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Try These RV Carpet Cleaning Tips And Tricks

This post was updated on March 15th, 2024

RV carpet cleaning with a vacuum cleaner

Try These RV Carpet Cleaning Tips And Tricks

Keeping RV floors clean can be a real challenge, especially when it comes to carpeted floors. When people are spending time in nature, they’re bound to track dirt indoors, and in dusty areas, dirt can even blow in from outside. On top of that, there is all of the regular living that goes on in the small space of an RV. From cooking and eating to kids and pets playing, there are all kinds of messes that can occur, and they are much more noticeable when you’re working with so little floor space to begin with. 

Are you having trouble getting and keeping your RV carpets clean? We get it. This is one task that can feel impossible at times. Try these RV carpet cleaning tips to get your RV floors looking great again, and then have a look at the tips further below for keeping them that way.

RV Carpet Cleaning Tips

Let’s start with our top five RV carpet cleaning tips. By using these tips, you should be able to get your RV carpets looking much better, and in most cases it won’t take any time at all. 

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Cleaning Tip #1: Invest in a good vacuum cleaner

First, we highly recommend investing in a good RV vacuum cleaner.

Yes, you could use the one from your house, but vacuuming often while camping will help keep your carpets in tip-top shape, and loading and unloading the vacuum every trip can be a real pain. Besides, there are some features you might want from an RV vacuum that you don’t necessarily need at home. 

Our favorite RV vacuum cleaner is the Dyson Cordless Stick Vac, but the Shark Rocket comes in close behind. We like that both are small and easy to store, and that they can both be run on battery power, meaning electric hookups aren’t necessary for use. 

Cleaning Tip #2: Use a stain remover

As soon as a spill happens, scrub it with a stain cleaner such as Resolve. Cleaning the mess immediately will help ensure it comes up, and keep bad smells from developing. This will also help by removing potentially sticky substances that could attract dirt. 

Cleaning Tip #3: Put down powder

After each trip, spray the carpets with a product such as Resolve, and sprinkle a powder such as Capture Carpet Cleaner. The products will work together to pull dirt, stains, and smells out of the carpet. Let the cleaners sit for a few minutes before vacuuming them up. 

Cleaning Tip #4: Rent a steam cleaner

Once in a while, your carpets will likely need an extra deep cleaning. You could of course purchase a steam cleaner, but we don’t recommend storing such a clunky machine in your RV. If you don’t already have a steam cleaner at home, consider renting one rather than buying.

Follow the instructions included with the rental, and you should be left with carpets that look almost as good as new!

Cleaning Tip #5: Clean regularly

Probably the most important tip we can give you is to clean your floors often.

Sweep and vacuum at least once a day, and use cleaners after every trip. Steam cleaning should happen at least once a season, but those who stay in muddy places or use their RV often might have to steam clean more than that.

By staying on top of your RV carpet cleaning, you help keep the dirt at bay, ensuring your carpet cleaning job is never too terribly difficult.

Rug on carpet

How to keep your RV carpet clean

Okay, now you know how to clean your RV carpet, but you’re probably going to want to keep the floors as clean as possible in order to reduce the number of times you have to vacuum each trip. Here are our tips for keeping your RV floors clean. 

Prevention Tip #1: Use an outdoor rug

One of the easiest and most effective things you can do to combat messy RV floors is put down an outdoor rug. Doing this means people will track their dirty feet on the outdoor rug, and their shoes should be relatively clean by the time they walk up the steps and into the RV. 

Prevention Tip #2: Remove shoes at the door

Of course, a rug won’t always ensure clean shoes. For this reason, we also recommend instilling a “no shoes in the RV” policy. Insist that everyone takes their shoes off at the door, and provide shoe storage for them to do that without leaving shoes in the entryway. Packing slip-on shoes can help make this rule easier for everyone to follow. 

Prevention Tip #3: Put down indoor rugs

If your RV has carpet in high traffic areas or places where messes tend to happen (such as the dining area), consider putting down indoor rugs as well. Strategically place these rugs to protect the carpet that is most likely to see spills and mud.

Yes, you will still have to clean the rug, but if you come across a particularly stubborn stain, you will be able to replace the rug fairly easily. 

Prevention Tip #4: Replace carpet

Of course, you could avoid the need for RV carpet cleaning tips entirely by getting rid of the RV carpet. To be honest, carpet in campers doesn’t make much sense, considering how much dirt tends to be tracked inside. A laminate floor will be much easier to keep clean and will give the RV a more modern and clean look. In fact, replacing carpet with hard flooring is one of the first RV projects we would choose to tackle. Here’s a guide on how to do this: How To Replace Your RV Carpet With New Vinyl Flooring.

Hopefully these RV carpet cleaning tips will help you improve the look and cleanliness of your RV floors. By brightening up your floors, you will brighten your whole space and make camping an even more fun experience.


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