Washing your RV

[Maddawg46]

I have a new Bay Star. Its been about a month and its looking pretty dirty. I live in farming county inCentral California. We are entering almond harvest season. Lots of dirt in the air. Its always in the mid to high 90s here. I can pay $45 and take to a truck wash nearby or do it myself. I just remember with my old travel trailer that i would get tons of water spots before I could even dry it.

Any RV secrets that I should know. Kind of a stupid question.

[bydnar]

Newmar recommends ONLY a lambswool pad, so that's what I use. Also always use soft water to reduce spotting as well as never in direct sunlight. For drying, when at home I use my backpack leaf blower.

[siggyd]

For washing, I always use soft water and Baby Shampoo, the "expensive" kind from the Dollar Store, it works great.
Siggy

[JFXG]

Dawg.... In your present circumstance I wouldn't touch it until a) harvest is over, or b) you leave the area. I learned early on that I could spend a lot of time or a lot of money-- and sometimes both-- trying to keep my coach spiffy. And when I'm done, 50 miles down the road has it all dirty again.

We're typically parked somewhere for 3-4 months straight, often in places that don't allow washing. If it starts to get too grungy I'll give it a quick 10 minute sluice with the hose. Otherwise, it gets washed on the way to the next place it'll get dirty.

The upshot is that my coach gets well cleaned maybe 2-3X / year.


John & Diane, fulltiming since '12 02 DS, FL, Cat330, '04 Element NHSO RVM103

[STEVE-JUNELL]

We use baby shampoo or armor all soap with wax I also have a pressure washer set up with spot free rinse I usually try to wash in the eve when the sun is going down

I never leave home or put it away dirty

[woodosgood]

Putting white vinegar in the water with your baby shampoo will also help reduce water spots.

[HavingABlast]

Maddawg,

I only use lambs wool and the baby shampoo, vinegar, and water formula that Newmar recommends for washing. As for rinsing, I too ran into water shooting before I could get the coach dried.

THEN...I found a deionized water system for rinsing. No drying necessary. This cut my coach washing time down by 2/3rds. I can wash the coach in the daylight and it does not spot.

http://goodbyetoweldry.com/


Now I wash our cars, the coach, and even the windows on the S&B with deionized water.

PM me if you have any questions.

[bydnar]

Based on others input, today is complete...I've learned something. Baby shampoo and vinegar. It prompted an Internet search and I found this:
https://www.goclean.com/mm/pages.php?id=15

Sounds like a great guidance. I'll try the newfound (to me) recipe soon.

[buddy110]

Originally Posted by HavingABlast

Maddawg,

I only use lambs wool and the baby shampoo, vinegar, and water formula that Newmar recommends for washing. As for rinsing, I too ran into water shooting before I could get the coach dried.

THEN...I found a deionized water system for rinsing. No drying necessary. This cut my coach washing time down by 2/3rds. I can wash the coach in the daylight and it does not spot.

CR Spotless Water Systems - Just Wash, Rinse, Walk Away ®


Now I wash our cars, the coach, and even the windows on the S&B with deionized water.

PM me if you have any questions.

I second this. I have been using the CR spotless system to wash and dry my car. It is awesome. Zero spots!! For soap, any good car wash will do. For the streaks I use LA totally awesome, but be careful, it will strip the wax. For a final coat I only use Zaino products. Zaino Store
Nothing shines better or lasts longer than Zaino. Unlike wax, it doesn't leave any residue on rubber trim either. The stuff is awesome

[buddy110]

Originally Posted by bydnar

Based on others input, today is complete...I've learned something. Baby shampoo and vinegar. It prompted an Internet search and I found this:
https://www.goclean.com/mm/pages.php?id=15

Sounds like a great guidance. I'll try the newfound (to me) recipe soon.

I am going to disagree with one thing. Although I will mostly use 100%, made in USA, cotton towels to remove wax (or in my case Zaino) a good quality polishing micro fiber cloth will not scratch the surface.

[HavingABlast]

Originally Posted by bydnar

Based on others input, today is complete...I've learned something. Baby shampoo and vinegar. It prompted an Internet search and I found this:
https://www.goclean.com/mm/pages.php?id=15

Sounds like a great guidance. I'll try the newfound (to me) recipe soon.

I purchased my RV cleaning supply's from Mary Findley (owner of the business that you referenced). She is wonderful to work with, her products are terrific, and she is very knowledgable.

[Dutch Star Don]

:Maddawg46".......Just wash one side at a time. I use the Mary Moppins lambs wool pad on an extension pole. I don't use a bucket, just an old dish soap bottle (squirt top) filled with car wash soap like Meguairs. I squirt on a bead, wash half of one side and dry.

As I get older, it's getting harder to go up and down a ladder to dry. I took a pole (Home Depot painting pole) and screwed an 18" piece of 2" black pvc pipe to the end. I wrapped it in the air conditioning foam (foam pipe insulation) and then wrapped the foam with the old style black cloth electrical tape.

I use the pole, discussed above, and drape a drying towel over it and dry the upper half of the coach, then the lower half. Once done, I move on to the second half of the one side. We always get a breeze where my coach is park, so I wash in the direction of the breeze, so I don't get the work I just did wet.

I can wash and dry my 40' DP in about an hour.

I also use the lambs wool on the 3M front shield to prevent scratching it. Before each trip, I hit it with 303. I waxed the entire coach over the last two days. I have a full wall slide, and the slide awning does not have a cover. It always looks either dirty or has spots where I've clipped it with wax/buffer. I tried 303 on it today as I waxed the roof line and it came out looking nice.

[rmcobb]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

:Maddawg46".......

I waxed the entire coach over the last two days..

DSD,

Just curious what wax you use?

[F4Gary]

How does vinegar in the wash bucket prevent water spots from the rinse hose?