You clean up your RV after it has served you for the season, hang up a few scented trees, and even spray some air freshener before putting it in storage. However well you think you have made all the necessary adjustments, it is still not surprising to open the door to your RV the next season and be hit with a faceful of foulness in the form of an unwelcoming stench. The thing is, RV odors can be tricky, and they can radiate from all kinds of different places, especially when your unit is closed up for a while. Check out these common stored RV odors and the simple solutions you need to know.
Stale and Mildewy Stench
Close up just about any structure for a while, especially a small one, with little-to-no airflow, and you will likely find a stale mildewy odor every single time. These odors can seem impossible to combat in your stored RV, but there are some basic solutions. The key to combatting staled air inside of your RV is to introduce some form of ventilation. For example, you could invest in roof vent covers that will allow you to leave the vents open just enough to allow air to circulate throughout the unit.
Sewer Stank
One of the first things that must be done before storing your RV for any length of time is to empty the sewage receptacle. However, just emptying the receptacle before storage is not all that should be done. You should also flush the sewage lines of the system with clean water. If you don't, the crud that is still hanging out in the lines will definitely offer a displeasing welcome-back when you pull your RV out of storage. A lot of RV owners think this is a complicated and dirty job, but it is really just a matter of filling toilets and drains with clean water a few times and then re-draining the tank and sewage lines.
Intruder Ick
Mice are a huge problem in stored RVs. These little sneaky suckers will slip into RVs fairly easily, and when the RV is stored for the season, they have free range to do whatever they like. Unfortunately, some rodents are not all that smart when it comes to escaping after they get inside of your closed-up RV, which means you may be faced with the smell of a deteriortaing rodent carcass. The only way to eliminate this foulness is to track down teh source of the smell, get rid of teh carcass, and then do some major cleaning with a good santizing solution.
