Hi, I'm Liz from Caravan Guard insurance. All awnings, whether on a touring caravan,
a motorhome, or a seasonal pitch where they're left standing for several months
of the year will get grubby after use. A clean, well-maintained awning will last
for years, so it's important to keep on top of cleaning.
We're here Isabella
Awnings and we're going to nip inside and speak to Nathan for his top tips on
cleaning and reproofing your awning. So Iet's start by asking what equipment you'll
need to clean your awning?
Before cleaning your awning the type of
equipment you will need is; a bucket, warm water, sponges or cloths, soft brush and,
if possible, a long reach brush, towels
and finally plenty of time and a warm dry day!
The best time to clean your awning if you're touring around is at the end of
your holiday. And if you're a seasonal user, each time that you actually
visit the awning there. The best thing to do is to keep on top of cleaning the
awning, so once you see small stains or light marks, just use warm water to wipe
those down, and that'll make it a lot easier.
The best place we find to clean your actual awning is on site and on your
caravan. We find cleaning the awning whilst it's attached to the caravan on
site means you can actually get to the awning roof without putting it onto the
floor. If like today, you've got wet muddy conditions, we've taken the panels
out of the awning to take home to clean individually.
Once at home we lay down a
PVC ground sheet or tarpaulin, then we lay down the awning material onto that
to clean.
It goes without saying, not to attempt to try and clean your awning on
wet or muddy ground. Equally, if you're on hard standing pitches try and put a
groundsheet down first, just to protect it, and ideally if possible try not to
stand on the awning.
You only need to reproof your awning if you've carried out a deep-clean,
or used abrasive cleaner on your awning fabric.
Abrasive cleaners will start to
take off the waterproof coating the awnings are made with. But reproofing
the awning is not as daunting as you may think which you'll see later.
Initially using warm water and a cloth. For the more stubborn stains or mud you
can use a light cleaner.
If you're on a seasonal pitch you can do this whilst
the panels are in on the awning, by again wiping down with warm water and a light
cleaner if needed.
With the panels removed and the awning still in
the rail, let the roof drape down against the van, and clean down with warm water
and a cloth, or if you've got it, a soft long handed brush.
If you've got any stubborn stains, for example, if you've been pitched under a tree, so
you've got tree sap onto the awning, you can use a more abrasive cleaner to help
remove these from the material.
Common stains include tree sap, birdlime, grease
from food, and like today, mud, so to remove those you'll need to use a more
abrasive cleaner.
If you have used a cleaner wipe over again with warm
water just to remove any chemical left.
Dry the awning down with a towel,
or if it's a fine day, let it dry naturally, ready for it to be packed away.
If you are waiting for it to dry now's a good time to clean down your poles and
your pegs ready for next use.
To clean the pegs, scrape off any excess mud with
another peg, and use a soft brush and warm water to make them nice and clean.
Finally, pack the awning away remembering to only
pack it away once dry and clean.
Before re-proofing your awning, make sure it's clean and dry, and in this example
here we're using Aquatex and we're just following the instructions and spraying
it directly onto the canvas and then letting it dry.
Another top tip is to
break your awning fabric down into sections.
As you can see here, I'm going
from top to bottom in smaller sections making my way across the fabric.
And don't forget you can apply the reproofing on the outside of the awning
and on the inside.
So there you go a huge thank you to Isabella UK for showing us
how to clean and reproof your awning.
And remember, a well-maintained awning will
last for years and will also help to retain its value.
And don't forget, our
caravan and motorhome insurance also includes cover for awnings
should they be damaged by storm or bad weather.
For more hints and tips, why not
head on over to the Caravan Guard website.
Thanks for watching!
you