The caravanning and camping season is underway and your ‘van might be shiny on the outside, but it’s also time to give the inside some extra TLC too so it’s ready for this year’s adventures.
Here’s our top five tips for cleaning the inside of your caravan or motorhome, including sterilising your aquaroll and water system.
1. When you fling open the doors to your tourer or motorhome it’s probably going to smell a bit musty, so the first job is to sterilise the water system so you can be sure the water you’re drinking and using is nice and clean. First close all your taps and valves and then add a cleaning agent, such as Puriclean to the fresh water tank, and fill with water.
Turn on the taps, one at a time, starting with the one furthest away from your tank, to get some water into your leisure vehicle’s pipes and to clear any air. It might start to splutter as air comes through the system. Once water is running through and you can smell the cleaning solution turn off the taps and leave for up to 12 hours to thoroughly sterilise the pipes.
The next day, turn on the water so you’re running water from the fresh water tank into the grey water tank. Then, fill the tank again and keep the taps running until you can no longer smell the cleaning solution and you’re confident it’s flushed through the system. A lack of cleaning product scent will be a sign that the pipes and water are clean. Then empty the grey water tank.
It’s also worth changing your water filters at this point.
2. By cleaning your Aquaroll regularly and thoroughly you’ll make sure you’ll be able to use it for many years to come. Simply sterilise the Aquaroll by adding four heaped tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda inside it. Fill it with water and then place the Aquaroll on its side and roll gently. Stand it back on its end and leave for 24 hours. Finally, rinse it thoroughly with fresh water and you’re good to go. Some caravanners also use Milton.
3. Periodically cleaning your toilet cassette will also prolong the tank’s life. You can clean your toilet cassette with a specialist cleaner, such as Thetford’s cassette tank cleaner. Add around 300 ml of cleaner into the empty holding tank, then add at least five litres of lukewarm water. Gently swill the liquid around the tank so it coats the inside well. Leave the tank for at least 16 hours, giving it a rock every now and again. Empty the tank and then rinse thoroughly with fresh water.
4. Treat your caravan or motorhome like your home. Regular vacuuming of the flooring, upholstery and inside of lockers, as well as dusting and wiping all surfaces, will help keep dirt at bay. Use the same cleaning products you would at home, such as furniture polish and anti-bacterial wipes but avoid products which contain bleach.
In the kitchen area, the usual cleaning products for the hob and cooker are fine. Wipe out the fridge with anti-bacterial wipes and clean the stainless steel sink with a cream cleaner.
In the bathrooms, be careful when cleaning the plastics as some detergent cleaners can cause damage to areas such as the toilets and shower trays, as well as the seals. Thetford have a specialist spray cleaner, as well as a toilet bowl cleaner, and recommend spraying the toilet seal with their maintenance spray to protect it and keep the blade working smoothly. Alternatively olive oil can be used.
Fenwicks Fendox cleaner can also be diluted with water and used to clean working surfaces, cookers, fridges, sinks, wash basins, showers, and toilets, or their multi-surface cleaner.
5. Clean acrylic caravan and motorhome windows with a specialist cleaner to avoid scratching or damaging the surface. There are a range of products available, such as Autoglym’s Fast Glass, Fenwicks Windowize, or Care-avan’s window cleaner. Apply and polish with a microfibre cloth to remove minor scratching and haze, buffing well for a great shine.
You could finish off your hard work by adding some scented drawer liners or lavender bags into lockers and then pouring yourself a nice glass of your favourite tipple or a mug of tea or coffee!
Then sit back and dream of those holidays in your caravan or motorhome and where your next trip will take you.
Also, check out our articles on cleaning your caravan and motorhome exterior and our top 10 Spring caravan and motorhome checks to get those wheels ready to roll.
Your cleaning tips
Have you got any internal caravan or motorhome cleaning tips to share. Leave your advice in the comments box below.
I don’t have a water heater in my campervan, so do the comments about the use of Milton-type fluids still apply. I have never used this before, but would consider it as long as it caused no problems for my pump or fittings.
Could a solution of white vinegar be used to clean water pipes and tanks?
There’s no reason why not but it won’t sterilise and clear bio-film and could give your water a funny taste!
All this about sterilizer agents is fine but how do I introduce it into my fw tank when I have a Whale connection with an inbuilt circuit to a fill solenoid. I know of no other way to get it in unless I manufacture a pressure vessel on the fresh water supply hose pipe. With in and outlet connections. Full the vessel with steriliser, then the fill water will flush it through to the tank.
Despite you saying you have ammended the article it still has Milton listed as suitable, good job I read further down. Lots of other good tips though.
Milton is suitable for the Aquaroll
Can bicarbonate of soda be used to clean the whole system and not just the aqua roll, or would that effect the heater ?
Bicarbonate will clean but it won’t sterilise. Make sure any water filter is removed though.
I bet you are really glad that you mentioned “Milton”in you article…..
It’s been removed now Roger – but we like to get it right so thanks for your comments.
very good will try most of them thanks
Thanks Liz.,not 100% up to speed with computers,I thought I had to press another button to send comment.
No problem.
What does “your comment is awaiting moderation” mean ?
It means it’s waiting to be approved.
Dont use MILTON,it can damage your water pump seals according to instructions.
Thanks Roger. We’ve amended the article to take out the reference to Milton and are waiting for more information from Truma.
First time caravanners and just brought out storage and never thought of sterilising water tanks
All very good tips and work well.
Probably the best cleaning suggestions I have ever read
I always use aquatabs in the hog to sterilize my system I the spring! Same result
Thanks for sharing Fred.
When ever I leave a site, I put Milton into my Aquaroll, pump it through all pipes until I can smell the chlorine. On arrival at the next site (or my storage location) I drain down the system and leave the dregs in the Aquaroll until the next trip.
To avoid tummy troubles we always use bottled water for hot and cold drinks, keeping a two litre bottle in the fridge for cold drinks.
Thanks for sharing Bill.
I would like to see a twin wheel caravan. with a maximum payload of 1500kg. Twin wheeler and a central washroom.
Does this Coachman Pastiche fit the bill Kevin?
Hi to all. Been using sterilising fluid through my system for a long time, a couple of cap fulls per 14 pints of water into your aqua roll let it stand then move the roll around in a rinse out motion, put the pump into the roll put it through your caravan system with the outlets closed, this will treat the smells a little in the waste pipes, next day flush the system with clean water, do this a couple of times to make sure that the tap water taste is fine otherwise your tea and coffee isn’t very nice, put fresh water through the system until you are happy.
Thanks for that warning, I was just about to use Milton, so will not now. I have flushed the system through with fresh water, so will leave it at that. We don’t drink it uncoiled anyway. Would I be ok soaking the Whale unit in the Milton or best just to use white vinegar?
We’ve contacted Whale pumps and they say Milton can react with stainless steel, however it depends on the grade of steel and the concentration of the solution. If left in a stainless steel sink it can cause a staining of the metal. The “WH” heaters are cast aluminium with a surface treatment (Teflon style coating). These should be okay as the solution will not come into contact with the tank material.
Vinegar can be used in the water system but this will not kill germs. Vinegar, if flushed through the water heater will only remove lime scale from metal surfaces that it has built up on. Normally the heating element.
Puriclean seems to be a popular choice. Hope this helps?
Keep them coming great to share knowledge and best practices
New to this site. Great tips
Perfect probably the best article I have ever read
Thanks for the tips
Can you confirm Milton is safe to use in Truma combi boilers? I seem to recall reading somewhere that it could cause premature failure of the tank. Always used Milton in the aquarolls though with great success.
We’ve contacted Truma for their advice and will update when we hear back. In the meantime we’ve taken out the reference to Milton.
Hi Martin, we’ve contacted Truma and they don’t recommend the use of Milton because if it is left for too long it can cause damage to the water tank. They don’t recommend a particular product and advise people to speak to their dealer to see what they stock and recommend.
Do NOT use Milton or any kind of bleach related product in your water tank, the experts say that it is not good for the water heater and avoid at all costs. The best product for cleaning your water system is white vinegar one to two litres per 100ltr tank should do it. Leave over night and then flush through with clean water, may take one or two flushes. Got this tip from Diamond Dave, Practical Motorhome Channel.
Thanks for your tip Brian. We’ve amended the article to take out the reference to Milton.
Can’t fault it thank you for sharing
Excellent