I don’t know about your family, but we do not have space to hang our larger beach towels inside the RV to dry after some fun times while camping.
We love our large towels for drying off after hanging out at the local watering hole or for privacy after using the bath house at the campground. However, being large causes issues in that we just don’t have space to hang them up to dry inside the camper. This meant we needed a way to hang them up outside.
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We found some different images online which sparked ideas, but nothing with instructions which meant we had to reinvent the wheel. And you get the benefit of that. Because we took notes! And made diagrams!! So here are our instructions on how to build an outdoor towel rack for your RV.
Materials Needed for your Outdoor Towel Rack:
To build this outdoor towel rack using our instructions you will need the following:
- three 10 feet lengths of 1/2” PVC tubing
- seven 1/2” PVC Elbows
- ten 1/2” PVC Tee fittings
- twelve 1/2” PVC Caps
- PVC cutter (this thing is amazing, and we have used it with so many projects, including our RV Sticker Club Display!)
- PVC primer and cement
- 7/8” drill bit
- 1/2” by 48” hardwood round dowel
- one 100-foot length of clothesline (non-coated)
- five aluminum screws (we used Everbilt #6 x 1 inch)
- acetone (optional)
- steel wool (optional)
- drinking straw (optional)
Building the Outdoor Towel Rack:
Step 1: Assemble your supplies
Make sure to have all your supplies handy including items like measuring tape, lighter, and an extra set of hands.
Step 2: (Optional) Clean the marking from the PVC pieces using the acetone and the steel wool.
Originally, we did not bother with this step, but ended up doing it after we built, and wanted to suggest it for those who desire a cleaner look. After our experience with our RV Sticker Club Display, we no longer worry about painting pvc. It just gets scratched up in our storage compartments. Plus we didn’t want paint peeling onto our towels!
Step 3: Drill out and notch five PVC Tee fittings, clean them up, and set aside.
Use the 7/8” drill bit to remove the stops from inside the PVC Tee fittings so that these pieces will be able to slide over the vertical sections. This step is probably the hardest part and where the right tools make the job easier. A drill press and a way to securely hold the tee fittings to drill them out would be great but we used a vise and handheld electric drill. Next, put a half-circle notch in the fitting below each PVC Tee. This is to allow it to fit over a screw which will hold the support in place once the rack is assembled.
Step 4: Create five rods by cutting 2.5 feet sections from your 10 feet poles.
This will completely use one of the poles and a portion of the second. Save the rest for building your base and top supports.
Step 5: Create your base support.
It will use one PVC Tee, five PVC Elbows, and two PVC Caps along with some of the leftover pole cut into six pieces.
Measure the width of the RV ladder and cut two sections of pipe that add up to the width of the ladder once inserted into the PVC Tee. Insert each section into the PVC Tee. Add an Elbow to the end of each section as well. Note: the PVC sections will insert about ¾” into each fitting.
Our ladder is 13 inches wide, so we have one 4 inch piece and one 7 inch piece. Once they are inserted into our PVC Tee and Elbows, they fit behind our ladder. If your ladder is wider or narrower, you will need to adjust the measurements.
Next, cut two equal length sections, roughly 5 inches long, to form the pegs that come away from the RV. Insert them into the existing PVC Elbows and add another elbow to the end of each of them.
Then cut one shorter length to insert into the PVC Tee for your upright pole. Ours is 4 inches long.
Finally, cut two small sections to connect PVC Caps to the PVC Elbows. These are only about 2 inches long and are just used to be able to cap off the pipes.
Once you have cut all these pieces, primer and cement everything together. You might still see the purple primer on the pvc pipe. If this bothers you, it is possible to paint this section as it won’t be touching your clothes and towels. We were not concerned about it and left it alone.
Step 6: Create the top hook.
It will use two PVC Elbows and one Cap, along with using some more of the leftover pole.
Measure the depth of the top step of the ladder. The top support will hook onto this step for stability. Cut one section of PVC that will go into two PVC Elbows and be long enough to span the depth of the step. Don’t forget that the section will insert about ¾” into each elbow when measuring how long to cut the PVC.
Our step is 2 inches deep, so we cut our pipe 4 inches long. This gives it plenty of clearance. Once it is inserted into the two PVC Elbows it will hook over the step. If your ladder steps are not the same size as ours, you will need to adjust the measurements.
Again, cut a small section to connect a cap to one of the PVC Elbows. It will be about 2 inches long and is again used to be able to cap off the pipe.
Once you have cut all these pieces, primer and cement everything together. You might still see the purple primer on the pvc pipe. If this bothers you, it is possible to paint this section as it won’t be touching your clothes and towels. We were not concerned about it and left it alone.
Step 7: Build the body of the rack using some of the remaining pole.
First place both the hook and the bottom support in place in order to properly measure the height needed for the body of the rack. You will want to cut a length of PVC from the remaining pole that will fit in both open PVC Elbows.
We chose to put our hook on the top step of our ladder. This means our vertical rod is 4 feet 10 ½ inches long. Remember to measure your ladder and adjust accordingly.
For stability purposes, we inserted a four-foot dowel rod inside the pole. This doesn’t cover the full length of our pole but does create strength within the pole once we added the screws in step 9 which drilled into the dowel rod.
Step 8: Assemble the rods using the saved pieces.
On each of the five 2.5 feet rods, drill a hole through each end. Make sure these holes line up precisely. These will be used to attach the clothesline to each rod.
Using a straw (optional), starting inside each rod, feed a section of clothesline through one hole, down the length of the rod, through both holes at the opposite end, and back down the outside of the rod to finish up back inside the rod.
With both ends of the rope pulled tight, tie a knot that will then sink back inside the rod. We also burnt the ends of our cut rope as it was fraying on us.
Next, glue a cap on one end and a PVC tee on the other end. Align the tee so the ropes will run along the sides of the rod, not the top and bottom of the rod.
Step 9: Assemble and align the rods.
Slide the five rods onto the vertical rod and space them out vertically along the length of the Outdoor Towel Rack. Ours measure 10 inches from the bottom of the tee to the bottom of the next tee. Next, rotate them along the support for increased drying ability keeping in mind that items will hang down and you want to place the longer items on the higher rods.
Once you have them spaced and rotated as you wish, drill a small hole on the vertical rod where there is a notch in the corresponding PVC Tee. Insert the aluminum screw which will hold the rods in position while in use.
To allow the rods to rotate flat for storage, just slide the PVC Tee up slightly off the screw and swing in the direction of the hook to lay flat.
Once this has been done, glue the vertical rod to the top hook only. Do not glue to the bottom support or you will not be able to remove the Outdoor Towel Rack from the RV for travel days.
Step 10: Admire your work and put your Outdoor Towel Rack to good use!
We suggest towels get anchored by being inserted in between the clothesline and the pipe on both sides. Clothing items can be hung using hangers on the rods. And smaller items could be pegged to the line using clothes pins. Wet shoes? Use the bottom pegs to support them. Plus, if you have unmentionables, you can hide them inside the towels for drying.
F.A.Q. about our Outdoor Towel Rack:
Q. Why non-coated clothesline?
A. While it is possible to cut traditional coated clothesline, we could not figure out a clean way to fasten it to our rods which is why we switched to non-coated clothesline and tied the knots.
Q. Why does your base support have the poles off center?
A. Our ladder curves in towards the RV so by placing the Tee off-center we are able to swing the bottom rung greater than 180 degrees.
Q. Why are you adding the pieces to cap off the pipes?
A. We have had the unfortunate experience of a wasp nest being built inside the rear bumper where we store our “stinky slinky” aka the sewer hose. Since then, we have tried to eliminate any open sections of pipe where stingy thingys are able to set up housekeeping!
Q. Can there be more than five rods?
A. Yes, we have plenty of space between our rods so we could easily add more but our family of three didn’t need additional rods so we kept it simple. We would not recommend more than nine rods because we think the weight of wet towels would be too heavy for our setup, but feel free to experiment.
Our Outdoor Towel Rack has made us so happy!
For a little bit of money and not much time, this project has given us more room inside the RV by allowing us to dry larger items outside the RV. And we love having that extra space for activities such as playing card or dice games and sprawling out to read a good book!