Keeping Clean While Camping - Using a Drillbrush for Outdoor, RV, Boating, Fishing, and Other Summer Activities!

Summertime is here at last!

The weather’s nice, the kids are off from school, and there’s a whole world out there to explore. What better way to use some personal time than to go out and have an outdoor adventure with friends and family!

Camping, hiking, cycling, boating; there’s plenty of fun to be had out there!

There’s also plenty of messes to find. Things can get filthy when you’re roughing it out in the wilderness. Mud-caked boots, pollen-coated decks, and char-covered grills await you on your travels.

Don’t worry about having to spend ages cleaning up after your outdoor fun; clean up quickly, easily, and effectively with a Drillbrush Power Scrubber and keep the good times rolling.

Drillbrush is a line of drill-powered cleaning brushes that attach to standard cordless drills and impact drivers. Simply insert the brush, fire up the drill, and start scrubbing!

Today, we’ll take a look at all of the ways you can use a Drillbrush to clean at the campsite, cabin, lake, and other places outside the home!

Outdoor Brushes

Medium Blue, Stiff Red, and ultra Stiff Black 4 inch Brushes.

Before we get into specific use cases, let’s go over the brushes we’ll be discussing throughout this article.

Drillbrush has several varying stiffnesses when it comes to brushes and pretty much all of them can be used for some outdoor applications, with some being particularly handy for the job.

Red Brushes

Stiff Red brushes are our flagship outdoor scrubbing brush. The stiff bristles make it tough enough to scrub heavy dirt on outdoor surfaces while its non-scratch nylon bristles keep everything looking its best! They’re also the go-to brush for interior messes that are too severe for a standard Medium brush.

Blue Brushes

Medium Blue brushes are the same stiffness as our Yellow Bathroom and Green Kitchen brushes, but given a separate designation to prevent cross contamination when cleaning. This is because the Medium Blue brushes are used for marine-based scrubbing, pools, and general outdoor use cases that a Stiff Red brush would be too much for.

These brushes are great for boat hulls, kayaks, fishing boats, pool lining, vinyl furniture, siding, and outdoor mats, as well as a myriad of other outside objects!

Black Brushes

Ultra Stiff black brushes are our designated grill scrubber. Summertime fun means a lot of grilling, so these brushes will be able to scrub away any unsightly gristle; just be sure to do so on a cold grill to avoid damaging the brush.

Black brushes are also useful for industrial-grade scrubbing. They’re able to scrub concrete, masonry, tools and outdoor equipment, and are even powerful enough to do paint stripping and rust stain removal.

Like we always say, if the mess won’t go away, the Ultra Stiff brush will make sure it does.

Other Brushes

While not fully designated for outdoor scrubbing like the other three, our Soft White Home and Auto brushes and our Medium Green Kitchen brushes can also see some use at the campgrounds. The White brushes are built for scrubbing delicate surfaces, like wood furniture and fabric, as well as vehicles like cars, trucks, RVs, bicycles, and more!

Meanwhile, the Medium Green is useful around food-prep areas, on pots and skillets, and on other cooking surfaces where an Ultra Stiff would be too aggressive.

Camping

A Stiff Red Edge brush scrubbing the trim of a plastic table.

Camping isn’t just roughing it out in the woods like Bear Grylls. You can bring some modern amenities and set up a campsite too! Some even go the extra mile and bring so much stuff, the line between camping and being at home is blurred.

If you brought stuff with you on your outdoor exhibition, Drillbrush can make sure it all stays sparklingly clean!

Fire Pits

While our forefathers would just build a campfire with rocks and sticks, Smokey the Bear is looking at your potential brushfire and isn’t too happy. Using a fire pit is a better way to keep your blaze contained. Naturally, the pit will fill with ash and char, so giving it a scrub every now and again will keep it from getting too nasty in there.

A Stiff Red corner brush (like an Original, Mini, or Jumbo) is your best bet. Spray some cleaner inside and use the brush to scrub around the sides, base, and corners.

You can upgrade to an Ultra Stiff Black brush if the mess is a bit more than the Red can handle or if you’re cleaning a brick fire pit (for those that are doing some backyard camping or have one as a permanent fixture on a private campground.)

An Ultra Stiff Black Edge brush scrubbing gril lgrates.

Grills

Portable grills are a good way to serve up some good food without having to construct a spit and slowly waiting for your hotdog to roast.

Our Ultra Stiff Black brushes are great for cleaning out gristle and foodstuff caught in the grates. On a cold grill and with some cleaner, use an Edge brush, the sides of an Original, or a 4 or 5 inch flat brush at a 45 degree angle to get between each grate and clean them out.

We have a lot to say on Grill cleaning, so check out this article we wrote about it for more info or watch this video guide.

A Stiff Red 4 inch brush cleaning the seat of a plastic bench.

Picnic Tables and Chairs

If you brought camping chairs and tables with you for the journey, you’ll want to clean them up before packing them back in the car when you leave.

For hard plastic or vinyl chairs and tables, a Stiff Red brush and some moisture will blast away caked on dirt and spilled substances from the surface. You can use our flat brushes for the seats, backs, and tabletops, while our corner brushes can be used to get into any curves and contours in the design.

For fabric camping chairs, a Stiff Red is too aggressive. Dial it back to a Soft White brush so you don’t damage the surface.

You’ll also want to use a White brush if you're cleaning a wooden picnic table, as heavier stiffnesses can wear at the coating. However, if your picnic table is already chipped from the elements and you’re looking to give it a fresh coat of paint, our Ultra Stiff Black brushes are excellent for removing old, chipped coating still stuck to the table.

Boots

From mud on the trail to water in the fishing hole, your boots are going to take the brunt of the mess. Don’t track the wilderness into your car on the ride home. Clean them off with a Soft White Drillbrush!

Our wheel-shaped Edge brush and 2 inch Detail brushes are the perfect tools for the job. The Edge brush can get in between the treads on your boots while the 2 inch brush can touch up everything else. Soft-bristled brushes are gentle enough to not damage the soles while being powerful enough to scrub away caked-on mud!

Just be sure to go at a manageable speed if cleaning fabric on your shoes, as going full bore on the drill could tug at any loose fibers or meshes.

Cabins

It doesn't stay this beautiful on it's own!

Horror movies have taught me that bloodthirsty ax murderers are the main thing to fear when going to a cabin in the woods. In actuality, it’s all the dirt, grime, and mess left behind from last year’s woodland retreat. It’s enough to make you scream!

Don’t let cabin clean-up scare you! Show that filth who’s boss with your trusty Drillbrush Power Scrubber!

A Stiff Red 5 inch Brush scrubbing deck stairs.

Deck

All sorts of things can land on your deck when you’re not attending to it. Dirt, leaves, pine needles, pollen, animal… leavings.

No worries. You can go over it with a large flat 5 inch Red brush or a Soft White version if the deck has a fragile coating.

The brush can blow away leaves and particles and with some cleaner and moisture can scrub away any stains.

For droppings, you don’t want to run the brush through the offending substance. Remove the pile with a scoop and use the Drillbrush with some cleaner to scrub any leftover residue. Then you can use our guide on cleaning Drillbrush products to sanitize it.

A Stiff Red 4 inch brush scrubbing siding.

Siding, Windows, and Roof

Unless you sprung for the Abe Lincoln-style log cabin, your woodland abode will most likely have siding, shutters, and even a gutter. Here’s how you can get all those and more nice and clean.

Vinyl siding is easy. The slats can be scrubbed with a Stiff Red 4 inch flat brush. You could also use an Original, Edge, or even a cone-shaped corner brush if you need to get into the groove under each line of siding.

Cleaning shutters is similar, but due to its smaller slats, a Stiff Red Mini brush should be used instead of an Original.

Gutters have a trough-like shape that is perfect for an Original. Use a Stiff Red version to get into the gutter and clean out dead leaves and goopy gunk that’s been sitting there over the winter.

Lastly, roofing tiles can be cleaned with a flat brush. We recommend either a Stiff Red for standard roofing tiles or an Ultra Stiff Black for coarser, heavier roofing materials. These are great for knocking off any leaves, needles, pollen, or other debris that's been chilling up there just outside of your view.

Now that we’ve cleaned the exterior, let’s head inside and spruce that up as well!

Interior

Our Soft White Home & Auto brushes work well on your home-away-from-home too. They can be used to clean any furniture you have in your cabin.

Flat 4 inch and 5 inch brushes can clean tables, chairs, dressers, windows, and wood floors. Corner brushes, like the Original, Mini, Jumbo, or Cone-shaped, can get around the curved surfaces of a couch, go along molding and window sills, and hit up any dust and debris lurking in nooks and crannies around the place.

If you have a cabin with a fireplace, Stiff Red flat and corner brushes can scrub away char and ash that got missed last year.

A Medium Green 4 inch brush being used on a countertop.

Kitchen

It doesn’t hurt to have a brush to clean up the kitchen space if your cabin has one, especially if you're entertaining a lot of guests.

Medium Green Original, Mini, and Cone-shaped corner brushes work wonders in sinks and on small appliances and you can use flat 4 inch and 5 inch brushes to scrub off countertops and floors. Lastly, don’t forget to take a 2 inch Short brush with you for any spot cleaning that needs to be done!

With the cabin all clean, this retreat is something you can repeat!

RVs and Rec Equipment

A Soft White Original Drillbrush clenaing inside rims.

Being out in nature doesn’t mean just hiking and walking. Summertime is primetime for road trips and outdoor motorsports.

Vehicles

Whether you’re tearing up the motocross track, traversing the bike trails, or using an ATV to get around the campgrounds, two things are guaranteed; dirt and mud! Both of which are going to be gunking up your tires and splattering on your vehicle’s frame.

Our Soft White Automotive brushes are perfect for the job. Depending on the size of the tire, you can get an Edge brush in between the narrow treads to pull dirt out, or go with a bullet shaped Jumbo for beefy mud bogging tires.

We don’t recommend our brush for car paint but if your vehicle uses a plastic or carbon fiber material for the body, then you’re in the clear. Use a Soft White flat 4 inch for headlights and paneling on ATVs and use an Original in the same stiffness for dirt bike fenders and BMX frames.

RVs

Auto brushes also work on RVs! A Soft White Original can clean in and around the rims and tires to keep them shining.

Plus, since it’s a home on wheels, you can use everything we mentioned in the section on cabin cleaning in the RV as well. Afterall, a kitchen is still a kitchen, even if it's mobile, so pick up a brush and get those compact countertops cleaned!

Marine

A Medium Blue 5 inch brush scrubbing the hull of a boat.

If outdoor fun means being out on the water, then we’ve got the brushes to keep your boats looking beautiful!

As we went over in the first section, when it comes to marine scrubbing, Blue brushes are the go-to brush. For scrubbing mildew and algae off of fishing boats, kayaks, and canoes, 4 inch, 5 inch, and Original Blue brushes will be your best options, with the flat brushes being used on the hulls while the Original can glide across curves, get under the seats, and scrub the inside walls of the vessel.

A Medium Blue Original Brush being used on a ladder.

If you’re taking a larger boat out onto the lake, along with the three aforementioned brushes, you can use some other options for other surfaces. Anti-skid treads can be annoying to scrub between, which is why our Medium Blue Edge brush, with its thin ring of bristles surrounding the outside, can easily get in between each slat and clear out and piled up dirt and grit.

If you have a particularly nice boat, you may also have some sweet upholstered seats. However, they can get easily mucked up if your boat guests have been indiscriminate on where they’ve been sitting prior. Medium brushes will be too rough for these seats, but some upholstery cleaner and a Soft White 5 inch brush will offer a thorough scrubbing that won’t hurt the chairs!

One Happy Camper!

When you pack up the camper this summer, make sure you pack a drill and a brush as well! We hope we were able to give you some summer scrubbing ideas and that you can enjoy the outdoors without tracking it inside!

If you’re looking for more cleaning guides, check out our, grill-cleaning blog for more details on grill grate scrubbing or view our kitchen clean-up blog for more in-depth info on our Green brushes.