The best caravan polish provides effective protection for our tourers, restoring the shine to the paintwork and offering some shielding against bird droppings and sap. Essentially, it will give your caravan some longer-term defence, letting you tour with pride in a sparkling van.
A good caravan polish will be applied after you’ve used one of the best caravan cleaners to get rid of algae, black smears and the other types of muck that can build up, allowing you to achieve a shiny finish. It can also help you get rid of light scratches and scuffs that have appeared on your van’s paintwork.
That’s not the only benefit of using a polish on your tourer though – it will also make cleaning a caravan easier in the future too. In contrast, failing to use a polishing product can result in the paintwork beginning to oxidise due to UV damage, resulting in a duller exterior.
When you’re choosing the best caravan polish, we’d recommend looking out for products that not only offer good protection but will also be easy to apply. To help you find the one for you, we’re sharing our favourite options on the market, including options from Autoglym, Care-van and Meguiar’s, to help you find the one for you.
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What is the best polish to use on a caravan?
Autoglym Super Resin Polish
MER Ultimate Shine Polish
Care-avan Caravan Polish
Meguiar’s High Gloss Polish
Silky Fineshine
The best caravan polish:
Autoglym Super Resin Polish
- Size: Available in 325ml, 500ml or 1 litre bottle, or as a kit
Reason to buy:
- Easy to apply, good range of sizes available
Reason to avoid:
- Doesn’t have the option of being applied by a rotary machine
We’re big fans of Autoglym, a brand which is well-known in the industry for making effective cleaning products. It’s subsequently not surprising that its caravan cleaner was a winner at the Practical Caravan Awards 2024.
Here, it’s the Autoglym Super Resin Polish that we’re focusing on, a product that has impressed us enough to make it into our best caravan polish guide.
We like how this silicone-based wax polish should give your caravan a new look once you have applied it to a freshly washed vehicle, and then used a finishing cloth. We particularly rate how it should remove light scuff marks and scratches or dull patches from your tourer. We’re also fans of how simple it is to apply and buff off, with this caravan polish resulting in a shiny, glossy tourer at the end of your efforts.
It comes in a range of sizes, but we’d opt for the litre bottle as it provides the best value for money.
This polish is also the four times winner of the Polish of the Year award run by Detailing World, a UK-based forum for professional car finishers.
MER Ultimate Shine Polish
- Size: 500ml, 1 litre
Reason to buy:
- Micro abrasives should allow removal of micro scratches
Reason to avoid:
- Can’t be applied via a rotary polishing machine
We think this product from MER could be the caravan polish for you if your tourer currently has dull paintwork. One of the features we particularly like is how it can help to get rid of any micro-scratches on the exterior of your van, thanks to the mild abrasives included in it.
It comes in both 500ml and one litre bottles, and will leave your tourer’s paintwork prepared for the application of a wax finishing product. The MER polish is also simple to use, and will leave you with a caravan that is both protected and pleasantly shiny.
Care-avan Caravan Polish
- Size: 500ml
Reason to buy:
- Recommended by Bailey of Bristol
Reason to avoid:
- Only available in a single size
This caravan polish comes ready endorsed by Bailey of Bristol, and bespoke manufacturer Roma Caravans, and – in a previous test – Practical Caravan magazine itself. It’s designed to be used on all surfaces, but is particularly effective when it’s used on GRP and gelcote.
One of our favourite features with the caravan polish is how it should help to reduce the damage that UV rays could cause to your tourer. We also like how it should prevent the build-up of dirt that can occur when you’re on the road, helping to make any post-tour cleans much more straightforward.
Meguiar’s High Gloss Polish
- Size: 454g
Reason to buy:
- Works especially well on darker colours, polishing oils provide a nourished finish
Reason to avoid:
- Pricey
Meguiar’s is another well-known name in the caravanning world.
We think this high gloss polish will help to give your tourer a nice shiny appearance. Suitable for gel coat or fibreglass surfaces, the brand says it will be particularly effective on darker shades. Thanks to the polishing oils, it should allow caravanners to achieve a nourished and glossy finish on their tourer’s exterior.
It may be a more expensive option compared to the other choices on our list, but for the excellent finish it provides, we think it’s well worth considering.
Silky Fineshine
- Size: 500ml
Reason to buy:
- Can either be applied by hand or with a rotary polishing machine
Reason to avoid:
- Only available in a single size
This caravan polish is made by Silky, another brand that we reckon most caravanners will be familiar with.
Fineshine is ideal for providing an already buffed tourer with a sparkling clean finish, leaving your van swirl free and ready to be waxed. We like the versatility it provides, as it can be applied with either a rotary polishing machine or by hand with a pad. The end result will be a shining tourer.
How often should I polish my caravan?
We’d advise applying a layer of polish to your caravan twice a year. Doing this will mean it has a barrier in place against sap and bird droppings, while it has the added benefit of ensuring it will be easier to wash when the time comes to give it a clean.
How to choose the best caravan polish
The best caravan polish will not only restore some shine to your van’s paintwork but will also form a protective barrier against UV rays, sap and bird droppings. Ease of application is going to be an important factor here. After all, a caravan polish will go on after you’ve washed your ‘van, so it’s understandable that by this stage, you may be running out of energy or time.
Think about how you want to apply it too. Are you intending to use it by hand or would you prefer an option that allows you to use a rotary polishing machine?
Consider the surface you’ll be applying it to as well. For instance, there are some polishing products that work better on a darker shades. Put all of this together and you’ll be well placed to choose the caravan polish that will suit your needs.
Written with contributions from Peter Baber.
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