DIY: How to Add (Removable) Walls to RV Shower Shelves

My RV shower shelves looked nice and are useful when we’re parked. But with no bar to hold soaps in place, they are totally useless when the RV is in motion! I don’t know why RV manufacturers make shower shelves like this when they know RVs are meant to be driven!

Now I know that I could have easily solved this problem by moving everything to the floor of the shower while the RV was moving. But who wants to do that every time the RV moves?

I wanted to find a permanent solution to keep my soaps in place. I did some research and found a DIY solution that is easily removable and leaves no trace.

Here is my DIY solution for those RV shower shelves that need to keep soaps in place. I’ll include a supply list, detailed instructions, and a video below.

My Process

First, I purchased a small piece of 24″ x 18″ plexiglass at Lowe’s. They cut it for me into three 11″ x 4″ pieces—the size I needed for the walls of my shelves. I always ask the team at Lowe’s or Home Depot to cut things for me to save me the time and tools at home!

Next, I purchased a strip of flexible silicone “h” type shower door seal, cut six 4″ pieces from it, and then cut the “leg” of the “h” off to make it a “y” shape instead.

Below, you can see what it looked like before and after cutting:

Using Acrylic Mounting Tape

The key to this project is clear acrylic double-sided mounting tape.

XFasten Double Sided Acrylic Mounting Tape Removable, Clear, 1-Inch x 450-Inch, Weatherproof Adhesive for Brick, Walls- Indoor and Outdoor Applications

• XFasten Extreme Heavy Duty Mounting Tape is waterproof and can hold up to 5 lbs of mass per square inch of tape.

$13.99

Buy on Amazon

If you’ve visited my site before, you’ve probably heard me rave about this tape because I use it for everything! This stuff is amazingly strong, super stretchy, and flexible. It will even stick in a humid shower and still be easy to peel off with zero damage to the surface it was stuck to.  

Read More: All the ways I use this acrylic mounting tape around my RV

I attached 1″-wide mounting tape to the wide, flat side of the shower seal strips and cut the tape to be the same length.

Cutting the Plexiglass

I then cut strips of the mounting tape in half lengthwise to make them 1/2″ wide and affixed them to the edges of the plexiglass.

Then I peeled the red backing off the tape on the plexiglass and attached a strip of seal to each edge, like this:

After that, I peeled the backing off of the wider strips of tape, and took it to my shower.

Now my plexiglass has easy-to-attach sides!

Attaching the Plexiglass to My Shower Walls

I stuck it to the walls of my shower, bowing the plexiglass just slightly as I pushed it into place. I left about half an inch of space for water to drain out. Notice that my shower walls are textured. This works just as well for smooth or textured shower walls.

Read Next: Why Is My RV Shower Turning Yellow? How to Fix a Yellow Camper Shower

Here are all my plexiglass walls in place:

The Completed Project

Here are my shelves filled with stuff.

I purposely left the bottles on the bottom shelf, which are both nearly full, upside down and leaning up against the plexiglass to see if it would hold, and it hasn’t budged.  Water and humidity haven’t affected the adhesion either.

I keep plants in my shower because I have a skylight that provides light for them. Begonia and Pothos ivy, in case you were wondering.

Read More: 9 Mobile Gardening Ideas for Full Time RVers

They are planted in a sponge caddy that I used to have hanging from Command strips on the shower walls, but I decided I liked it better sitting on the top shelf.

This project can be done for around $25-$30, or less if you already have the mounting tape. Here is a list of the materials I used for this project, as well as a step-by-step list of instructions:

Materials needed:

• plexiglass – You can get this at a place like Lowe’s or Home Depot and they will cut it for you, or you can purchase it online and cut it yourself, or you can order it custom cut to your specifications from several online suppliers.
• silicone “h” type shower door seal
• clear acrylic double-sided mounting tape