnalls!).
Thanks, Gail! I am especially keen to see how well a dryer sheet cleans our shower door. Thanks again!
I like to use frozen cranberries rather than grapes.
Yum! I’ll need to try that. Thanks for the tip!
I put a dish towel under cutting board or use thin plastic cutting board sheets with non- slip grip.
This is not a quick hack but just a cool idea. Years ago a trailer friend in our group gifted each of us with a jar opener– a square of rubber shelf liner she had edged with some kind of yarn with her crochet hook. So cute and useful! At my next meetup down the road with a different group I was describing it to my friends, but lamenting the fact I would have to take it back and forth between the trailer and the house. The woman whose trailer we were in was a crocheter, and she got up and went to a cabinet and pulled out a roll of rubber shelf lining, cut a piece, pulled her crochet hook and yarn out from the basket near her feet and made me another lickety split! I love those things! Great little gift idea! As are crocheted dishcloths, but that’s another story!
The grape idea is great! Added treat after the wine is gone.
Instead of rubber bands on a cutting board get a piece of the gripping shelf liner and cut to fit under your board.
Same with opening jars instead of a rubber glove. Easy to store in a drawer.
For the cutting board, my wife dampens a dishcloth and spreads it out under the cutting board.
We also had a problem with shoes. Bringing all that sand and dirt in doesn’t help to keep the place clean. We bought a small 2 shelf rack that sits on the floor behind the passenger seat of our class A. And to help with storage, we bought hooks from the dollar store and hung them at the base of the bed under the mattress to store shoes. Just remember to tuck in those shoelaces so they don’t get sucked up by the vacuum!
We no longer use ice cubes that water down down every drink–iced tea, pop, juice, iced coffee, etc. We got 2 packages of refreezable food-grade plastic ice cubes from Amazon. After using them for a couple of weeks, we turned off the fridge’s ice maker permanently!
We bought 10 sets of the black hole fillers for cars, trucks and SUV’s to keep stuff from going between consoles and the seats. We bought them for $14.99, now they are $15.99 from CBS.deals on TV. They are super and all our friends and family love them. Much cheaper than yours. $15.99 !!!!
Not as cost effective as a pool noodle or black pipe wrap!