Cleaning the outside.

[DragoSapien]

Newbie here. When you guys talk about black streaks, do you mean tar from the road or the black grimes. I bought a used 20' pull trailer and I haven't found anything that will clean it yet with out taking the paint off. The only thing I did find that works good is hand cleaner. I hate to have to clean every inch of it little by little. Thats allot of hand cleaner. Hope someone can help. Im new to the RVing.

[jfran304]

I've had good luck with Krud Kutter. You can get it from Lowe's or Home Depot.

It will take the wax off but it has not hurt the paint.

Welcome to the forum.

Jon

[frankdamp]

What most folks refer to as "black streaks" are deposits on the RV's sidewalls resulting from crud running off the roof. They seem to be more prevalent with rubber roof membranes than with either aluminum or fiberglas.

My rig has a rubber roof and after sitting next to the house all winter, it had a lot of vertical grey/black streaks running down the sides. The previous owner had left some treatment bottles for the rubber roof and one called "Black Streak Remover". It's a product sold by Camping World. I was agreeably surprised how well it worked. The spray bottle ran out before I'd finished, so I went and bought a gallon jug of the stuff at our local CW. Finished the job and all the black streaks are gone.

Simple job, spray it on, brush it over then rinse. It even got the streaks off the rolled-up slide toppers and the patio awning.

I still wonder why Gerogetown don't put rain gutters on the edges of the roof.

Next job is polishing and I got some fiberglas cleaner/polish from West Marine, based on recommendations from a couple of friends who have boats. If I paid it done, I'd have to get a price per acre!

[DragoSapien]

I bought a spray bottle of that stuff and it did not remove the black, but it did take the paint off. LOL. Maybe the paint is so old or sun burned, it going to come off anyway.

[GPW]

Still using Spic N' Span for cleaning ... works ...

[scgator]

we bought Rain-X car wash from Oreilly auto parts; about $12.00 a gallon to clean our TT. We also use it to clean our LPG Grill and it works remarkably well on the "baked on" stuff using only a car wash brush to clean it.

[Roy W.]

I use Westley's whitewall tire cleaner. Soap up good than squirt a small amount on wash brush or directly on trailer. A couple of swipes and it's goone. 11 years later and I still have all my paint.

[Mad Dog 98]

For tar and oil on the sides of our rig I use "Dissolve It." "Goo Gone" also works well, both are citrus based and dissolve any tar, sap, whatever sticks to our rig. It will remove the wax, so re-apply some wax to protect it. I find both products at the local grocery store.

[GRAYSONH]

Camper wash
4 TBS Murphy oil soap
4 TBS Baking soda
8 TBS Dawn liquid
1 Pint Bleach
5 Gallons of water
Works great for removing black streaks, and making camper look new.

[StarGazer-1]

For road tar I use WD-40, it takes it off w/ some rubbing. You can also use on your car.

[Walker95]

What i have found that really works is the larger version of the magic eraser, it removes the streaks and contours to the aluminum and or fiberglass (i use it on my boat as well) and is great for removing oxidation. using this with some of the other cleaning ideas ive seen in this post would really get it showroom clean.

[JimM68]

How about attacking the source of the problem first?

A good coat of this Liquid Rubber Coatings For Roof Repair - EPDM Liquid Rubber on a rubber (EDPM) roof and you will never see a black streak again

[psikes]

I have had really good luck using Simple Green. It takes the black streaks off very easily, in fact it is what I use to wash the entire trailer outside and normal cleanup inside.

Phil