WHITE

[Pedalman]

Why are most motorhomes ( and caravans ) white ? Maybe if they didn't stand out like a sore thumb (different colours) they wouldn't get so much attention.

 

[jagmanx]

Just ask M Barrymore !
He said it will be Allright !

 

[SimonM]

It’s the one colour that suits all, if they were only red, you’d want blue, or green, or…….
However these days there are plenty of coloured units.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

I concur, Pedalman.

I guess it is the 'vanilla' or 'beige' ideology that has come about over the last 2 or 3 decades, certainly as far as 'doing up houses' for rent or sale, and this extends to other areas of life, I guess? Booooorring!

They usually talk about colours being a 'blank canvas', so SimonM is correct in saying white is the most neutral/non-offensive colour to have for a vehicle, especially a 'big ticket' item like a motorhome?

Me, if I could afford it and/or had the energy to do it myself (neither of which applies, unfortunately) I would definitely mega-paint jobby ours as far away from white as I could get!!!

 

[n brown]

best heat reflecting colour

 

[Fazerloz]

Stragely most boats moored for months on end in estuaries are white and how many moan about them.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

best heat reflecting colour

Not much use in the UK then, mr brown - I'm guessing black would be far more suitable here for 9 months out of 12?

 

[GreggBear]

Why are most motorhomes ( and caravans ) white ? Maybe if they didn't stand out like a sore thumb (different colours) they wouldn't get so much attention.

Good point Pedalman, mines green & blends in nicely most of the time.

My trike's green too

I like green....

 

[SimonM]

I also just reminded myself that I was fed up with the white on mine, although it was trying to escape all on its own accord, and so I had the whole front end painted

 

[caledonia]

It’s the one thing I hate about my van

the colour. Our old van was black and and always looked good. We are seriously considering spending £3500 to get the Crafter painted.

 

[trevskoda]

I just like plain old brown, it reminds me of what I talk.

 

[Pedalman]

best heat reflecting colour

Heat reflecting is okay if you are always in Spain ( other hot countries are available) Oh hang on, no they're not. I take your point though.
I'd say silver was also a good heat reflecting colour. There's some nice colourful MH's camper vans on here .

Ten years ago I had a VW T4 converted and painted Ivory and metallic brown (Coffee & Cream) It was gorgeous but it kept getting the attention of thieves. So after five years I roller painted it Nato Green Matt ,never been broken into since.
Here's two pics of the same van in different livery.

 

[n brown]

i lived in a converted bus in Portugal ,i' taken out most of the windows and sheeted them over with galvanised steel sheets thinking they'd reflect the heat . in fact ,they seemed to make things worse and drew the heat in ,it was only when i'd got a couple of coats of white on that it became livable

 

[GreggBear]

Heat reflecting is okay if you are always in Spain ( other hot countries are available) Oh hang on, no they're not. I take your point though.
I'd say silver was also a good heat reflecting colour. There's some nice colourful MH's camper vans on here .

Ten tears ago I had a VW T4 converted and painted Ivory and metallic brown (Coffee & Cream) It was gorgeous but it kept getting the attention of thieves. So after five years I roller painted it Nato Green Matt ,never been broken into since.
Here's two pics of the same van in different livery.

Looks much better in green.
Did I mention I like green....

 

[Pedalman]

Looks much better in green.
Did I mention I like green....

Yeah, I like it in green now, much better than Ivory . I wish I had chosen green at the start, during the conversion they did give me the choice, I could have had it done professionally .

 

[Pedalman]

i lived in a converted bus in Portugal ,i' taken out most of the windows and sheeted them over with galvanised steel sheets thinking they'd reflect the heat . in fact ,they seemed to make things worse and drew the heat in ,it was only when i'd got a couple of coats of white on that it became livable

I suppose the metal galvanised sheets would heat up and act like radiators. I previously thought silver would be a good reflector but now I realise that silver is a much darker colour than white. you would probably need a chromed finish to reflect better than white.

I seem to remember watching a prog on TV where a van manufacturer ( maybe it was Ford ? ) did a sales campaign to promote "the white van" on the premise that it did reflect the suns heat and therefore was cooler inside . The sales strategy worked and also saved a fortune in production costs in the paint shop.....you can have any colour as long as it's white.

 

[alcam]

In hot countries, it does help reflect the heat away. Even with white the inside can be near to 40 degree at times. No way would you want a dark colour then
metallic colours such as silver and oyster are also good and don't tend to show the dirt .
We have had both and a few white.
Our choice would be metallic oyster

How many degrees different say between white and grey ?

 

[n brown]

i was very wary of my black car ,i wish i'd tried to fry an egg on it ,i'm sure it would have cooked . but bizarrely ,all the old ladies wear black clothes and plenty of them ,and i know for sure they're no more used to the heat than i was

 

[GreggBear]

Yeah, I like it in green now, much better than Ivory . I wish I had chosen green at the start, during the conversion they did give me the choice, I could have had it done professionally .

Looks fine to me, diy & save a shitload of money!
I painted mine with industrial skip paint, applied with a 4ins brush then rolled over with a small foam roller to take the brush strokes out. Looks OK, & total cost of under 30quid....

 

[trevskoda]

Paint heathens.