How To Clean Your Caravan Awning

When you’re touring, there’s nothing like being able to enjoy some outdoor space protected from the elements, whether you’re enjoying your dinner alfresco, or making the most of rainy day ambience with a good book. 

Awnings have long provided us with these clever extensions to our caravans, but they are exposed to the elements, and unlike the hard shell of our caravans, their soft composition can make them trickier to clean. 

If you’ve enjoyed a summer of exploration and are now looking to clean your awning after all its hard work, we’re here to tell you how to do so. 

What are the main threats to your awning? 

Being out in nature can take its toll on your awning, and its main enemies are bird and animal droppings (including those pesky squirrels), sticky tree sap and seeds, and damp and mould where your awning has been packed away after a wet day. 

These things are hard to tackle when you’re out and about, but now the summer’s over, you should take the time to give your awning a little TLC. 

What do you need in order to clean your awning?

Whilst it might be tempting to set about your awning with your household cleaners, many can damage the surface of your awning and affect its performance in years to come. We would therefore recommend purchasing awning-specific cleaning products.

If you don’t fancy shelling out but still want to clean your awning, we’d recommend some warm water and a soft brush to get the worst of the dirt off. 

Where can I buy awning cleaning products?

If you want to do a proper job and invest in some awning cleaning products, particularly if your awning gets a lot of use, we’d recommend heading to a reputable caravan accessory store. We’d be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn’t mention that here at Tamar Caravan Centre, we’re home to one such caravan accessory shop - come and see us! 

If you’re going beyond the awning and giving your whole caravan a once over, we’ve got exterior and interior caravan cleaner in stock too. 

How can you clean your awning properly? 

Start by brushing off any loose dust, dirt and grit from the surface of the awning before going in with water. You might find it easier to spray the awning, rather than dunk it - it can be a messy and difficult task otherwise! Work the fabric with a wet brush, before applying any specialist cleaner and working to a foam. Give the awning a rinse, and allow it to dry thoroughly before you pack it away.

Now would be a good time to ‘reproof’ your caravan awning, so that you can continue to enjoy it when typical British weather is at its best. 

Is it time for a new awning? 

If this was your awning’s last summer, or you fancy extending your caravan in this way for the first time, we can help here at Tamar Caravan Centre. Our well-stocked accessories shop has a range of awnings, from canopies to poled and air awnings, ensuring you can remain ‘covered’ in a way that suits you. 

Browse the range of awnings we have online, or pop into Tamar Caravan Centre where one of our accessories specialists will be more than happy to talk you through your options.