5 Unexpected Pool Noodle Hacks For RV Camping That Are Wildly Useful, According To RVers

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Pool noodles aren't just fun beach and pool accessories; the colorful foam tubes can serve a number of unconventional purposes. For RV owners, they can keep you afloat, metaphorically speaking, on the road. Whether you use​ this clever pool noodle trick to help make your RV awning safer or this hack that helps to keep your RV belongings secure, these colorful toys can be co-opted for tasks all around your RV, both inside and out. From keeping pipes warm to protecting you from injury, we've rounded up five unexpected pool noodle hacks for RV camping that are wildly useful, according to experienced RVers.

To put together our list, we looked through dozens of hacks that have been shared by bloggers and users on forums and sites like Reddit and Facebook. The picks below, all of which are useful, emerged as some of the most popular, the most practical, or the simplest hacks to have been implemented by actual RV owners.

When you're dealing with freezing or near-freezing temperatures, insulating your RV will help keep you warm and save you money. So before you go out and buy an expensive space heater, try using a pool noodle to insulate your space. If you need a cheap fix on the road, they can be cut in half and slid into gaps around your vehicle to help keep the warmth inside or, in the summer, help keep the air conditioning from leaking out. Better yet, you can do this for a fraction of the cost of traditional insulation.

As journalist and veteran RVer Mike Wendland shared on the RV Lifestyle blog, "Here is a simple hack to keep your camper insulated (in hot or cold weather!). Use a pool noodle to insulate the space you slide out attached to your RV. Simply cut a pool noodle in half, lengthwise. Then place one half, flat side down, partly under the slide. Do this on the outside and the inside to help insulate the trailer."

Pool noodles are also a clever way to prevent pipes and hoses on the outside of an RV from freezing. To help insulate a hose connected to your vehicle, simply cut a slit in the noodle and then fit it around any piping that you need to prevent from freezing up. Walmart and other retailers sell pool noodle-esque pipe insulation, but any old noodle you have lying around will do the job as well. 

When you're driving in an RV, it's just a reality that things in the living area are going to move around. While it may be easy to secure your furniture, it's a little harder to keep items in the fridge and your cabinets from shifting. This next tip can help keep glass jars from breaking and any dry food items in cabinets from flying around while you're on the road. You can also use pool noodles to protect the cabinets themselves, which often have one of the biggest design flaws found in RVs.

To prevent items in a fridge from breaking or falling off their shelf, some RV campers recommend cutting a pool noodle to the appropriate length and wedging it between the sides of your fridge to create a barrier to stop items from falling over. You can also cut up pool noodles to place between jars and other breakable items to prevent them from moving around while you're in transit. Pool noodles can also hold the appliances and their loose parts in place. One RVer shared on Facebook that she uses them to "support the glass plate in the microwave while traveling," as illustrated in the photo above.

Let's be real: driving and parking a vehicle as large as an RV can be stressful. Especially when it comes to maneuvering into and out of tight spaces. You don't want to make a mistake and accidentally scratch your vehicle or someone else's. Attaching pool noodles like bumpers to the sides or corners of your RV is an easy way to prevent scratching, dinging, or denting it in these scenarios. It will also protect your neighbors' vehicles from scratches, which can be an ordeal to handle should they occur. Some RVers use Velcro to attach noodles to their exterior, while others slit them down the middle and stick them on, but there's no wrong way to go about DIYing your pool noodle bumpers.

This same technique is also utilized by some RV owners to prevent injuries. When an RV is parked or extended, it's easy to bump into a side or corner while walking by, especially if your RV has slide-outs. One RVer has said that she has seen pool noodles on RV slide-outs for years, writing, "When I was a new RVer, I noticed a couple of people who had RV slides used pool noodles along the edge of the slide when it was extended. On my daily walks I'd stare at these as I walked by trying to figure out their purpose...Turns out it was a simple one. It hurts when you run into a corner of an RV slide so the pool noodle works as a bumper to prevent bruises and cuts. And pain." Another RVer suggested using colorful noodles for this, saying, "We use bright orange pool noodles on the edge of our slide outs to save banging heads on them."

This next hack is one of the easiest on our list to implement because little alteration is usually needed, which explains why it's a very popular maneuver among RVers. Pool noodles, due to their shape, make excellent windshield wiper covers. Simply measure how far down you'll need the pool noodle to go on your wiper blades, cut off the excess, and make a slit in the noodle so you can easily wrap it around the blades. In some cases, you may not have to make a slit at all; just slide the pool noodle over your windshield wiper blades, cut it to size, and go about your day.

Windshield wipers are one of those parts that most car and RV owners forget need to be maintained. They can wear down over time, especially if your RV sits in the sun for long stretches of time. Adding pool noodles will not only protect them from the sun but also from harsher elements like wind, rain, and snow. Covering them up in the winter will protect your windshield wipers from freezing to the glass as well, but be sure to defrost thoroughly before removing them.

Pool noodles can be handy tools in supporting the structures connected to your RV or those that stand detached. A common fix that many RVers use pool noodles for is keeping awnings and canopies fully upright. They can also be attached to the bottoms of awnings to prevent taller members of the family from bumping their heads against them. The only downside to this is that you may be down a few pool noodles the next time you roll up to the beach.

Pool noodles can also be used to help drain water from canopies during heavy rainfalls. Adding a noodle between the fabric and metal supports (pictured above) can help keep the roof of your canopy elevated, which will prevent water from pooling there. One Reddit user shared, "If heavy rain is predicted, a couple pool noodles will keep water from puddling up in the corners and collapsing on your camp." In these cases, the noodle usually just needs to be bent, not cut, and can be used for other purposes once you take your canopy down.

To determine our top five pool noodle hacks for RV camping, we looked through dozens of hacks that have been shared by experienced RV bloggers and users on sites like Reddit and Facebook. We also watched many of these hacks be put together and placed into practice on YouTube. The five examples above emerged as some of the most popular tricks used by actual RV owners, the most practical hacks, or the simplest to implement. In addition, every one of these hacks has been mentioned by multiple RVers across different forums, blogs, and social media sites and has been tested or vouched for by those who have actually implemented them.