To keep your motorhome looking its best, you’ll need to give it a good wash now and then. Just as a stitch in time saves nine, regular washing and waxing preserves your pride and joy. This is especially true if you’re planning to lay it up over the winter. Some people try to protect their ‘vans from wintry weather by covering it up with a tarpaulin or a bespoke cover. If you’re going to do this, please don’t put it away dirty. The trouble is that any dirt on the motorhome’s surface is liable to get rubbed in by the covers as they move in the wind. Dried mud can act as an effective scourer – not what we want at all. 

So, to find the best motorhome cleaning products you can buy, we collected up some well known brands for a group test.

What were we looking for? The highest ratings went to products that washed and also left a film of wax behind to carry on protecting the motorhome. We also gave good marks to cleaning products that easily removed mud, algae, black streaks and mould. A fresh, clean smell impressed us too. Some products could be used both inside and outside the ‘van, on all kinds of surfaces – another major plus-point, as far as we’re concerned. And finally, we looked for value for money, because some cleaning products are far more concentrated than others. One litre of Care-avan Hi TecShampoo, for instance, produces 500 litres of solution, whereas one litre of Fenwick’s Caravan Cleaner Concentrate only makes 167 litres of solution. We’re certainly impressed by volume – but only if the diluted fluid is really up to the job. 

We tested the Screwfix No Nonsense Wash & Wax Shampoo costing £6.99, and Triple QX Silicone free Wash ‘n’ Wax at £9.72. We also tested Fenwick’s Caravan Cleaner Concentrate at £8.99, Care-Avan Hi-Tec Shampoo at £7.50, Blue Diamond Perfection Caravan Cleaner at £8.49, Silky Cream Cleaner at £3.99 and the excellent MudBuster Caravan & Motorhome Exterior & Interior Wash & Wax, from £8.99.

In this review we’ll direct a spotlight onto Mer High Shine Shampoo, which is available £6.99 for half a litre at the time of our Practical Motorhome cleaning product test (2015).

A few years ago, it was hard not to go to a motorhome show without seeing an enthusiastic Mer agent giving an impromptu demo of how good his product was. The message was simple: here was a premium cleaning product, not available in the shops, that was brilliant on trains, cars, motorhomes, caravans and pretty much any other type of vehicle, including boats. 

Well, the good news is that Mer is now easily available on the high street. But we’re not sure Mer’s jack-of-all-trades formula is the best bet for motorhomes. Overall, it shifted grime more easily than Care-avan’s shampoo, and we loved its heady, soapy aroma. Nevertheless, black streaks were tougher to budge, and the half-litre bottle dilutes down to less than half the total volume that the similarly priced Care-avan Hi-Tec Shampoo produces.