RV Air Filters: Your Guide to Keeping Them Clean

How to Keep RV Air Filters Clean

Keeping your RV air filters clean is essential on a long RV trip! But how do you do it and how can you make it easier on yourself?

By following these steps, your air quality will be outstanding and the RV care will be a breeze.

1. Prepare the AC Unit

First thing is first. You need to begin the process of replacing your RV air filters by turning the AC unit off. To do this, simply disconnect the power source from the AC unit.

Once you do that, you are going to want to remove the cover so that you can see the filter. Be sure to be careful when you do this so that you do not damage the AC unit or hurt yourself.

Important tip: Do not turn the AC unit on when the filter is out of it! This can create irreversible damage to the AC unit. It can also allow a lot of dirt and unwanted particles into your home.

2. Use a Vacuum

The first step to cleaning the filter is to use a vacuum. This can suction off all of the loose debris and dirt on the filter.

If you notice that your filter is clean after this, you've done enough and you may be done cleaning it. However, there may be times when there is much more buildup on the screen. If that is the case, you will need to move on to the next step before putting it back into the AC unit.

3. Scrub the Filter

If you moved onto this step, it is most likely because your AC filter is filthy.

You'll want to mix warm water and mild detergent together. Place the screen into this mixture for about 15 minutes to let it soak. This will loosen the dirt and grime on it.

If it doesn't seem looser after 15 minutes, you may want to give it an hour or two to soak.

Once you do this, you can take it out to begin the scrubbing process. Use a soft brush to remove the dirt.

Be careful not to press too hard! You don't want to damage the screen.

Once you feel that the screen is clean, you can rinse it off.

4. Take a Preventative Measure to Prevent Bacteria Growth

Before you place the screen back into the AC unit, you can take another step to perform top-notch RV care.

To prevent bacteria growth, you can mix equal parts vinegar and water. Mix it together and then spray this onto the filter. Let it sit for 15 minutes and then wash it off.

5. Replace the Filter

Once the filter is rinsed and completely dry, you can put it back into the AC unit. However, ensure that it is completely dry or this could result in mold growth!

Placing it in the sunlight to dry can kill bacteria and make the drying process much quicker.

Importance of RV Maintenance for Your Air Filters

When you think about your RV, you may not think about the air filters as part of routine maintenance. You may instead think about when to get the tires rotated, checking the solar panels on top of the RV, and ensuring that your battery is always in check.

However, there is more to RV maintenance than the vehicle portion of it. For proper RV care, you need to treat the entire thing as a home on wheels. This means that you need to consider living in an RV a full-time job when it comes to care and maintenance needs.

So what is the point of air filters in an RV? They do the same thing as air filters in a home. They help to filter the air that comes in from the outside to get rid of dust, allergens, pollen, and other particles that may not be good for you.

However, if the RV air filters do not remain clean, bad things can happen.

The screen can either become clogged so that you do not get any rifler through it, or it starts to let unwanted elements into the RV because it is not properly working.

Ensuring that you are paying attention to your air filters to improve your air quality is a must in an RV! You should aim to clean the air filters about every three months. However, if you are often camping in dusty areas, you will want to move this up to every one to two months instead.

Replace Your RV Air Filters

Replacing your RV air filters needs to be on your quarterly to-do list. If it isn't, this can be impacting the overall air quality inside your RV!

Because you may be traveling on dirt roads and in more remote and dusty places, your air filter should be a focus on chore day!

Need new filters? You can shop for the right one at our online store, FilterTime.