Need the camping experts advice again..

[alayne]

My DH and I have been 5th wheel owners for about a year and a 1/2. When we closed it up in September to come back to the real world I took all the bedding, food, toys, toiletries, etc out of the camper. I did leave all the kitchen items, movies, board games and cleaning supplies.

Our camper is stored in my grandmothers backyard behind her barn during the winter and when we aren't camping.

My parents store theirs behind their house on a paved area my Dad made.

My Mom doesn't take anything - except food that can go bad (she leaves caned items and such) out of her camper. She says I should leave the beds made, towels and shampoo in the camper.

So what do you do? Do you leave your camper like your house (minus the food) or do you clean it out? Does it depend on where you are storing it when not in use and how long between the uses?

I mean if we were going to use the camper every weekend then I wouldn't care to leave everything in it but for us not to use it for 5 months straight I don't feel comfortable.

I'm afraid the items will smell stored and what happens if a rat gets in and eats my sheets.

What do you do?

 

[serenitygr]

LOL- we are by NO MEANS camping experts! But I have to say if we didn't take our things out over the winter, we'd have a pretty big mess come the big thaw! I can't even imagine- it's been 30 BELOW zero every night here for over a week- and not even above zero during the day- I think mice would be the last of our problems- I'd probably feel sorry for them and let them curl up in my sheets just to stay warm!

 

[Happy 2 B Me]

We had a coaches --MH's for over 23 years. We parked ours under a patio, on a concrete pad, and we had heat running all winter ( set at a low temp).

I left canned goods, videos, cleaning supplies ( mice hate that stuff). I took in all clothing, took sheets off bed and replaces the spread that came with the MH. Spread was so heavey I never used it when we used the MH. Just stored it under the bed. Your bed will smell musty with out heat to it so you would need to take it off ans wash the sheets anyway.

I took sheets off bed, brought the extra sheets in from the coach, rotated the towels so that most would get brought in and washed so they smelled fresh and pretty .

Take all food even boxed in to home. Make sure you block open the refrig so you do not get that oops I forgot and closed the RV refrig door.

Parking your RV out back opens a new can of worms. How so you say MICE MICE MICE in 3 different languages? I can guarantee they can squeeze through the smallest of openings. They will even knaw on wood if they want to get into an area from where they are smelling goodies.

You will learn what works for you as you take more trips. Enjoy your time on the road and sharing some of the best times ever camping. Gotta love a campfire with family and friends sitting around just talking. I miss those days for sure.

Have fun

 

[GoofyCampers09]

We always take in food in boxes or anything that will spoil, leave canned goods in camper,make sure fridge & freezer are propped open and turned off! Really the only things we take in are things that will freeze (shampoos if full &certain supplies that will bursts) its also been -30 here for a wk! We leave all our clothes and bedding movies etc but so we don't get mice as our fifth wheel is in our driveway we put lots & lots of dryer sheets everywhere you can get one the mice hate the smell of them and bonus for us the camper smells good when we open it back up plus you can always put moth balls around the ground of your camper too! We get lots of snow in Vt so we also have covers to go over the air conditioner etc and pitch the camper some so the melting snow runs off and dosent sit in pools on the roof but if there's a lot we get up there and shovel it off!

 

[2goofycampers]

We take out anything liquid or that can freeze and all food. Everything else stays.

 

[luckycharm19335]

We store our MH inside. The building is not heated but it wont get cold enough to freeze inside.
We remove EVERYTHING!
It only takes 1 little critter to ruin a lot of your belongings.
I then throw Bounce dryer sheets every where throughout the coach.
We also cut a dog flea collar in about 2 inch strips and put them in all of compartments outside. Make sure that you stretch the collar to activate it before cutting it in strips.
The flea collar helps with spiders and crawly things.

 

[articfox676]

In the spring take out all linens and wash. Leave them in the trailer they are stored there out of the way.
Always remove food.

 

[North of Mouse]

I always take the linens off the bed, but do return them to the MH in storage until next trip.

It is parked in a garage, and when temps of several days are in 20's or such, we plug in an electric heater to keep it just above freezing.

We do not take all our food out, just perishables. Also leave a lot of our toiletries in there, so it's basically ready to roll.

For the critters that might seek a warm spot=====we keep a couple mouse traps set with peanut butter in the coach, also a couple in the garage we keep it in. Seldom do we catch one.

Of course, we are not in the same league, weather wise, as some of you like serenitygr (feel sorry for you, by the way ) but we are actually iced in this morn. We *can* keep a check (daily, if needed) on our MH so that makes a big difference in the storage. It never smells musty, nor do things stored in it.

If we were like you OP, we would probably take more out. Not sure where you live, so the weather would tend to factor in, also how often you may check on it. Parking on a cement slab makes a difference/versus a field, etc.

No matter where we parked, I would *always* set mouse traps and check on them. At a dealer once, they parked our former MH in a grassy area for a couple days until we could pick it up - and yes, a mouse got in there and made a mess They declared nothing like that could happen there, yes, right!!! I threw away a lot of stuff and cleaned like mad. I *was not* a happy camper!

For you that are snowed in, mouse traps wouldn't work, I know. Guess you would have to try the antifreeze trick.

 

[iuki]

We store our MH inside. The building is not heated but it wont get cold enough to freeze inside.
We remove EVERYTHING!
It only takes 1 little critter to ruin a lot of your belongings.
I then throw Bounce dryer sheets every where throughout the coach.
We also cut a dog flea collar in about 2 inch strips and put them in all of compartments outside. Make sure that you stretch the collar to activate it before cutting it in strips.
The flea collar helps with spiders and crawly things.

Great ideas! Never thought about Bounce and flea collars.

 

[WDWCP96]

We take all towels and bed linens out and all perishables. I leave our toiletries in but put them in the tub/shower so if they do explode the mess is easier to clean. All comforters come home and washed and stored at home. Fridge and freezer are propped open. Any food left behind such as cooking oil, cooking spray, maple syrup are stored high in overhead compartment so it isn't as easily accessible to any critter (no way for them to open easily as it opens up not out) as a normal cabinet would be.

 

[loislane]

We take out all food and liquids like cleaning stuff and toiletries. We also brought in all the bedding and put it in space saver bags to store for the winter. I put dryer sheets on all the beds and we put some moth balls in an egg carton in the middle of the camper. We have found the smell deters most critters and the carton keeps anything from touching the moth balls. A quick airing in the spring gets rid of any lingering odor.

 

[alayne]

These are great suggestions. I knew I could count on you Disers. We are at a camping show and part of me wishes we hadn't come. I use to think we had the best 5th wheeler with the perfect layout for our family. Now that we have Maddie it's not so perfect but I found one here that I love. My DH says its too soon to trade.

Thanks for all the great tips and suggestions.