How to Prevent Damp in Your Caravan
You already know that caravan life is fantastic, don’t you? The joy of hitching up and driving off to somewhere beautiful to hang out for a couple of days at a weekend or, if you’re really lucky, a couple of weeks at a time… It’s an unparalleled feeling of freedom.
Master of your own destiny you may be – but the truth is that moisture is something of a problem for you, or at the very least something you should consider. It can cause damage to your pride and joy if left unchecked and not dealt with. Damp and mould can attack the interior of your caravan – and, worse, possibly even compromise its structural integrity. Damp is a natural phenomenon and is always likely to occur in some way and needs to be tackled smartly. The whole resale value of your caravan can be completely undermined by damp damage and if you don’t do anything about it, you’re basically losing money.
Why do caravans get damp?
Damp is naturally in our atmosphere, so because there is air in your caravan it follows that it’s in there too. You can’t stop it – any why would you? After all, you need to breathe! But you can take steps to mitigate against moisture.
Checking for faulty seals on windows, doors and roof lights is a good start. Water can drip or seep through broken or compromised seals – but they can also eventually ‘leak’ as they age if they have been made with inferior materials and fitted using low quality sealant.
It’s not just potential leaks that you need to think about, either, when you are wondering what causes damp in caravans. The very air itself is an issue and damp will often manifest as mould due to poor ventilation. Whether your caravan is a brand new model or a much-loved ‘trusty old steed’ that you’ve enjoyed years and years of holidays in, the problem of moisture is there. When you’re back from your holiday or short break and the caravan is no longer in use the problem of potential damage from damp won’t just go away. During the winter months your caravan will be particularly vulnerable due to stale air.
How to get rid of damp in a caravan
There’s no way to make your caravan completely moisture free. The entire world we live in is based around water, and it’s in almost everything at some level. So you have to face facts! Your caravan is going to be susceptible to some sort of moisture issue to deal with.
You may not already know how to prevent damp in caravans, so here are a few things you can do to limit moisture.
- Drying Clothes: Limit condensation by not drying them within the caravan. If you have an awning, dry them on a line or stand in there.
- Cooking and Kettles: Cooking generates moisture. Open windows and switch on the extractor fan (if your caravan has one). Do the same if you’re boiling up for a brew.
- Showering: Keep the bathroom window open so that steam can escape, and keep the door shut while you’re in the shower so that moisture doesn’t escape into the rest of the caravan interior.
For anyone asking, “How do I get rid of damp in my caravan?”, these things on their own won’t be enough - but they will help to quite a large extent. There is something else you can do which will have a massive impact on your enjoyment of caravan life. It’s called BirchSorb…
What is BirchSorb?
It’s a high performance absorber which is approximately ten times as effective as any silica gel alternatives at preventing damp in caravans. It’s also much more effective than the ‘old wives tale’ absorbers people might mention to you when you tell them your caravan has an issue (e.g. salt, cat litter, wash powder etc). BirchSorb protects against mould, mildew, wood rot and metal rusting by ‘locking in’ the moisture it removes from your caravan’s environment and fixing it in a solid form.
So, because it’s solid there is no leakage and no re-evaporation, meaning no re-release of humidity. BirchSorb can handle at least 200% of its own weight in moisture, and it will last for a minimum of eight weeks. It’s perfect for all-year in that it works whether it’s summer or winter, and whether your caravan is on the road or stowed in your driveway.
It’s easy to install in your caravan, and two or three carton units will improve your caravan’s chances of avoiding problems. It’s also tastefully packaged (contained within a stylish cardboard carton) so putting BirchSorb around the caravan is not going to spoil your tasteful decor. The cartons can also be affixed to cupboard interiors using tape.
We’ve said it elsewhere, but we’ll say it again, and keep saying it until your caravan is as moisture problem-free as possible. BirchSorb is the most effective frontline fighter against costly damp issues.