Exterior cleaning

[Gilitygirl]

Hello,

Just wondering what you all use to clean your caravans after a winter on the driveway.

Can I just use the same Turtlewax shampoo I use on my car or do I need a special caravan formula?

Also is it enough just to give the van a wash, or does it need some kind of polish/sealant too?

And do the windows need any special'stuff'?

Thanks in advance,

S

 

[AnnM1]

We use Fenwicks for exterior cleaning. However, whatever you decide to use be very careful when cleaning the windows as they tend to scrach easily.

Ann

 

[UKHunk]

Got to be Caravan Autoglym every time and so easy to use.

 

[Rogerdraper]

I always use autoglym on body and windows i find that it polishes off better if you let it dry for 30 mins or so ,get her in doors to make you the hard worker A BREW .I also use autoglym shampoo & conditioner .But to start with i use Blue Diamond caravan cleaner ,as i have a Bailey thay do not approve of Fenwicks good luck with your polishing

 

[MrsMothy]

Hi

Has anyone tried that water-less cleaner that's advertised in all the magazines? Does it work? Is it too harsh for a caravan? Will the Bailey warrenty allow it?.....

Denise

 

[jirehuk]

Hello Beej,

Good question one answer Care-avan why ??

1.Practical Caravan Mag the Caravan Polish is Editors Choice "Outstanding"

2.Bailey Caravans leading Manufacturer Exterior Cleaners Endorsed.Only cleaners in the UK

3.Fully Tested and Proved Safe to use.

Many Thanks,

Derrick

 

[BOINGBOING]

Hello Beej,

Good question one answer Care-avan why ??

1.Practical Caravan Mag the Caravan Polish is Editors Choice "Outstanding"

2.Bailey Caravans leading Manufacturer Exterior Cleaners Endorsed.Only cleaners in the UK

3.Fully Tested and Proved Safe to use.

Many Thanks,

Derrick

RUBBISH,MY DEALER RECOMMENDS IT,THEY ARE A BAILEY DEALER AND HERE THE RESPONSE FROM FENWICKS

With reference to the information sent out to Bailey Caravan Dealers. Fenwick's pride themselves on the quality and performance of their products. Their technical knowledge and expertise is highly regarded by customers (the trade, end users and manufactures), The Caravan Club and the Camping & Caravanning Club due to dedication and devotion to the caravan industry for over 13 years. With regard to the Bailey Owners Manual Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner is not dissimilar to car shampoo and does not contain any of the chemicals referred to in 5.1.1 (abrasive agents, methylated spirit, white spirit, other solvents or washing up liquid). Therefore to "wash the caravan regularly with a car shampoo" would give similar results as washing with Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner. So why would this invalidate the warranty offered by Bailey Caravans Ltd.

There has to be an existing defect in the material or the way the it has been used for the cracking to become visible to the naked eye after washing. This is not ruled out by the test results as the information provided states that "when Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner was applied to the ABS surface severe cracking became noticeable" Not that it caused the faults in the first place. We understand a material supplier to Baileys is Thompson Plastics.

In their product information sheets Thompson Plastics state that their material can be cleaned with Carafax Concept Parts Cleaner, Humbrol Low Aromatic White Spirit Cleaner and Carafax Distillate Cleaner. Thompson Plastics also state that "the panel should be free of fitting stress", "distortion will increase stress in the moulding and could result in visible surface fractures over time." and "Resistance to any given chemical substance is conditional on the products being installed in a stress free condition." Extremely important considerations as stress could cause visible surface fractures to appear.

Thompson Plastics commissioned independent testing which proved that "the material (Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner) is not deleterious to capped ABS in the relaxed condition."

So if there was any misunderstanding that Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner could void the warranty of a correctly manufactured and fitted part, then they are sadly mistaken.

Regards,

Jonathon Smith B.Eng Director

 

[jirehuk]

RUBBISH,MY DEALER RECOMMENDS IT,THEY ARE A BAILEY DEALER AND HERE THE RESPONSE FROM FENWICKS

With reference to the information sent out to Bailey Caravan Dealers. Fenwick's pride themselves on the quality and performance of their products. Their technical knowledge and expertise is highly regarded by customers (the trade, end users and manufactures), The Caravan Club and the Camping & Caravanning Club due to dedication and devotion to the caravan industry for over 13 years. With regard to the Bailey Owners Manual Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner is not dissimilar to car shampoo and does not contain any of the chemicals referred to in 5.1.1 (abrasive agents, methylated spirit, white spirit, other solvents or washing up liquid). Therefore to "wash the caravan regularly with a car shampoo" would give similar results as washing with Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner. So why would this invalidate the warranty offered by Bailey Caravans Ltd.

There has to be an existing defect in the material or the way the it has been used for the cracking to become visible to the naked eye after washing. This is not ruled out by the test results as the information provided states that "when Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner was applied to the ABS surface severe cracking became noticeable" Not that it caused the faults in the first place. We understand a material supplier to Baileys is Thompson Plastics.

In their product information sheets Thompson Plastics state that their material can be cleaned with Carafax Concept Parts Cleaner, Humbrol Low Aromatic White Spirit Cleaner and Carafax Distillate Cleaner. Thompson Plastics also state that "the panel should be free of fitting stress", "distortion will increase stress in the moulding and could result in visible surface fractures over time." and "Resistance to any given chemical substance is conditional on the products being installed in a stress free condition." Extremely important considerations as stress could cause visible surface fractures to appear.

Thompson Plastics commissioned independent testing which proved that "the material (Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner) is not deleterious to capped ABS in the relaxed condition."

So if there was any misunderstanding that Fenwick's Caravan Cleaner could void the warranty of a correctly manufactured and fitted part, then they are sadly mistaken.

Regards,

Jonathon Smith B.Eng Director

You have to ask your question did the statement you have put on this site come from Baileys.

NO IT CAME FROM FENWICKS.

FACT....

Care-avan is the only Caravan Cleaner fully tested and proved safe.

Sorry Dave

 

[jirehuk]

Hi Dave,

 

[jirehuk]

Hi,

My message is not rubbish .....

Dave the statement you have posted did NOT come from Baileys but from a Caravan Cleaning Company called FENWICKS.

Only Care-avan is Tested and Proved safe and Endorsed by Baileys.

 

[RogerL]

There is a rumour that Bailey privately instructed their dealers last year not to use any cleaning products previously recommended.

Care-avan claim that their product is the only one approved by Bailey.

Bailey haven't made any statement on this matter, either publicly or privately to owners.

In tha absence of any public statement by Bailey, owners will need to make their own decisions.

 

[Gilitygirl]

Thanks for all your replies...

So which of the Blue Diamond, Autoglym, Fenwicks, Care-avan are the squirt on/buff off variety and which are the "add to a bucket of water" variety?

Thanks,

S

 

[Stephen_374341239]

Wow Wow my head is spinning now.

I have a new Bailey which cleaner and polish is recommnded by Bailey and how can I find out please.

Best regards Steve

 

[jirehuk]

Hello Steven,

No problem if you visit my web site you will see the letter from a Director from Bailey Caravans making it very clear that Only Care-avan is to be used on Bailey Caravans.

www.care-avan.co.uk

Derrick

 

[Rodone]

The Polish King...? Never knew that Poland had a Royal Family - least of all a king that was interested in polishing caravans!!

 

[Clive-Cardiff]

I am now even more suspicious. What's the tie up between Bailey and The Polish King????

The idea that the editor of PC magazines recommendation should carry more weight than the combined technical sections of both major caravan clubs is ludicrous.

If the best you can do to push your product is to rubbish the competion then your product cant have much going for it.

 

[jirehuk]

Hi Clive,

I am not running any one product down,and both the Caravan Club and Camping and Caravan have featured Care-avan Products and will in the future keep checking there magazines.

What you are getting is products designed for Caravans not relabeled car products.

 

[RogerL]

"What you are getting is products designed for Caravans not relabeled car products"

Until recently Bailey recommended car shampoos - there must be a lot of damaged old Bailey's out there!

 

[Robtel]

I thought blatant advertising was not allowed on this form?

Every time someone asks a question on here (and elsewhere as well) it is only a matter of time before Polish royalty arrives to push his product.

The only other times we hear from this person is to advertise other items such as his mains water container.

I have used Fenwicks for many years without problem on different makes of caravans including my current Bailey.

I am, and have always been, very suspicious of the whole episode of Bailey, the suspect panels, the apparent blame attributed to Fenwick and the appearance of Care-a-Van (whose cleaner is not exactly cheap to purchase)

Robert

 

[Robtel]

I thought blatant advertising was not allowed on this form?

Every time someone asks a question on here (and elsewhere as well) it is only a matter of time before Polish royalty arrives to push his product.

The only other times we hear from this person is to advertise other items such as his mains water container.

I have used Fenwicks for many years without problem on different makes of caravans including my current Bailey.

I am, and have always been, very suspicious of the whole episode of Bailey, the suspect panels, the apparent blame attributed to Fenwick and the appearance of Care-a-Van (whose cleaner is not exactly cheap to purchase)

Robert

Should read: "every time someone asks a question about cleaning their caravan"

 

[Rogerdraper]

I do hope i have not upset anybody ,i did use fenwicks until i was in a Bailey dealers shop ,and saw a sign saying Bailey do not recommend Fenwicks so i took there advice . What would you have done !!!!!!!!!!!!!!Sorry but these are the facts.

 

[Robtel]

Roger, there was certainly no offence taken by me regarding your post.

Apparently Bailey did send out a memo to authorised dealers informing them of some problems with panels which may or may not have been connected to the use of Fenwicks. There is some debate as to whether this info was ever meant to be circulated by dealers or not. Bailey certainly did not inform their customers directly despite having a database of their postal and email addresses ( I receive a regular email newsletter from them but never a mention of Fenwick problem). The whole sage was pretty well documented on another caravan forum with contributions from a Bailey dealer service manager and a senior member of Fenwicks. As far as I know no evidence was ever found that Fenwicks was detrimental to the caravan panels. My own feeling is that any problem in the panels was a manufacturing problem with no connection to the use of Fenwicks

Just for the record I have no connection to that company other than being a satisfied customer

Robert

 

[waffler]

I have used Fenwicks caravan cleaner on all my vans and cars. On the van I also finish off with Fenwicks Bobby Dazzler occasioanlly. To polish I have tried all, but reckon Smart wax is the best. No white residue, no rings and smells like bubble gum. Expensive but one session last spring seems to have lasted and the water still beads. Windows are difficult- the Fenwicks stuff is fine but I use a dedicated acrylic window cleaner- can't remember the name.

 

[Hamer_5041128]

I have had 3 consecutive Bailey Senators prior to my present Swift Conqueror all cleaned regularly with Fenwicks. I even use Fenwicks neat on difficult to remove stains and wash off immediatly. Never had any panel problems.

Hamer

 

[Darryl_5040003]

As Chris does, Fenwicks caravan cleaner followed by Bobby Dazzler. Autoglym Caravan Polish applied once a year, all applied on a Bailey with absolutely no problems. Darryl.