It might be worth checking if you have real sheep skin seat covers fitted.

[Two on Tour]

I bought a pair of real sheep skins for the cab seats earlier in the year. They are nice big comfy ones and they stay nicely in place by gripping the top between the top of the seat and the headrest.

I went into the MH this afternoon and noticed one of the sheep skin had slipped out from between the top of the seat and the headrest and flopped over exposing the hide.
I went to fit it back, but when I grabbed the hide of the sheep skin it felt damp, very damp. Removing the sheep skin, I found the whole of the hide was damp and in some places wet, although the fleece itself felt dry.
At this point I noticed the wet patch on the seat itself. First thoughts were, sod it we have got a leak, but nothing to be found.
The only explanation would appear to be that one of the attributes of natural sheep skins is it's moisture absorbing capabilities and this is what they appear to have done from the air in our van as the hide of the sheep skin on the other cab seat was damp as well.
The sheep skins are in the house now drying out and I will only fit then back when we use the MH and probably taken out when not in use.
Our MH has ventilated rooflights and ventilation cutouts in the floor within cupboards and lockers, so should be getting airflow in the colder weather we are having.

Anybody have a better or different explanation of how they came to be damp ?

 

[irnbru]

Wow! We have sheepskins from Sykeskins on ours and haven't saw any damp in the 3yrs we've had them.

 

[Two on Tour]

Wow! We have sheepskins from Sykeskins on ours and haven't saw any damp in the 3yrs we've had them.

Have you actually check the hide backing at any point though ?, as the fleece itself felt dry.

 

[Diabalo]

Sheepskin can be tanned by salt and if so that would act like a dehumifyer, not saying it is in your case but you could test with your tongue on the hide.

 

[68c]

It may be the salts used in cheap tanning, such as Alum, are absorbing the water from the atmosphere. A little like those cartons you can buy to put on the windowsill to absorb water. I don't know how but there may be a way the hides could be washed to neutralise or remove the salts.

Sorry typed too slow.

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[Two on Tour]

I'll give them the taste test, ............. as long as Sandancers are not watching, if you have been following the "Weird Neighbours" thread.

 

[Two on Tour]

Well I have just done a taste test and undecided.
Could not really detect saltiness or acidity if alum was use to tan them, but I now have this urge to run around a field and be chased by a Border Collie.

 

[jezport]

Had them from Dunelm for 4 years no damp.
I thought sheep were waterproof

 

[pelican]

Is it an Autotrail

 

[Steve N Tracy]

Had sheepskins from Dunelm in 2 motorhomes and never had that problem, is the a skylight over the cab area?

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[DBK]

I think you may have a damp problem in the MH. Sheepskin will absorb moisture in the air. There's a good explanation how it does it in the link below. Probably worth checking the walls for any damp - assuming all the windows are closed.

The Science of Sheepskin – Dartmoor Sheepskins

dartmoorsheepskins.co.uk

 

[Jaws]

Tenna springs to mind !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[The Coops]

Had sheepskin covers on the motorbike and in the van nothing like that, could be a damp/condensation issue

 

[Two on Tour]

It would appear to be the method of tanning used on these skins as Tinker2 bought his from the same supplier, checked his and they are damp as well, so it looks like the hide backing is doing a great job of sucking all the moisture from the surrounding air.
I have just bought some sheep skin shampoo to see if I can wash any of the tanning residue out of the skins.

No issues with damp on our van as the highest reading I can get with the meter this morning is 13.5% and directly above the cab seats 6.3%

Air humidity in the van is presently 62% and outside is 67%

 

[scotzsue]

Sheepskins were used in hospitals partly because they wicked any moisture away form the patient, can't for the life of me remember if the sheets underneath were damp unless the patient was incontinent. so no bloomin help at all. easier to post than delete.

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[movan]

My sheepskins were soaking last year .. I had to bring them home to dry.

I havn't managed to get up to van for several weeks so am a bit worried.

 

[Otter Spotter]

Does this confirm the old saying ‘You buy cheap you buy twice’ ?

 

[movan]

Does this confirm the old saying ‘You buy cheap you buy twice’ ?

Don't think so. Mine were really expensive at the time from the same place all the other funsters were buying from...... plus one goatskin from a place in Somerset. That, too, was damp.

 

[Two on Tour]

Does this confirm the old saying ‘You buy cheap you buy twice’ ?

And why would you say that then in this case ???

 

[Otter Spotter]

And why would you say that then in this case ???

I thought the ops were bought from a Polish website, my bad

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[Two on Tour]

Mine came from a sheep skin wholesaler. I was after a particular colour and size, so I rang the wholesaler to see who they supplied and he agreed to sell me a couple.

I did a Google search on tanning hides using alum would seems to be a very common method and no mention of it being a cheap low quality alternative.

 

[Gellyneck]

........ but I now have this urge to run around a field and be chased by a Border Collie.

Thank G*d it wasn't by a Welshman in wellies!

 

[RandallC]

Two on Tour

Thank you for the heads up.

Immediately upon seeing your post went to check our van. Only been since start of current lockdown but found skins damp. All else ok.
Skins now gently warming in the spare room.

Rest of van 15-20% moisture, which given the B weather in our parts of the s,west of late isn't too amiss

 

[TinaLes]

Phew! on reading your post Paul, I thought Crikey!, I have left the sheepskins on both front seats also, so ran out expecting to find a problem, although we do have the van stat set to 10C to protect it on cold nights.
Result was, no dampness to the back of the sheepskins or any evidence on the seats beneath so all good, but brought them in the house anyway.
Thanks for the heads up, last thing I guess many would have thought about.
I hope you can suss out why yours were wet, maybe its because you have used the van recently with heating on high, and its got condensation when cooling down on return?
PS: Been looking at internal/external weather stations similar to yours
Question: where did you fit the external sensor unit?, I see they have to be mounted upright because of small holes in the bottom, but that scuppered my idea of putting on the chassis somewhere.
Thanks Mate.
LES

 

[Taran_Las]

Thank G*d it wasn't by a Welshman in wellies!

Now where did I put those bloody wellies? ​

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[Two on Tour]

Now where did I put those bloody wellies? ​

I was going to put your name forward but though he's got enough problems being Welsh without bring up his pastimes and hobbies.

 

[TinaLes]

Now where did I put those bloody wellies? ​

Here you are Taran Lass, this guys got em!
LES

 

[Masman]

Just been on Rapido Facebook page. They have seen this post. And some posters have checked theirs and have the same problem.

 

[Two on Tour]

PS: Been looking at internal/external weather stations similar to yours
Question: where did you fit the external sensor unit?, I see they have to be mounted upright because of small holes in the bottom, but that scuppered my idea of putting on the chassis somewhere.
Thanks Mate.
LES

Wireless temperature and humidity monitor I'm using Les, can monitor 3 sensors.
I mounted one sensor externally on the underside of the floor and gave it protection from wet and grot being thrown up at it while on the move with a piece of aluminium angle in front of it. It stays dry and as clean as a whistle under there.
The other two sensors are in the fridge and the freezer so I do not have to open the fridge or freezer and letting the coldness out to see what temperature they are at.
All the sensors are mounted using velcro so I can easily remove them to change the batteries.

This is the wireless temperature and humidity monitor I'm using, got it from Amazon and bought a couple of extra sensors.

Wireless temperature and humidity monitor - Amazon product ASIN B075VMLZB9
Extra sensors - Amazon product ASIN B0711T22R6

 

[TinaLes]

Thanks Paul, that's a great help, I was looking at the same model on Amazon, and did notice it could be run with up to 3 external wireless sensors. I was only going to have 1 initially, now you have me thinking about a further 2 for the FF.
Ideally I guess, you would need 4 sensors, the fourth for monitoring inside the van itself, but our CO detector does that, not that I ever look at it.
Good to see that fitting a sensor under the van with sufficient protection is feasible after all.
Cheers mate, keep well & safe.
LES

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