9 Steps To Ensure You're Ready For The Caravan Season

Every caravan owner looks forward to this time of the year – it's officially caravan season!

You may have just enjoyed a long weekend away for the first Bank Holiday of the year or you may be getting geared up for a few days by the seaside during the Easter school holidays. As the sun starts to shine and caravan season draws upon us, it's time to get prepped and ready to hook the van up and get on the road for your next adventures.

With two more Bank Holidays in May, followed by the whole summer, you may want to get away from the stresses of work and every day life even more than usual this year. And we have everything you need to ensure your trips go smoothly and you have everything you need.

The evenings are longer now that the clocks have gone back, meaning you have more daylight to enjoy your caravan or motor home – but have you de-wintered it and given it its annual deep clean ready for all the plans you have in place?

Preparation is key to a successful touring season, so we wanted to run through a checklist of things to do to ensure your caravan is at its best after being in winter storage for the last few months...

1) Give the inside a vacuum through including all the curtains and upholstery, and wipe down any surfaces, walls and ceilings with antibacterial wipes or spray.

2) Clean the outside of your caravan with a good cleaner to ensure any winter residue is washed away. Fenwicks Caravan Cleaner is perfect for removing any unwanted grime from your caravan's exterior and is a brand you can trust for quality cleaning products. Using a Caravan Cleaning Brush is a good idea as the soft brush is designed to use with a garden hose to blast away the dirt without damaging the caravan's body. Finish it off with Fenwicks Bobby Dazzler, which creates a beautiful shine and helps repel dark streaks and dirt.

3) Clean the windows. There's nothing worse than travelling to another part of the country to enjoy the views and then realising that your windows are so grimy or scratched that you can't see out of them. Fenwicks Windowize comes in a handy tube that you can take with you easily and removes surface scratches and dirt from windows, leaving them as good as new.

4) Clean the fridge and oven thoroughly and restock your kitchen area with easy meal ingredients perfect for cooking in the caravan. For tips on different things to make when you have limited space, time and equipment, take a look at our blog post full of ideas on how to eat well when you're caravanning. Also, remember to make sure you have non-slip matting on the shelves if you are travelling with everything in place.

5) Flush through the water system and containers with Fenwicks Pipe And Waste Tank Cleaner to clean away any build up of grime. The all in one formula makes freshening up easy and straight forward. Fill the the water heater after and turn it on to check it's working properly, and check whether the water filter needs changing.

6) Check that your tyres are not worn or cracked, including your spare, and make sure the tyre pressure is correct. If your tyres are under inflated, your caravan will become unstable which is not only very dangerous, but can increase your fuel bill.

7) Attach your gas bottle to check that the fridge, heater and cooker are working properly. There will be nothing worse than getting there and realising that something has broken or that you are out of gas. Ensure you have enough gas bottles to last throughout your stay and take a spare gas bottle just in case.

8) Make sure the toilet is working properly and stock up on Waudbys Toilet Flush Liquid and Waste Liquid which are high performing products with low chemicals, making them environmentally friendly against tough waste.

9) Lubricate the caravan's hitch and the underfloor wheel carriage to ensure they are both in good condition and check all the lights are working by replacing any bulbs or cracked glass. Making sure your caravan is safe to tow is the most important part of getting ready for the caravanning season, so book it in for a service before you go. It's also a good idea to check that your number plate is still intact and properly secured to your caravan, and make sure you always replace your number plate if you have bought a new car.

A well-maintained caravan will make your holidays much more enjoyable and make you want to go away again and again throughout the year. There's nothing better than pitching up and getting ready for a few days away from work in a new place to explore. And looking after your caravan properly will mean it's worth a lot more if you do ever come to sell it.

Do you have any other steps in getting prepared for the season that you'd like to share with new caravan owners, or just something you know that even the most expert of holiday makers forgets to do?

Let us know in the comments below!