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Quick Guide: Cleaning After Cooking in Your Class B RV

| Updated Mar 12, 2015

Everyone talks about how to cook in your small motorhome. Few talk about cleaning up after.

It doesn’t have to be difficult.

You can do a few things before you cook to make things easier later.

Get everything away from your kitchen that is not required for cooking. Don’t leave that drink or water bottle sitting on the counter. You need all the space for cooking, and you don’t want to have to clean anything left on the counter because it got dirty in the process. Also close your drawers after you remove whatever you opened them for. You don’t want to drop anything on your clean utensils. When possible use paper plates or bowls. It makes cleanup easier.

Water Temperature
Water is more than hot enough.

When you sit down to eat, turn on the water heater. If you are using a thermometer you can set the temperature alarm for about 114 degrees Fahrenheit. This means you don’t have to mix cold in with the hot to avoid scalding yourself. You hear when the water's hot.

Wiped off stove
Clean up stove top and surround walls.

After dinner or breakfast, use a paper towel to wipe any food or grease from silverware, pots and pans and anything else you are about to wash. Then clean up the stove top, its surrounding walls, and replace the stove cover. If you don’t have one, find or make one – it doubles your counter space. We had one made out of Corian by a local kitchen counter shop.  Get out your dish drying mat (these things are great, and the small size works well in our Roadtrek) and put it on top of the stove cover. Clean out the sink if there is any food in it before you begin.

Replace stove cover
Replace stove top and put out dish drying mat.

We use a yellow & green “scrubber sponge” for dishes. Squirt some dish soap on it directly and wash all the silverware as you running the water very slowly. If the hot water hasn’t reached the sink continue washing the other items until it does. Once hot you can rinse what you have washed. Place the rinsed dishes on the drying mat. Wipe up the kitchen area – sink faucet and counter top. Rinse the sponge thoroughly and place it in the microwave for a minute to sanitize it.

Dishes Drying 2
Dishes ready for drying

Then dry and put away all the dishes. Return the sponge to its holder and wipe out the microwave with paper towels. If you are moving that day, put whatever anti-rattle stuff you use in the microwave. Wipe off the kitchen area again, including the walls and check for any drips down your cabinets.

Cleaning MirrorsDo any other housekeeping chores at this time. Do the mirrors on the cabinets need to be cleaned? Spray glass cleaner works. Does the floor need to be swept? Put away any clutter.

Sanitize Sponge
Sanitize sponge in microwave.

Cleaning up after meals isn't hard and with a bit of organization it doesn't take long.  Don't procrastinate on doing dishes.  The job gets worse the longer you wait.  We believe in doing the dishes before dessert – it provides the motivation to do it!

When you are finished, take a look around. Would you be happy to give someone a tour of your beloved camper right now? If not, you have more to do! A ship shape camper is the next best thing to a new camper.

Mike Wendland

Published on 2015-03-12

Mike Wendland is a multiple Emmy-award-winning Journalist, Podcaster, YouTuber, and Blogger, who has traveled with his wife, Jennifer, all over North America in an RV, sharing adventures and reviewing RV, Camping, Outdoor, Travel and Tech Gear for the past 12 years. They are leading industry experts in RV living and have written 18 travel books.

3 Responses to “Quick Guide: Cleaning After Cooking in Your Class B RV”

March 16, 2015at7:30 pm, karl said:

Hi Roger and Lynn:
Great article, especially for a newbie like me. I particularly like the thermometer from ThermoWorks that you have installed in your rig. I tried to locate it on the ThermoWorks website but could not find it.
Could you kindly give me the product number so that I can call the company?
Thank you.
Karl.

March 16, 2015at10:04 am, rhiebert said:

On the topic of cleaning in the RV, I love the Norwex products for the non-chemical option, ie. the cloths and the cleaning products.

March 13, 2015at1:13 am, J. Gilbert said:

A small pillow in the microwave and dish cabinet prevents rattles.

Comments are closed.

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