Traveling through the dusty states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, can really dirty up an RV! We pulled into a campground in Amarillo, Texas, and saw the motorhome next to us being washed. The people doing the washing were professional RV washers and shared some secrets with us. Of course, we had the road dust washed off ours, too.
Previously we had our motorhome lightly scratched by brush washing it in Yuma, AZ. This time, I insisted that they use the lambswool wash pad we had on hand. The former brush scratches in the clear coat are still visible in the sunlight but at least no more were added.
They said the biggest reason the cost was so low, $100, is that they use deionized reverse osmosis water to rinse and didn’t need to dry the coach.
Here are suggestions from pro RV washers:
- Any Meguiar’s product is good for RVs. Since some people don’t want wax products on their RV, they asked us if it was okay that they used it. We said yes, so they used Meguiar’s Wash and Wax.
- Soft, soft brushes only! In our case, because we asked, they used lambswool. It takes a bit longer but doesn’t leave any brush scratches. It’s worth the extra time.
- Rinse with reverse osmosis deionized water for a spot-free rinse. While their tank was huge, smaller options are available for home/RV use from Amazon. One of our neighbors at an RV park told us about using deionized water, too, for washing RVs and cars. Several products are available on Amazon, but this is a professional-grade one. Get this and you can start charging for RV washes in your park!
- Use Simple Green on the windshield and front cap. It will dissolve the bugs and not harm the paint.
- Avoid truck washes if possible. They don’t rinse spot-free and they use harsh detergents that might wash away existing wax.
##RVDT2217
Truck washes… they literally blasted the paint off my truck because of the extreme high pressure they were using
Be careful when using Simple Green. It is an alkaline based product that will ruin aluminum trim on the RV. Even mixing a mild solution can etch glass and paint if not rinsed immediately. I once used it on the aluminum rims on my old pickup. I thought by letting it soak, it would remove the caked on dirt. It turned spots on the rims white.
After a product causes damage, personally I won’t recommend it. Simple green is on my list of not recommended.
My rig washing pro steered me to Chemical Guys products and accessories (Amazon and our local Walmart had some of the line on the shelf). It took a fraction of the effort and time to deoxidize (strip) our fiberglass, polish and wax. A buffer was not required for strip & polish. Literally wipe on and wipe off with a microfiber towel. Not required, but I did lightly buff the final wax coat with an inexpensive lightweight random orbit buffer for a better finish.
Thank you, Nanci! I recently bought a lambswool attachment for the extension pole that I use to wash/wax our RV. Additionally, I bought a lambswool washing mitt for the easier to reach spots on the RV. I also bought a foam cannon to attach to our pressure washer. These all reduced the time required to wash our RV. However, the biggest time saver is a smaller, less expensive deionizer sold through Amazon (https://a.co/d/02SOOgY). I agree that rinsing with deionized water is a huge deal. I apply Wash Wax All after the RV dries to complete the process. I also use a heavy hose splitter to quickly change the water from flowing through the pressure washer to flowing through the deionizer rather than unscrewing and screwing hoses onto the water faucet.
I winter in AZ.
If dust on the rv bothers you, don’t go there. I have the suv washed and by tomorrow it’s just as bad. Just a waste of money and (precious) water.
California duster does a great job.
In our park professionals come in and wash the A’s and sometimes I see 3 and 4 men on the roof. I’m always afraid that they are going to end up in the living quarters.
I’ve been using Awesome from the dollar store for hard to clean stuff like the front cap bugs. I wet the surface then spray on the Awesome. Avoid breathing the mist and strong vapors. Let it soak a few minutes and scrub it down. It still takes a bit of elbow grease but better than most products I’ve used. Just an additional heads up, made the mistake of parking under several shag bark hickory trees this past spring. They drip some nasty stuff to wash off.
Never allow a cleaner to use a pressure washer on your coach. Used near the windows they can break the seal causing leaks. Used on decals (like side striping) they can strip off the decal. Always insist on a soft brush/cloth wash.
Another here for not using Simple Green. Was washing my white pickup. Tried Simple Green to help remove road tar, bugs on the doors and running boards. The pickup had black pin stripes. The Simple Green turned the black decal pin stripes, purple. Ended up having to use a heat gun to remove the now purple pin stripes.
Amarillo Is such a dust storm. Nothing pretty or clean smelling about this town. When we travel north west, we try to fly past Amarillo by morning.
Use Simple Green to remove black streaks. Use carefully, by soaking a rag and gently wiping the black streaks off – then rinse thoroughly, dry with soft cloth.