How Do I Shower or Bath in an RV

Whenever I’m in my bathroom and take my clothes off, my shower gets turned on…
Heading out camping for a week in an RV doesn’t mean going without a shower for a week. One of the great things about RVing is that you are able to have all of the conveniences of home while traveling to your favorite destinations. When you’re looking at purchasing an RV it’s important to know the differences in your RV Shower options.
Showering Quick
Sometimes RVers take quick showers for two main reasons, to Save Water and if they have Limited Hot Water. If you’re dry camping (camping without hookups) and need to conserve on water, you’ll want to be quick and use as little fresh water as you can. A common technique is called Military Showers where you step in, rinse, turn off the water to lather up, then rinse off and you’re done!
Often, smaller units don’t have a big capacity hot water heater which means you’ll be limited on how long you can shower. Military showers is an easy solution:
- Rinse off quickly
- Turn the water off and soap up
- Turn the water back on and rinse off
Showering in the Great Outdoors
It’s fun to get muddy! If you plan on this as part of your camping experience you will want to have an outdoor shower as a pre-rinse rather than bringing in all that mudd and dirt into the RV.
If you’re out in the middle of nowhere boondocking don’t even worry about the pre-rinse and go ahead and shower in the forest, just don’t be surprised if you see a Sasquatch peeping at you.
Many RVs have outdoor showers built into the unit and there are also some good after market options. Both of our RVs have had outdoor showers but the only time I ended up using them was when I had a black tank incident, but that’s another story for another time…
Hot Long Showers
An increasingly hot (pun intended) trend is On Demand Water Heaters. They fit into the existing opening on your RV and use propane. This means that the person who loves their long showers can sing as long as they want.
Danielle takes 45 minute showers… Yes you read that correct. With our hot water unit she can steam it up and clean herself up for as long as she wants.
Bath Tub for the Kids
Growing families often prefer to have an RV with bath tubs. It’s also nice for the adventurer to come back after a long day of trekking up a mountain to soak in a nice warm bath.
With our little ones it’s been EXTREMELY convenient to be able to give them a bath in a regular size tub after they’ve been running around all day.
Campground Showers
With our own personal shower in the RV we haven’t had the need to use campground showers other than a couple of times when our unit was being worked on. We both were a little nervous about what the condition of the showers would be BUT each time we’ve used them they’ve been really nice, clean and WARM! Some have even been luxurious experiences. Seriously, the North Myrtle Beach RV Resort might have the nicest campground bathrooms on the planet!
What about you, what’s important to you in an RV Shower experience?
None, YET. But soon. Great info!
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