🚐 Van Life: My Must-Have RV Bathroom Essentials + Upgrades

🚐 Van Life: My Must-Have RV Bathroom Essentials + Upgrades

This is the Ultimate List of Van Life Essentials you’ll need for your RV Van Bathroom — some of these are MUST HAVES (everything I keep in mine), plus a few optional upgrades made.

Living the van life full-time traveling — with 5 dogs, 1 cat, and two RVs — means we’ve learned a lot about what actually works in a small space. We travel in our 2012–2013 Pleasure-Way Excel TS camper van, while our stationary travel trailer stays parked at an RV campground as our home base. This unique setup lets us enjoy the best of both RV living and travel — while working on the road!

Over the years (and multiple vans), we’ve refined our van life bathroom setup through trial and error. Whether you’re looking for the best RV bathroom accessories for van life, prepping for a boondocking bathroom setup, or building out your own RV camper van bathroom checklist, this post covers it all.

From smart RV bathroom storage ideas to functional RV bathroom upgrades, these are the must-have RV bathroom essentials we personally use to stay clean, organized, and comfortable on the road. This isn’t just an RV bathroom checklist — it’s a real-world-tested list built from experience.

Whether you’re just starting out or updating your current van life bathroom essentials, we hope our RV bathroom must-haves help you create a setup that works for your lifestyle — no matter how or where you roll. 💨

>> 🎬 TAKE A TOUR of My RV Van and see all the items mentioned below here ⬇️

This is a List of EVERYTHING I keep in my RV Van Bathroom:

THIS is an EXACT list of almost everything we have in our RV Van Bathroom! There are a few reasons I made this, and why you might want to keep it saved, too!

Mainly because I get asked all the time about questions like what all do you put in your RV Bathroom etc…

RV TIP: Just in case something ever happens and you need to file an RV insurance claim, you are going to need a list of all the items you lost and need replacing! Take it from me, as I learned this from experience! Which is also why it’s a good idea to take pictures and videos of your personal belongings as well as keep receipts for all the items you buy for your RV!

🚐 My Van Life Bathroom Essentials Checklist: Must Haves + Optional Upgrades

🚿 RV Shower & Bathing Essentials

3-in-1 shampoo, body wash, conditioner
Bars of soap
Towels & washcloths
Towel for drying (cleaning)
Hair clips, ties, and ponytail holders
Hair band (for face washing)
Wet/dry razor
Razors – women
Razors – men
Shaving crème – men
Coconut oil
Lotion
Dry shampoo
Body wipes
Face wipes (for no water) make-up cleaning cloths
Wet wipes
Glow-in-the-dark toilet seat
Landry bag for external showers

🧼 RV Toiletries & Hygiene

Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Suction cup storage mount for toothbrush
Dental floss (multiple kinds: Reach + Oral-B expanding)
Brush picks for teeth
Tooth dental picks
Mouthwash
Deodorant – women’s
Deodorant – men
Face wash
Face cleanser (no water needed)
Face mask
Erase Your Face wash cloth
Hand soap
Hand sanitizer
Tampons
Comb
Hair gel
Cologne – men
Baby powder
Poopouri spray
Sea salt
Cotton swabs
Cotton pads
Face razor (dermaplane/eyebrow razor)
Nail buffer
Nail file
Nail clipper/trimmer
Lancer / pimple popper
Tweezers (for splinters, tick removal)
Scissors
Blemish patches
Outlet plug covers (120V – safety accessory)

🧽 RV Bathroom Maintenance & Cleaning

Wet & Forget (mold and mildew spray)
Damprid
Toilet paper
Toilet black tank treatment chemicals
Vent cover – magnetic by Van Essentials (note: not in bathroom but often related)
Insulation for RV Skyline / RV window (our RV Van Bathroom has a window)
Soap sponge for drying the Van bathroom with no residue
Command hooks (for hanging towels)

💊 First Aid & Medications (we keep in the RV Van)

First aid kit
Icy Hot gel
Goodies headache powder
Claritin (non-drowsy)
Dramamine (non-drowsy)
Gas-X
Tums
Condoms

🐞 Outdoor Essentials (Stored in RV Bathroom)

Bug spray
Sunscreen

🔄 Suggestions You May Want to Add

These are common in RV/van bathrooms and might round out your setup:

Nail scissors (if different from the trimmer above)
Eye drops
Aloe vera gel (for sunburn)
Small mirror (if not built-in)
Travel-size bidet sprayer or wash bottle
Trash can or hanging bag for small waste
Compact bathroom caddy or organizer
Toilet lid deodorizer or drop-in pod
RV-safe toilet bowl brush or cleaning wand

🐈‍⬛ Things we keep for the Cat (stored in the RV Van Bathroom) — Because Johnny has to use the bathroom too!

Cat litter box (travel, portable, folding, zippered with handles
Cat litter (pretty litter clumping
Cat litter box liner (Jonny cat liners)
Cat poop scoop

>> SHOP all our Van Life Essentials in our RV STORE

🚨 Disclaimer: I Don’t Shower In My Van Anymore…

So I have to be honest, the van water tank is small and so is the bathroom shower area, not to mention you have to take a shower with the toilet — best for those who like to shower sitting down, NOT ME! But, I do have the ability to shower in the van and have before. Especially when we first got the van and were living in it while hooked up to water, power, and sewer at an RV Park in Las Vegas.

I honestly believe we’d run out of water or fill our sewer tank rather quickly if we both tried to shower in the van. We already struggle to keep the tanks dumped on the road as RV dump stations are few and far between the places we travel. But, I always like to keep water in the fresh water tanks as we use the sink and toilet for everything BUT showering.

🤔 I know you might be wondering where we shower instead of our RV Van Bathroom?

Great question, with a few options I’ll provide. Either we will shower at the RV Park (if they have showers), but usually we are on the road, so we also have a gym membership to Workout Anytime and Planet Fitness, we activate depending on the states we’re in at the time. Some locations are not always available, so we have to plan that out. I also ALWAYS take a shower before we head out in the van, either at our RV Travel trailer or at my Mom’s house nearby, or at someone’s house if we are staying at a family member’s or friends’ house — it just depends.

This is also why I have a list of items like baby wet wipes, face wipes and facial cleansing water to be used without water. I also found some HUGE Body Wipes that are made for cleaning your body when you can’t shower — found them at the dollar store! Oh and my wet/dry rechargeable razor allows me to shave dry and without water ANYTIME, ANYWHERE! I often do it when NVington is driving 😉

And I’m not going to lie I sometimes I have been in scenarios where I take showers at beach showers (at night in my bikini or a cover-up dress). Or you might find me showering at the RV dump stations — not joking I like to “feel clean” so a quick once over with my 3-in-1 shampoo, conditioner and body wash gives me that feeling — and YES I know it is non-potable water and also I try to make it NOT obvious and it takes me about a minute or two I’m so fast you wouldn’t even know what happened! I look more like I’m rinsing off.

>> DOWNLOAD: My RV Essentials Checklist for all of these Must-Haves and More!

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Related:

Get All My Van Life Essentials

Ultimate RV Checklist for Van Life: almost everything we keep in the RV van. All our Must-Have Essentials, Accessories & Optional Upgrades

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Updated: December 24, 2025

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September 11, 2025

🚐 Van Life: My Must-Have RV Bathroom Essentials + Upgrades

This is a List of EVERYTHING I keep in my RV Van Bathroom: