spasm3
Active member
I thought i would share my cleaning ritual. My unit is fiberglass sided with metal lower trim.
I start out rinsing the whole unit with a hose, get any loose dirt off you can with a stream of water.
For washing i use a 2 bucket method. The gray bucket is the dirty bucket. Both buckets start out clean with soap. I like a microfiber mop on an extension pole. Gives me reach and covers well. The first dip is in the clean bucket. Everytime i wipe up and down the sides, i dip the mop in the gray dirty bucket , then the blue bucket before going back to cleaning the siding. This seems to let the dirt come off the mop and not be scrubbed back onto the siding. Each dip is in the gray bucket first then the blue.
I generally do the sides first, all the way around , then the lower trim, to keep dirt off the mop while cleaning the sides.
I do use a brush carefully for crevices and bumpers and sometimes around lights and license plate.
Now, black streaks are something that occurs at times. There is black streak remover. I do not like to leave this on the surface. So i spot treat all black spots last. I spray some black streak cleaner on the area, wipe it with a blue shop towel, then IMMEDIATELY clean that area with the soapy mop. I don't want to leave a strong chemical on there any longer than necessary.
I use Westleys bleach white tire cleaner on tires, its amazing how much grime comes off them. I rinse quickly here also, as i don't want to leave that chemical on my wheels any longer than necessary. BTW, The Westleys bleach white, smells exactly like black streak remover!
Here are the buckets after I'm done washing. I decanted the water out as carefully as i could to leave what was on the bottom.
You can see that the gray bucket has much more dirt. Dirt that i'm not scubbing back onto the finish.
Now for waxing. My old standby is Eagle one, wax as u dry. It goes on easy, is great on all the plastic and metal and really seems to protect. I've used it for years.
You don't have to buff afterwards and the front stays clean and cleans off easily after a trip. BTW always clean the front right after you get back, bugs come off much easier the sooner you do.
I use an identical microfiber mop that's used only for waxing. I spray the wax onto the mop and run it over the siding, windows, and trim. No need to buff afterwards.
I don't spray it onto the siding, especially near the top of the siding. The rubber roof manufacturers generally warn never to get any petroleum products on the roof. So spray onto the mop.
I tried a rain-x product once, last year. It went on fine, beaded well, but left a haze that was not evident during cleaning, waxing but showed up after it dried, days later. I can't recommend it. I went back to my Wax- As -U Dry by Eagle One.
After pics of water beading.
I start out rinsing the whole unit with a hose, get any loose dirt off you can with a stream of water.
For washing i use a 2 bucket method. The gray bucket is the dirty bucket. Both buckets start out clean with soap. I like a microfiber mop on an extension pole. Gives me reach and covers well. The first dip is in the clean bucket. Everytime i wipe up and down the sides, i dip the mop in the gray dirty bucket , then the blue bucket before going back to cleaning the siding. This seems to let the dirt come off the mop and not be scrubbed back onto the siding. Each dip is in the gray bucket first then the blue.
I generally do the sides first, all the way around , then the lower trim, to keep dirt off the mop while cleaning the sides.
I do use a brush carefully for crevices and bumpers and sometimes around lights and license plate.
Now, black streaks are something that occurs at times. There is black streak remover. I do not like to leave this on the surface. So i spot treat all black spots last. I spray some black streak cleaner on the area, wipe it with a blue shop towel, then IMMEDIATELY clean that area with the soapy mop. I don't want to leave a strong chemical on there any longer than necessary.
I use Westleys bleach white tire cleaner on tires, its amazing how much grime comes off them. I rinse quickly here also, as i don't want to leave that chemical on my wheels any longer than necessary. BTW, The Westleys bleach white, smells exactly like black streak remover!
Here are the buckets after I'm done washing. I decanted the water out as carefully as i could to leave what was on the bottom.
You can see that the gray bucket has much more dirt. Dirt that i'm not scubbing back onto the finish.
Now for waxing. My old standby is Eagle one, wax as u dry. It goes on easy, is great on all the plastic and metal and really seems to protect. I've used it for years.
You don't have to buff afterwards and the front stays clean and cleans off easily after a trip. BTW always clean the front right after you get back, bugs come off much easier the sooner you do.
I use an identical microfiber mop that's used only for waxing. I spray the wax onto the mop and run it over the siding, windows, and trim. No need to buff afterwards.
I don't spray it onto the siding, especially near the top of the siding. The rubber roof manufacturers generally warn never to get any petroleum products on the roof. So spray onto the mop.
I tried a rain-x product once, last year. It went on fine, beaded well, but left a haze that was not evident during cleaning, waxing but showed up after it dried, days later. I can't recommend it. I went back to my Wax- As -U Dry by Eagle One.
After pics of water beading.
