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 camper van.

We link the utensils that we use ourselves for cleaning. You can certainly find most of it in the hardware store or camping specialist shop near you.

Cleaning the caravan from the outside

When spring cleaning, we go from the outside in. This is of course not a requirement, however, light is very helpful when you are active outside. For the inner part, twilight can already set in, you certainly have lighting.

Walls, Roof and Drawbar

If you spend a lot of time with the caravan, you don’t notice it: white becomes green, slowly but steadily. 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 hard handle brush*.

To not stress the caravan shell too much, we bought a Caravan exterior care set*, it contains suitable, gentle agents with which we get our caravan clean. Since we don’t have a fresh water line at the campsite, we use a 5 L pump spray bottle* for application.

1. Wash the caravan with clear water. Important: Do not use a high-pressure cleaner 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 heavy 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 panes once with clear water, wipe the pane with a cloth and apply the cleaner. Now wait one or two minutes and rinse the pane with clear water.

Tip: Rotate step by step through all windows (at the same time) so you don’t need to set a timer.

Check for damage

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

Interior cleaning of the caravan

After the outside work on the caravan, you can now dedicate yourself to the interior. Here, too, there is of course no fixed order, 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 fresh water 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 fresh water 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 warm then cold. This ensures that the cleaner solution is distributed in the hose.

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 implement the other steps in the interior.

After this time, you now drain the fresh water 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 warm 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 drinkable 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 fresh water tank. This is optional, but prevents contamination.

Check for damage

While the water tank cleaner is soaking in, you can take a look around the caravan to see if everything is still in order or if 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, take the mop or the vacuum for a moment and go to the corners where you normally can’t reach.

Carpet

If you have a carpet, you should check after vacuuming if you still have stains that should be removed.

We are still testing various agents here, but have not 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 wipe and clean every mirror thoroughly.

Surfaces

You can first remove dust from the remaining surfaces and then wipe over 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 utensils
• Ensure basic food supplies
  • Spices
  • Pasta
  • Canned food
• (optional) replace batteries in fairy lights

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