Welcome to our official guide to campervan Showers!

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First, here are all of the items in a chart that we have decided to talk about in this post.

Taking a shower while traveling in a campervan can be quite a difficult task, especially when your van doesn’t have the space for a shower or a toilet.

Hello, Nikole and Clark Stone here. We travel in our Ford Transit Connect and only have room for our slat bed and some storage. We typically use a battery-operated shower or use campground showers due to our lack of space.

No matter the type of van you have, big or small, you can always find a solution for your hygiene needs. You don’t need a fancy built-in shower system to travel around in your mini motorhome.

Here are the top showering items you can use for your van that will provide you with the best hygiene solutions.

Types of Portable Campervan Showers

The first and foremost way to stay clean during your travels is through some sort of showering system. You don’t always need a huge tank on the bottom of your van with all these fancy hookups, especially if you are only traveling for a few days at a time.

Sometimes all you need is a battery-operated shower and a bucket of water. Here are some great options for a portable campervan shower.

Battery Powered Campervan Shower

We love our battery-operated campervan shower. It works perfectly with our outdoor shelter (I will go into more detail about this later on). The only downside to this shower is not having heated water right away. However, if you heat up some of the water over a fire or a propane burner it does make the water bearable.

Be careful when adding boiling water to your shower, you can easily burn your skin. We typically use a 3-gallon bucket and put in about two small pots of boiling water to get it to a comfortable temperature. Always test the water with a thermometer to prevent burning your skin.

After a 2 to 3-hour charge, this particular battery-operated campervan shower will last up to 60 minutes of constant use. You can charge this through your vehicle’s cigarette lighter or solar charger. The water pressure is nothing to brag about, but it gets the job done.

Solar Shower

Solar showers are often known as bagged showers. They usually come with a black bag, which will heat up your water in the sun. This isn’t always useful, especially on cloudy days when you will have to settle with a cold shower. Even on sunny days, you will need to wait a while for the sun to hit the bag long enough for the water to heat up, which can be somewhat annoying.

This system also comes with a hose and spray nozzle. It is not pressurized, but instead is gravity fed. You will need to hang the shower somewhere like a tree or the back of your van, or if you have a privacy shelter.

These are super cheap and draw no power whatsoever. If you find yourself boondocking this would be a great option.

Roof Top Showers

Similar to solar showers, rooftop showers are also a non-energy consuming product. The water in these are pressurized and can heat up to 110 degrees Fereinheight.

This aluminum shower can be installed on the roof rack of your campervan for easy access. You can use this to get pressurized water for washing bikes, equipment, or a shower.

The black powder-coated aluminum will help heat up the water for your shower. Make sure you pack an air pump (one you use for your bike would work) in order to pressurize it.

Makeshift Shower

I’ve seen where people turn a brand new weed sprayer into a portable shower. This would be a great cheap non-power option for a campervan shower. Make sure that if you convert one of these that you use a brand new weed sprayer as the chemical can still reside in the container years after use.

Campervan Shower Heater

Who likes cold showers? Not me! Here is a great option for those cold nights or winter months. This propane heater doesn’t need any electric hookups and will run off of a propane tank. The tank required is similar to what you would see installed on a propane grill.

This fairly big water heater requires a big propane tank and may not be convenient for all travelers. This item takes up too much space for our For Transit Connect camper van, therefore we opt-out of this luxury.

Privacy Options

Taking a shower in the middle of the wilderness can be somewhat invasive on one’s privacy. Personally, I don’t care if there is no one for miles I still feel like my privacy is being invaded if I don’t have some sort of privacy curtain around my campervan shower.

Canopy

We use a canopy on our trips with our campervan. The canopy folds up to a small enough size to fit in our roof top compartment. When we are ready to set it up we have instant privacy.

We got ours from Walmart but shares the same features as the one listed below. It is 6.4 feet tall so you can fit someone who seem to tower over everyone (my husband included). I also like the fact that it has a bottom, so you aren’t splattering mud and dirt over your feet. Lastly, I love the storage pockets for things like soap and shampoo.

Not only is the shelter great for a shower, but your campervan toilet as well. This small tent is perfect for those who cannot fit a full bathroom into their campervan.

Shower Curtain

I’m sure most have heard about the shower curtain hung behind the two doors in the back of the van trick. Create your own privacy shelter by hanging a shower curtain on the two doors that open up in the back.

You can either get a tension shower rod and increase the tension so the ends hit both doors ( this only works if your doors will stay stationary) or you can tie a rope across the tops of the doors and feed the shower curtain through the rope.

Shower with clothes on

If all else fails, just shower with your bathing suit on. you can still get plenty clean while wearing your swimsuit in the shower. On the plus side, it’s less clothing that needs to be washed later?

How to save water

Saving water during your vacation can make the difference between only having one shower and having two.

Try turning the shower off while soaping up. When you are on the road for long periods of time you can’t always have luxuries such as heating, a fully functional kitchen, or even running your shower the whole time you are washing off.

Use this showerhead to help save on more water. This water-saving showerhead will help to save more water by turning the showerhead off when you are soaping up.

Other Shower Options

When on the road for long periods of time it can be difficult to find the water necessary for a shower, or you may not have the means to carry a campervan shower. If you find yourself unable to take a shower for a few days and you just can’t stand the stink anymore, here are some other options for you to choose from.

Gyms: Planet Fitness, Gold’s Gym, and several other gyms offer access to all of their gyms if you become a member. Personally, I like Planet Fitness because there seems to be more of them than any other gym, and more are being built. Planet fitness is also fairly cheaper than other gyms.

Camp Grounds: Why not stay at a campground for a few nights to take a few showers and live in some luxury. Most campgrounds will have bathrooms free for anyone camping there to use.

Truck Stops: If you are really desperate for a shower, truck stops offer a shower for a fee. Showering while people are shopping for bagged candy and bottled sodas isn’t ideal for me, but sometimes you have to make a compromise when you are in a pinch.

Beaches: While technically you can rinse off with beach showers you cannot use soaps or shampoos. So this may be a good temporary fix to help you from smelling too bad.

Recreational areas: Many cities within the US will have recreational areas with showers. You may have to pay a small fee to use them, and they aren’t always the best maintained. These areas do the trick when you are desperate.

Non-water Campervan Shower Options

When all else fails and you find yourself with no water or shower options, here are some great emergency showering alternatives. I wouldn’t recommend using this as your main source of hygiene, but they can get you through some pretty stinky times.

Dude Wipes: To help you from getting too stinky Dude wipes may just get you through the day without making your partner gasp in fear of your foul stench.

Shoe Spray: For those of you who have horrible smelling feet, here is the perfect shoe spray to keep the smells away. My husband can’t stand when I take my shoes off in close quarters, because it stinks up the whole area. With this Hex Performance Spray, I no longer have to worry about offending him.

Dry Shampoo: I don’t know about you but my hair gets super greasy if I don’t wash it after about two days. I can get away with not washing it longer by using dry shampoo. Shop dry shampoos here.

Platforms for Showers

If you do find yourself needing to take a shower outdoors, try one of these platforms. They really help keep the sand, dirt, and mud off your feet and help prevent nature from splattering back up at you.

Bamboo

Bamboo shower platforms are so perfect for your outdoor bathroom. They allow for drainage so there isn’t a ton of water pooling at your feet. It helps keep your feet and legs clean while you take a shower.

The great thing about this platform is the folding feature so you can easily store it just about anywhere within your campervan.

Towels

The types of towels you purchase can make all the difference when it comes to showering. It can make or break the space you have in your van. You don’t want your typical bath towel taking up space in your small campervan with its bulkiness.

You also don’t want to spend a lot of time drying off only to throw your moist towel in the campervan to sit for hours being damp. You need the fastest drying towels, here are some perfect options for you.

Turkish towels

Turkish towels are of the best quality when it comes to drying off. Not only do they fold or roll up into a small size, but they dry wonderfully. I’m not hating on your typical microfiber towel, but personally, I hate that feeling of skin when you’re drying off (you know exactly what I’m talking about if you have ever used them). With these 100% cotton Turkish towels, you can feel the softness and dry off with more ease.

They are a bit more on the pricey side, but they work so wonderfully.

Microfiber towels

Like I stated above, I’m not too impressed with microfiber camping towels when it comes to drying off after a shower. Since they are cheaper towels I have them as a backup, but I really only use them in emergencies.

On the plus side, these towels DO dry fairly fast and are super-compact, making them great for any campervan shower set up.

These Youphoria Microfiber towels come in 3 different sizes and several different colors.

Biodegradable Soaps For Campervan Shower

Using biodegradable soaps in your outdoor shower can be helpful for the environment. Just because certain soaps are biodegradable doesn’t mean you can soap up in a lake or a stream, it can still be hazardous for bodies of water. Make sure you don’t use any type of soap in any sort of body of water. Biodegradable soaps still need soil to break them down properly.

You typically want to shower at least 200 feet away from any body of water. Shop below for your biodegradable soap to use in your travels.