Ensure a summer of caravanning bliss by preparing your tourer for its winter rest each year.

It's important to prepare your caravan for storage any time of year to ensure that it's in the best condition it can be when you return to pick it up for the next holiday. Left unattended, poor preparation can cause damage to your caravan, both inside and out, especially in the cold weather.

What to do?

Firstly, fully drain down your caravan, remove your water filter, clean the fridge and flush your toilet system out thoroughly. Ensure all taps are left open and run the pump for a few seconds so that all of the water empties out of it. This prevents stale water sitting in your system and damage to pipework in cold weather.

As long as the taps are left on/open, any small amount of water that is left in the system will expand through the pipes if they freeze, rather than bursting them. The same goes for any containers with liquids you'd usually leave in your caravan - take them out. You can also remove the shower head and leave the pipe hanging to avoid any build up of water over winter.

What else?

Ensure any vents are left uncovered and leave locker doors (and the fridge door) open to promote ventilation throughout the caravan. Leave the blinds up to protect the spring mechanism when not in use.

You will have already removed your valuables and prized possessions (right?) but also remove cushions and upholstery to store them in a warmer environment at home.

Winter wheels are essentially stands for your caravan, replacing the standard wheels for when it's not in use. If you're not using winter wheels, be sure to visit your caravan and turn the tyres to protect the rubber from damage or flat spots.

Get scrubbing

Take the opportunity to thoroughly clean the van inside and out. Inspect rubber seals around windows and replace them if needed.

This not only makes for a fresh start come the next season, but it also acts as a safety precaution, allowing you to fully inspect the exterior and therefore spot any unfortunate damage in storage should anything occur.

Once everything is clean and your caravan is ready for hibernation, we recommend using a caravan cover to ensure it's properly protected from the elements and other natural occurrences such as bird droppings and tree sap.

Alternatively, ignore all of this advice and book a ferry over to warmer climes for winter!

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