How to Clean and Store Your Camping Gear After the Camping Trip

A weekend or holiday camping trip while fun and memorable usually leaves everyone exhausted by the time they arrive back home. The last thing anyone wants to do is unpack and put everything away.

However it is important and should be done as soon as possible.

When I was growing up and our family, Mom, Dad, me and my sister, returned from a weekend outing we always followed the same routine.

If our arrival back home was after dark the unpacking chores were postponed till the following morning. If there was still daylight left then it was done as soon as we arrived home.

Everyone was involved and shared in the activity till everything was clean and put in the proper place.

My Mother and sister took all the clothes, dishes, pots, pans, silverware, leftover food and drink. Clothes went into the washer even the unused ones. Dishes, pots, pans and silverware were re-washed the plastic tubs they were kept in wiped out and cleaned.

Once cleaned all the kitchen items were returned to the plastic tubs and put in a special place in the garage designated for camping equipment. Left over food was either stored or thrown out depending on the condition.

While all this was happening with my Mom and sister, Dad and I were taking care of camping gear such as the family tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, camping stove, lantern, hatchet and any other misc. camping gear.

The family tent was opened up and laid out in the back yard swept off and left to air out. All the tent pegs poles and ropes were wiped down and cleaned. Sleeping bags were opened up completely and hung over the clothes line inside out to be swept off and aired out. The camp stove, lantern and other camping gear were re-cleaned wiped down and stored in the garage in the special place.

Once the tent and sleeping bags were aired out for at least an hour they were folded and rolled back up cinched down and store in the garage with the other camping gear.

If the weather was wet or rainy upon our return then the airing out of equipment took place in the garage while the family car remained outside till the chores were done.

As I recall these chores were never looked forward to by any in the family, but we all knew the importance of doing them right away, so that when the time came, we had clean fresh smelling camping equipment that was in a single area easy to find and load up in the family car for our next camping adventure.