When a person decides to travel in their RV it’s to relax and enjoy life, not to spend time cleaning. There are ways to keep your RV clean with a Neato Robotics Vacuum and spend more time enjoying your travels.
Being a lover of dogs I am not a newbie to living with a house full of dog hair. While I am a very neat and clean person, having pets can sometimes be challenging. With a 100# Black Lab and a 12# Shih Tzu, I do my share of de-furring my home on a daily basis. When we decided to buy an RV for our retirement travels we knew the dogs would be coming with us. However, it didn’t cross my mind how much of their fur would also come with. Yikes!
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Tips to Keep Your RV Clean
After our first winter away, I learned some tips to help cut down on the fur and help me keep my sanity. I figured if they helped me, they will help others. Doing a few simple things every day will help keep your RV clean, and help you not lose your mind.
Outdoor Rugs
Dirt will always track in an RV no matter how hard you try to keep it out. If you RV you know what I mean. However, using outdoor rugs is a huge help. We have a few of them that go with us everywhere. The huge area rug that our lawn chairs and table are set up on as well as some smaller ones. The smaller ones are used for the dogs to lay on or for us and the dogs to wipe our feet on. Wiping our feet and the dogs feet after being outside is a huge help before entering the RV. Especially if you are staying on a beach or where it’s sandy.
We spent a week right on the beach on Mustang Island, and let me tell you, the sand gets everywhere. My little Poika loved to walk the beach, and even though he’s small, his fur and feet can hold alot of sand. But, he’s so cute so I forgave him for tracking it in the RV.
Having the rugs is a huge help in keeping the outside dirt from coming inside the RV. However, some still does so keep reading to see more tips on how to keep your RV clean.
Keep Shoes Outside
When on the road and stopping here or there it’s not always easy to keep dirt out of the RV. However, once you get to where you plan to stay a while, set up an outside show rack or storage area. We like to keep a tote that our shoes go in and it’s slid under the RV and out of the weather. In our RV we also have storage under the step right inside the door.
Taking shoes off and tapping them clean and putting in the bin really helps from tracking in all the unwanted dirt. While traveling one can’t stow shoes outside, so we wipe our feet clean as we can and put the shoes under our front inside step and out of the way. That way if they have dirt or mud or anything on them, it’s not tracked inside on the carpet. There are times while actually one the road you just can’t take your shoes on and off. Like when you stop quick for a dog potty break, or to take amazing pictures of the scenery like me looking at Bryce Canyon. But, just being mindful and wiping your feet really well helps a lot.
Brush the Dogs, Wipe their Paws
Never leave home without dog brushes. Might sound silly to those without dogs, but those of you with dogs will totally relate. Our Lab, Gunner, get’s brushed many times a day. Leaving from a cold Minnesota winter where he had his full winter coat, and traveling into warmer weather meant lots of hair loss. Keeping up daily by brushing him after walking him help keep the shedding under control, somewhat. A dog that sheds, will always shed no matter what. Using a dry shampoo and rubbing it in good, then brushing helps too as it loosens up dead hair so you can brush it out.
The step right inside our RV door where we stow our shoes is also where I keep the brush and also a paw towel. Not really a special towel, just a bath towel that is used to wipe any muddy, wet or dirty paws before they enter the RV. They learned very fast that they can’t go in till they let mommy clean their paws. Silly boys!
Daily Dusting
Yeah, I know! Nobody likes to dust. But, keeping a rag and cleaner or even a jar of cleaning wipes handy will help on the inside cleaning. With pets and when traveling to various places where the dust and pollen are different than home, I need to clean daily. Wiping off the dash, seats, table and counters keeps then clean and sanitary. For me, being a clean freak, I just do this automatically. It’s just a simple 5 min task every day, so pretty sure you can handle it too.
Everything Has a Place
Clutter can make a tiny home seem dirty or disorganized really easy. Small spaces require great storage ideas. Using bins and plastic containers to store things in and out of the way can help. When you use sometime, put it away when you are done. Simple as that. Also, putting away things when you are done using them means when you need them again you know exactly where they are. Folding clothing or hanging it and putting it where it goes. Putting away kitchen items and food so things are left on tables and counters. Keeping the bed made and things up off the floor that don’t belong there.
With pets it’s sometimes a challenge because there is only so much room in an RV and keeping things up off the floor and out of the way gives them room to move around too. Our RV has one main slide in the living room/kitchen and then our bed also slides out. There is a lot of room for us, but adding a 100# dog and a 12# dog means we are a bit tight at times. See how lazy my boys are.?
Keep Your Floors Clean
Buying an older RV meant I got what I got when it came to the flooring. While we plan to shampoo the carpets this fall before taking off, they looked dirty but they are clean. Pretty sure our carpet used to be whiter. I’d really like to explain to RV makers that carpet shouldn’t be white, or plush!
To save myself time every day on the floor cleaning I am getting a Neato D8 Robot Vacuum. This upcoming winter travels will be so much more fun and relaxing when I don’t have to worry about vacuuming. With all the stopping, in and out, different locations, etc., you can only do so much to keep the dirt and pet hair under control. Having this Neato D8 will be a lifesaver! I have the perfect spot under my table for it to have the charging base. This Neato D8 has the neat signature Neato quality D-shape, LaserSmart navigation and will be my new best friend. Keeping up on dog hair, yeah for Neato D8!
I’ll be able to set it up to run whenever I want. We walk the dogs many times through the day so I’ll set my Neato D8 to clean the floors when we are out of the RV. How sweet it will be to come back to clean floors. And, it can do carpet and bare floors so that makes it perfect for my RV, and yours! Also a neat feature of the No-Go Zones so I can program it not to fall down the stairs or knock over the dog water bowl.
Traveling though many different states means many different allergens and I am a lucky one because they all bother me. The Neato D8 traps traps 99% of all allergens. That’s going to make my body very happy. With the spiral combo brush and the side brushed it can get into all the places in my RV and really do a great job. And I love that it has an app, so if I forget to have it clean and we are away from the RV, I can use the app to tell it to do it’s job. Wish husbands had an app! (kidding, kinda)
Neato Robotics offers other great vacuums and all the needed accessories for them. This is going to be a life saver for me, and probably for my hubby as he won’t hear me complain about having to vacuum 3 times a day. While I love my dogs, I also love clean floors. Now I can have both.
If you have an RV and are looking to simplify your cleaning time, consider going with a Neato D8 Robot vacuum, or any of the other vacuums at Neato Robitics. Traveling is about living life to it’s fullest, not spending time cleaning. Happy Travels!!
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