Why do I clean before we camp?

Ha! I'm the same way! The truck, trailer, and all the toys get a thorough cleaning before heading out on a trip and everything comes back absolutely filthy to start the process all over again. It's a pride thing for me, too, and I also use it as a chance to inspect all of the equipment and make notes of what needs attention.

Our last trip out I was carrying a friend's parents in my rig to go firewood gathering up a decently rough 4wd road. They were shocked when I pulled off the pavement onto the road we were heading up, thinking it wasn't a road at all (they've never done any offroading before). My friend's mom asked me what about my nice, clean truck, and I told her it all cleans up and the whole point of buying the truck is to have fun with it.

Strabo wrote:

gbopp wrote:
It's definitely a sense of pride. You want your equipment to look good.
Plus, when you meticulously clean your equipment you're also inspecting it. You notice anything worn, cracked, broken, missing, etc. and can take corrective action.
Don't worry, you're normal. :)

Honest truth for sure, thanks.

I've learned to tone it down. Wash the trailer exterior when it gets REALLY dirty, the DW keeps the inside spotless before/after trips. Now the dirtbike..........That is washed EVERY trip so it's clean for the next time; learned to do that as a kid from Dad as part of PM after every race, amazing what you find while washing your toys.

I am not ocd about it at ALL. (See what I did there?) But I do wash the van before I leave because I think it gets me a better reception at rv parks. Same reason I put on a clean shirt before running errands.

I left the house messy one. I sure regretted that when I cane back tired and with months of yard work to catch up on!

Dirtclods wrote:
We all do it over and over again the good thing is, I've come across like loose cabinets hinges ans faucet fixtures that are loose among many other small things as I'm cleaning the rig same thing when I clean the bikes.

Me too, gotta stay on top of it or face failure of something. Clean is good, stuff lasts longer, works better and looks like you care about your investments.

Our rig and truck are 12 years old, rhino is 9 years old. You'd never know it and I'm proud of that. I work hard on it.

We all do it over and over again the good thing is, I've come across like loose cabinets hinges ans faucet fixtures that are loose among many other small things as I'm cleaning the rig same thing when I clean the bikes.

gbopp wrote:
It's definitely a sense of pride. You want your equipment to look good.
Plus, when you meticulously clean your equipment you're also inspecting it. You notice anything worn, cracked, broken, missing, etc. and can take corrective action.
Don't worry, you're normal. :)

Honest truth for sure, thanks.

offtohavasu wrote:
On the other end of things, my wife details the house before we leave on vacation, of course as I'm trying to get us all out of the door. One time I asked her, "You want the burgs to know we have a clean house?" Of course I got the roll of the eyes.

As a former CSI we appreciate the clean house cuz it is easy to tell what has been messed with. Keep up the good work! May you never need a clean house for that purpose!

Halmfamily wrote:
I'm the same, detail both the fiver and the truck before we leave. I think it's a sense of pride. My wife said she doesn't understand why I do this when they are just going to get dirty while camping.

Exactly what my wife says to me! I do the same thing. I always look clean going, not so much coming home.

The toys, I only clean before I have to work on them, I hate working on dirty stuff. That usually means I clean them when I get back so I can fix all the stuff that broke during a trip (really mostly just to service tehm). The MH I do clean the outside before a trip, the inside gets done right after, usually before we leave camp and then the final cleaning as we clear out all the stuff from the trip.

On the other end of things, my wife details the house before we leave on vacation, of course as I'm trying to get us all out of the door. One time I asked her, "You want the burgs to know we have a clean house?" Of course I got the roll of the eyes.