By Gail Marsh
I actually gasped out loud when I saw a friend’s RV shower recently. It was huge in comparison to ours. After recovering from a serious bout of “shower envy,” I decided to look for ways to improve our small, but sufficient, RV shower. I hope you can also make use of these tips to improve your RV shower.
Clear the bench
The enviable 2024 RV shower featured a fold-down bench. Made of teak wood, it looked sleek, comfy, and quite serviceable. The best part? It folds up when not in use. Our RV shower has a seat, but it’s actually molded into the shower unit. There’s no folding it up or down, so it takes up space even when we’re not using it.
What happens in our shower is that shampoo bottles, razor, and shower gels “live” on our shower seat. So much so that there’s really no space for a person to sit down. So, my first shower tip is to clear the bench. Even if you don’t have a shower bench, you need to get those shower products off the floor. It will give you more move-around space and make your shower seem larger. And face it, it’ll be safer, too.
There are many different configurations of holders for shower supplies. You can purchase the kind that hangs over the shower head or one that attaches to the shower wall. My favorite is this shower octopus. It will easily corral your shower products, and you need not remove the bottles to use them!
Showerhead
This showerhead has been a game-changer. Not only does it provide great water pressure, but the removable handle is great! No more dancing all around the shower to get rinsed off! Just remove the showerhead and choose one of the eight different settings to rinse.
Foot scrubber/massager
I love this! It’s one of those items you don’t realize you need until you use it. Now I plan to purchase a second one for the shower in our stix-n-brix home! I practically live in flip-flops when camping and I’ll admit it, my feet get dirty. I just put a few drops of shower gel on the scrubber and then rub my feet back and forth over it. It cleans well and feels great, too! Suction cups keep the scrubber in place and bonus! If you affix it to the shower wall they say you can use it to scrub your back!
Speaker
Why not have backup when singing in your shower? This Bluetooth speaker is waterproof, easy to use, and durable both in and out of the shower. You can finish up your podcast, enjoy a favorite shower tune, and even take phone calls (if you absolutely must)! This elevates the RV shower experience, for sure! (Tip: We queue up a jazzy tune for our youngest campers. They know when the music ends, so must their shower. It works like a charm!)
Shower steamers
These are amazing! Or should I say, scent-sational? Just plop a shower steamer onto your shower bench or shelf (do not submerge) and let the aromatherapy relax you as you shower off the day’s stress.
Lighting
After our RV roof was destroyed in a hailstorm, we had a FlexArmor lifetime roof installed. We opted to have the shower skylight covered, not realizing how dark our shower would become. My DIY husband installed strip lighting all around the top of the shower. He pigtailed the shower lighting off the bathroom ceiling light fixture and what an improvement! Now the shower is brighter and safer, too.
Little changes
Our first RV shower featured a curtain enclosure. The lightweight shower curtain hugged the legs of anyone attempting to shower. I upgraded to a heavier-weight curtain with magnets at the bottom. What a difference! No more curtain hugs. I also purchased a curved curtain rod. The rod provided more elbow room, and those few inches made a world of difference! (Sometimes it’s the little things, right?)
How about you?
Do you have some tips to improve your RV shower? Please share your ideas and your favorite shower gadgets in the comments below.
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I removed the roll-up door on our shower and installed a Stromberg Carlson Extend-A-Shower rod and a curtain with magnets. This dramatically increased the amount of room in the shower. We have an Oxygenics shower head and a shut-off valve, to help conserve water. A wall-mounted dispenser for shampoo and body wash eliminates bottles and bars from the shower.
Thanks for the tip & the link to the curtain rod. We have a 3 panel shower door & I absolutely hate it. Now to convince my husband.
A must have. A non-slip bath mat. Many varieties out there. Ours has the suction cups so it stays in place during use. Plus we can hang the mat or stick it to the walls to dry out.
Our shower is small and my wife wanted a place to raise a leg for shaving. We have had a child’s stool like this one in a corner of the shower for 8 years. While waterproof, I did drill 1/8″ weep holes in the bottom of each leg and the seat.
A plastic 4-cup measuring cup hangs on the toiletries rack via the handle or sits on the stool to rinse the razor (we do semi-navy showers to stretch the 6 gallons of hot water).
I added amber strip lites over the shower door and I also installed blue strip lites between the skylite layers so a nice soft glow from the sky light at nite. I also added a ring towel hanger on the back wall for a loofah thing and hand towel. Added two towel rings by the sink. The strip lites and general room lite and lite over the medicine cabinet are all individually switched for whatever is needed or desired. I also wall-papered the factory walls and upgraded the faucets and installed a taller porcelain commode and a plumbing shutoff valve and a chemical feeder unit which adds a little with each flush.
Get physically in the shower before buying any RV. Some are quite small, or you must be very flexible.
Thank you for the suggestions, Gail! Our shower could be larger, but it works and has some of the mentioned features, which the manufacturer added before we purchased it. Have a great day and safe travels!
We have a small shower in our Class B+. We open the door and latch it to the toilet room wall but the floor between the two gets wet so you have to put something there. We found the large size “puppy pads” used for training a puppy work great. They fit just right and absorb any water when we step onto it when getting out of the shower. One pad lasts for both of our showers and then we just throw it away.