How to Prepare Your Caravan for the Summer Season

The new season is coming up, and you just want to grab the caravan and head out. Believe me, we know that all too well. But do you know what can really spoil the mood on the first trip and the first nights in the new season? Mess and dirt.

So “before” the season is, unfortunately, the perfect time to get things shipshape so that nothing stands in the way of your trip. And so you don’t have to think too long about what actually needs to be done, we have written this guide. Just get started - it’s less dramatic than it looks. At the end of the article, we’ve also linked a free checklist to download.

We have a caravan, but you can certainly also use this procedure as a guide for a motorhome or campervan.

We link to the tools we use ourselves for cleaning. You can certainly find most of them at a hardware store or camping specialty shop near you.

Cleaning the caravan exterior

When spring cleaning, we go from the outside in. This isn’t required; however, daylight is very helpful when working outside. Inside work can wait until twilight — you certainly have lighting there.

Walls, roof, and drawbar

If you spend a lot of time with the caravan, you don’t notice it: white slowly but steadily turns green. And so that your camping companion doesn’t look completely neglected, you should at least take care of it once a year.

Since it can get quite dirty, we put on (reusable) cleaning gloves*. To get into various cracks and joints, it is also worth having a stiff-bristle brush*.

To avoid stressing the caravan shell too much, we bought a Caravan exterior care set*. It contains suitable, gentle agents that help us get our caravan clean. Since we don’t have a freshwater line at the campsite, we use a 5 L pump spray bottle* for application.

1. Wash the caravan with clean water. Important: Do not use a pressure washer to avoid damaging the seals.
2. Mix the caravan cleaner.
3. Now go around the caravan in sections.
   1. Apply the caravan cleaner
   2. Use the brush to loosen stubborn dirt I simply brush the whole section.
   3. Rinse with clear water.
4. Now use the black streak remover to spray the corresponding areas and then remove the discoloration with the brush.

Depending on the degree of contamination, you can or must repeat some steps.

Windows

After the walls, roof, and drawbar shine again, it’s the windows’ turn. After all, you want to see something on your travels.

For this, you also need cleaning gloves* and an acrylic and plexiglass cleaner* (already included in the Caravan exterior care set*).

We rinse the windows once with clean water, wipe the pane with a cloth, and apply the cleaner. Now wait one or two minutes and rinse the pane with clean water.

Tip: Work your way through all windows in rotation so you don’t need to set a timer.

Check for damage

Now that everything is clean, go around the caravan once and check whether you notice any damage or other need for repair. Either fix it yourself or contact a workshop.

Cleaning the caravan interior

After the outside work on the caravan, you can now dedicate yourself to the interior. There is no fixed order here either, so do as you like.

Water (tank and lines)

We always start the interior part with the water system. This is about loosening and removing deposits from the freshwater tank and the lines. The good thing here is that the actual work is done by the water tank cleaner*.

You have to do a few things in advance:

1. Take a dish brush* and brush the fresh water tank properly from the inside.
2. Rinse it out with water.
3. Now unscrew the “sieve” from all taps, this can usually be done by hand.
4. Make sure that the “drain plug” is inserted in the fresh water tank (so it can hold water).
5. Make sure that the boiler (if present) is also closed so water can be stored.

Important: The boiler must be switched off.

When you have done that, you can start filling the freshwater tank. First, add as much cleaner to the tank as necessary for the size of your tank, and then fill up with water.

Pro Tip: If you have a water can, clean it at the same time in a similar way.

Now use every tap and let water run for about 30-60 seconds, first hot, then cold. This ensures that the cleaner solution is distributed in the hoses.

Now it’s time to wait - as long as specified for your water tank cleaner. We usually let it soak for about 24 hours. In the meantime, you can work through the other interior steps.

After this time, drain the freshwater tank and the boiler completely. Then fill in fresh water again and let the water run for 2-3 minutes at each tap on both hot and cold. We repeat this step once more (drain water, refill, and let run). Now both the tank and the hoses are cleaned and completely filled with potable water.

Don’t forget to screw the “sieves” back onto the taps.

As a last step, we now put a (new) silver net* into the freshwater tank. This is optional, but it helps prevent contamination.

Check for damage

While the water tank cleaner is soaking in, take a look around the caravan to see whether everything is still in order or whether you notice any damage or other defects that you want to eliminate. Either fix it yourself or contact a workshop.

Mop or vacuum

Since you probably still have everything folded up and mostly cleared out anyway, grab the mop or the vacuum for a moment and get into the corners you normally can’t reach.

Carpet

If you have a carpet, check after vacuuming whether any stains remain that should be removed.

We are still testing various products here but haven’t found anything really good yet. If you have a good tip, feel free to write to us on social media.

Mirrors

Now it’s the mirrors’ turn. Take a glass cleaner* and a cloth, and clean every mirror thoroughly.

Surfaces

First remove dust from the remaining surfaces and then wipe them with a cloth.

Now you can move in

The cleaning work is done; now you can make everything cozy again:

• Make the beds
• Place the cushions
• Top up bathroom supplies
• Restock basic food supplies
  • Spices
  • Pasta
  • Canned food
• (optional) Replace batteries in fairy lights

Congratulations: now nothing stands in the way of your new season.