cleaning inside

[safetysteve]

My husband and I own a pop up. Due to illiness is has sat unopened for close to 8 years. I am trying to get it ready to use. All the curtains are molded and so is everything else. I want to wash all the curtains and scrub down everything inside. Has anyone done this? Will the material in the curtains be ok if I wash them by hand? What can I use to safely clean the canvas without hurting it. Is there anything I need to worry about. My hsuband will take care of the mechanical things but I am supposed to take care of the rest. Thanks Pat

[safetysteve]

My husband and I own a pop up. Due to illiness is has sat unopened for close to 8 years. I am trying to get it ready to use. All the curtains are molded and so is everything else. I want to wash all the curtains and scrub down everything inside. Has anyone done this? Will the material in the curtains be ok if I wash them by hand? What can I use to safely clean the canvas without hurting it. Is there anything I need to worry about. My hsuband will take care of the mechanical things but I am supposed to take care of the rest. Thanks Pat

[rjf7g]

Our last pop-up was a winter home to some mice and a spring home to at least one snake who had one heck of a feast. Needless to say, there was more mess than we were willing to wash by hand, so we threw all of the curtains in the washing machine, pulled all of the cushion covers off and threw them in as well (actually, I think we split the lot in to two loads). We got some Tide with bleach and washed them all. We lost a few of the plastic curtain hooks but the colors didn't fade as far as I could tell. One curtain was apparently part of dinner for one of the critters and it did not fair well. I don't know if I would recommend this to anyone as results will vary, but I was willing to replace it all if need be.

On the inside of the camper, we pulled everything out that could be pulled out. The uncovered foam from the seats and beds was sprayed down with Lysol and allowed to dry outside - both sides. We vacuumed drawers (pulled out), cabinet bottoms, and everywhere we could vacuum. We used a wet/dry vac to get more suction than our little handheld was providing.

Then, we washed everything by spraying it down with Tilex - it has a little bleach in it and a little something that makes it feel "scrubby." I would scrub an area with Tilex and then wash it with a wet sponge. Go to another area and repeat. I started on the ceiling and then worked each individual wall and then the cabinets. Then, after everything had dried well and the camper had aired out, my housemate went over everything with lemon flavored Mr. Clean Antibacterial cleaner.

We put everything back together and we camped another year in the pop-up.

Hope this helps! Also, I hope everyone is healthy now! Having spent the past six weeks recovering from surgery, I have a new appreciation for my good health!

[Kablewizard]

First of all;
Howdy and welcome to iRV2 Pat

Before I washed them, I would measure them incase the age causes them to tear or anything.

Cheri and I had a curtain get caught in the top and messed it up to where it would never be good again. We measured them all and started replacing them all with material that we liked better then the old ones. We found curtain material with rubber backing and kept the light out better too.I dont think you will wash out mold and replacing would be a better choice.

[safetysteve]

Thanks that helps a lot. Good luck with your health. I know how hard it is to get over illness. I had breast cancer last year but I am coming back. we are ready to go again. Thanks Pat and Steve

[Superslif]

We had a 99' Coleman that I used Simply Green on the roof with a stiff brush. On the side surface of the trailer a product called Gel-Gloss works good on getting grime and oxidation off. The product is a cleaner and a wax and comes in regular and heavy-duty. It's found usually at RV dealers or boat dealers. Last summer I helped another IRV2'er get off 5 years worth of oxidation and stains.