Towels can create an issue with cleanliness – and generally being annoying. Ever get out of the shower and struggle to find a towel – or have the towel fall off the shower curtain rod and get soaked. It doesn’t have to be like that!
Hanging a towel rack in your RV can be very beneficial and space saving. You could even hang two towel racks – one for dirty and one for clean. Hanging a towel rack is about as easy as it is in your home, too.
Hanging a towel rack within your RV is a matter of finding a stud or frame piece and a screw to put through. We’ll talk you through walking a stud and other methods of getting a towel rack in place, with or without a screwdriver.
Adhesive based towel racks
You don’t always need a screw and a screwdriver to hang a towel rack. It’s possible to find an adhesive based towel rack
In the case of adhesive, you really don’t need to prepare your RV much besides potentially cleaning the wall on which you want to place the towel rack.
While the instructions normally come with an adhesive anchor, we can offer you a basic walkthrough.
- Purchase an adhesive hook from a hardware store
- Locate the specific place you want to hang the adhesive hook and thoroughly clean the wall in the particular place you want it hung up.
- Remove the adhesive protector strip from the back of the hook. Be careful not to touch the adhesive itself
- Place the adhesive hook with the adhesive towards the wall
- You’ll want to hold the hook in place for at least a few seconds to allow the adhesive to fully attach to the wall.
Adhesive hooks are easy, though they are more likely to damage the wall on the way down. They also tend to have less capacity since the glue is not as strong or long lasting as a screw. Just don’t put more than a couple of towels – especially wet ones, and you’ll be fine.
Screw based towel racks
A towel rack that uses a screw is likely to last longer, though it’s a little more work to get in.
You’ll need:
- A screwdriver or drill, preferably a drill
- A screw anchor
- A small screw that fits through the towel rack hole, if it didn’t come with one. It should come with one
- Potentially some elbow grease
- A thumb tack, if available.
- A stud finder or large object to tap on the wall to find a stud
Here’s one challenge: You might not have a cordless or corded drill available when you are on the road. We will first walk you through how to install a towel rack without a drill.
- First, locate a good spot for your towel rack. Use the stud finder to find something supportive. The stud finder is slid across the wall and should beep when you find something you can attach to.
- Find the right height on the wall where you want the rack attached.
- Without a drill, it’s really hard to get a screw to stay in the wall. You could either use the screw to poke a starter hole, or jam a thumb tack into the wall in the appropriate spot to get started. Remove the thumb tack.
- Put the screw on the wall and turn right with the screwdriver until it’s all the way in and stable.
With a drill, your only major change is that you probably won’t need to use a thumb tack though drilling a small pilot hole would be helpful. Use a bit smaller than the screw itself to do this. Using a larger bit will not help because the hole will be too big for the screw.
The biggest downside to a screw based towel rack is that you’ll create a hole in your way trying to install one. You can also use a caulk or nail fill in the event you choose to take a towel rack down or move it at some point. Otherwise, a screw towel rack is by far the strongest if you can get it into a stud or RV support.
Tension rod towel racks
If you have an opening, you could use it! A tension rod is more common in the shower, where you have an opening the size of the room that is out of the way – and used for the purpose of hanging something.
You could if a tension rod somewhere.
A tension rod normally just needs to be sized a little less than the doorway or room length, then screwed into position by turning the end of the rod to allow it to extend.
These are by far the easiest to install, and remove, but also need two walls to use. A tension rod could readily get in the way if you have a small bathroom. Optionally, you can install a tension rod between two solid brackets, which can be installed with adhesive or screws themselves.
Tension towel racks can also hold a decent amount of weight depending on the size of the bar. The bars are ultimately multi purpose and can be quickly and easily uninstalled if you decide one way you want to move the tension rod and use it to hang up laundry somewhere.
Conclusion
Thankfully, towel racks are pretty easy to install in RVs. A tension rod doesn’t require tools and the adhesive based racks are quite easy, though not 100% reliable. The best bet is still a screw based towel rack that holds into the wall – and could be installed by hand potentially.
No matter which way you choose, it’ll be nice to have a good, agreed upon place to put your towels to be ready for a shower – or after a shower.
So get your tack and screwdriver ready.