We wash & detail our caravan when we get home, when we're away we don't touch it. The only thing we clean is the car windscreen.
Here are three observations from a recent trip through the NSW/QLD Outback.
1. People washing their cars & caravans at a CP despite prominent signage asking them not to as water restrictions were in force.
2. The Lake station stay near Quilpie has a one km long unmade driveway to the office/camp area. A mobile home arrives & the driver quickly jumps out, starts up a 2 stroke leaf blower & spends ages going over every inch of his vehicle.
3. While having a drink at the Eulo Hotel (we were free camped 1km down the road on the Paroo River) the publican told us that members of a caravan club had called in to ask if they could wash their rigs before heading down to the river where we were camped.
Yes looking good is nice but do you spend a large chunk of your trip time ''keeping up appearances'', we don't? We love red dust on our rig, it proves that we've ''been out in it''.
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If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance.
Yea dont like being a grub either . Ive saved washing water and cleaned the lower section of m home . Then toweld off to save water . On the other hand !! Some have nothing more to do than complain about what others are doing .
i only clean the van when we are away if i am bored and want something to keep me occupied
i will use as little water as possible and only with permission
Brian
If water is available and ok to use I will wash the van if I have time and it needs it. But normally clean the inside regularly. Eg: shower, toilet, floor, bench tops and anywhere the dust starts forming. More and more truck/caravan washes are popping up to use. I good one is in Naracoorte, SA and Albury, NSW next to the Jayco dealership. I always keep the inside of the van clean.
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Cheers
Col
(Picture of my beloved Molly (2003 - 2016) who loved the travels as much as I do. RIP old girl. Gone but never forgotten).
Yea dont like being a grub either . Ive saved washing water and cleaned the lower section of m home . Then toweld off to save water . On the other hand !! Some have nothing more to do than complain about what others are doing .
I think I am on your side on this one Aus-Kiwi but Olive oil has some points. We have see some who push the boundaries a bit with water carelessly wasting water which is a little annoying.
I have a red car and I like to keep it sort of clean. Sorry if I annoy you.
We just try to be half reasonable. More to the point of avoiding more work from a complete lack of cleaning! A dustpan brush is handy to sweep the door sills as we sleep in the car.
Well Judith, I will wash our Ute and Van first chance we get, we will follow the rules, but unfortualy we won't be going home as this is it. Its one of our biggest investments, and we want to look after it.
-- Edited by iana on Sunday 25th of August 2019 07:06:59 PM
Washing is not squirting water everywhere either . I can wash the whole 8m m home with 5-6 litres of water . The body being well waxed the water,dirt runs off . Even us MY OWN water at times .Or kero on rag ? The old white towels discarded from local RSL come in handy !! Like the walls clean under the awning -annex or it ends up on our clothing etc
We are on level 5 water restrictions, have not washed car and c/van for 12 months. I suspect we will be without town water in 2 months, will not be washing anything much after that. As we are going thru this dry spell, I, when travelling will not waste other towns or areas water supply on washing my vehicles as well.
We stayed at Stony Creek Bush Camp at Wilmington SA,and the people nearest to us washed their new van 3 times in 2 days,and the van was stationary.It never moved,to get dirty
Being mainly Back road tourers whenever we can (that is DIRT roads and tracks) our rig gets tug windows and rear view mirrors washed, lights and indicators washed and of course the van windows so we can see outside as we eat etc. when inside.
Oh! Yes! our rain water gutters each end of van get kept clean. 1mm R/f will provide 10litres of water from our van roof. This gets collected into 20litre buckets and pumped and filtered into the van tanks
Usually the cleaning is done by hand with the remnants of still warm (I am a softy who hates cold water dripping down his arms on those -x deg. C mornings) dishwashing water which is squeegeed off the glass/plastic each am before driving off.
Why? We have lived nearly all our lives in regions of very low rainfall and know what it is to conserve a precious commodity. We can even have a FULL hair wash / shower using only 3litres of water each and hence can tour easily on limited supplies.
SO with all the above in mind, imagine our amusement at the sight of two rigs being fully (vans & Cars) washed with van pumps and extension brushes in a road side rest area / gravel dump site some 100k's up the Stuart Highway from Marla! They were in - parked and washed - occupants safely tucked in vans before sunset and then they were off again just after 1st light. How strange we thought.
Cheers
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Cheers - Ian
I slowly realise as I get older that I am definitely NOT the fastest rat in the race.
Also the older I get the more I realise I do not know.
The absurd thing with most of this cleaning is that it is simply cosmetic. Pull off a few panels & see when is behind them. Two or three bodies!
I recently pulled the internal panels off to add acoustic insulation throughout the car. The internal surfaces had to be cleaned properly so the acoustic insulation would stick.
I was surprised at the extent of red dust intrusion with a layer over everything to varying degrees.
So if you want to clean properly pull the vehicle apart & get in there with an air compressor & vacuum.
Hosing down the outside twice a day, quite frankly you are only fluffing around on the surface!
I freely admit I think I am abit of an OCD ,But I only call in to the truck wash bay of the local car wash .Bourke has a beauty and also Broken hill .Still gives a few more bucks to the locals .I dont want anyone to wash a van in my drive ,so I would never do it in a caravan park !It still never ceases to amaze me how bloody rude some vanners are though .Cheers.
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Westy. Some people I know are like slinkies. They look really funny when you push them downstairs !
I have washed the van while 'on the road' on one occasion only in 20 years.
That was after crossing The Barkley when they were doing road upgrades. About every 30km they had a red dirt bypass that was well watered to lay the dust. Perhaps too well watered as the tug threw up lots of red mud (despite mudflaps) that covered the whole front & a bit of the sides of the van. As I recall, the CP that we pulled into had a van wash bay. I got a lot of use too.
NUP it might get a wash when I get back home and by wash I mean hit it with the hose from a distance.
My vehicles don't get washed a hell of a lot and it doesn't tend to bother me.
So long as its comfortable enough inside, I dont care.
Special events washes are about the limit for me.
A friend has always said about retired people (lucky buggers) that when someone retires and they have time on their hands, little things have a habit of becoming big things very quickly.
I've also seen this occur to the non-retired who do not work.
It's amazing how something so small can turn into a complete drama for them. When you don't have much to worry about, you can sure find something to take that space pretty quickly.
I guess keeping the van clean could be somewhere on that list
We travel every few weeks. Usually give it a quick shower with pressure washer but if it doesn't happen, no dramas. The inside is always given a good clean.
A friend has always said about retired people (lucky buggers) that when someone retires and they have time on their hands, little things have a habit of becoming big things very quickly. I've also seen this occur to the non-retired who do not work. It's amazing how something so small can turn into a complete drama for them. When you don't have much to worry about, you can sure find something to take that space pretty quickly.
I guess keeping the van clean could be somewhere on that list
On our last trip we saw so many old blokes with OCD cleaning every single bug off their rigs after pulling into a CP.
A 70 year old high up on a step ladder isn't a good idea either.
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If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance.
haha, us old blokes never know when to quit, if I didnt think it was impossible, I'd say my old man gets more stubborn by the day, at 80 he still thinks he can do what he used to at 20.
If you cant store at home like us the CP is the only reallistic option. I just use a soft broom and a rag with a little liquid detergent. Only use of 4 or 5 buckets.
