An RV wet bath is a luxury for most people. Being able to shower in your own space is so convenient and knowing that it has been cleaned to your standards makes any inconvenience resulting from the small space well worth it. Still, there are a few tricks to making the most of your RV wet bath. Here are a few I have used over the years.
1. Upgrade the shower wand
Most RVs come with a very inexpensive plastic shower head on a plastic hose that is not flexible. For just a few dollars you can purchase a new showerhead that will offer more water flow, a flexible cord you will not have to fight with and an easier on/off button that will help you cut back on the amount of water going into your gray tank. Be sure to look for a low-flow showerhead. It is an easy installation you can do yourself in about half an hour.
2. Invest in a teak shower mat
There is always going to be water on the floor of your shower when you finish showering. While you’re drying off, you don’t want the corners of your towel dropping into the undrained water. A teak wood floor mat raises you above the undrained water, is mold resistant, and really looks nice in the small space. They are available in all kinds of sizes online and will not break the bank or add a lot of weight to your RV.
3. Get a good squeegee
Once you have finished showering, you will want to return your space to a bathroom again by getting all the water off the walls and drying them off with your shower towel. I give the walls a good squeegee, then dry them with my shower towel. I always run the fan in the shower and leave it on for a while to get rid of the moisture. After I do the walls, I tip up the teak mat and use the squeegee to push any standing water left in the shower tray toward the drain. Use a hook on the shower wall to keep the squeegee handy!
4. Install a soap and shampoo dispenser
I finally broke down and installed a wall-hanging shampoo, conditioner, and soap dispenser in my wet bath. I am no longer looking for a place to put these things, and they are not sliding all over while I drive. To keep the weight down, I only fill the compartments partway, and I use way more than the recommended number of heavyweight command strips to keep it in place.
5. Quick-dry towels are a must for campers
Microfiber towels may not feel as nice as the big, soft cotton towels you have at home, but they take up a lot less room in your RV, dry ten times faster than regular towels, and hold four times their weight in liquids. I use a curtain spring rod up against my shower walls to hang mine when I am done showering. With the fan running, it dries quickly.
6. Create waterproof shelves with spring rods
Adjustable spring rods make great shelves in a wet bath. I used three across to create the bottom of the “shelf” that my pool and beach towels sit on and another one across the front to hold them in place. I set the shelf as high as I could get it for storing the towels in a rolled position. They are so high now that they do not get wet when I shower so I don’t need a shower curtain to cover them when the water is running.
Getting your RV to a place where it functions well for the way you use it is often just a matter of trial and error. If you have a wet bath tip, I’d love to hear it.
This post was written by Janine Pettit, Editor in Chief Girl Camper Magazine and friend of Outdoorsy.
