Pressure Washing an RV

jb238smw · 08-23-2018, 05:07 PM

Has anyone had any experience in using a pressure washer to clean a TT? My rig needs a good bath and I would like to use my pressure washer (at a low pressure) to do the job. My ideal would be to use the PW with product that both washes and waxes (one process to do the whole thing).

**JRTJH** · 08-23-2018, 05:17 PM

Be very careful with decal edges, sealant beads around windows, doors and hatches, any vinyl awnings, all openings/vents that will fill with water. I've tried it on the FILON siding with poor success. I do use the pressure washer on the roof membrane, but I'm very careful not to get too close or to use a concentrated, narrow spray pattern. Essentially, I use the pressure washer to rinse the roof after the "backbreaking scrubbing" that it takes to get things clean.

As for a "single product to clean and wax" well, when you find one that works, let us all know.

**chuckster57** · 08-23-2018, 05:51 PM

We use a pressure washer all the time. WIDE tip, stay at least 1 foot away.
Good quality soap and “mitten” not a brush to scrub.

**sourdough** · 08-23-2018, 05:58 PM

I watch my dealership use the pressure washer on trailers all the time, but, I won't. I have 2 washers but hesitate to turn them loose on, what I consider, the fragile finish of the RV. If the pressure was moderated I'm sure it would be OK, but I just don't think they give it the "hand rubbed" look or get rid of the difficult stuff that can adhere to the gloss finish. So, out come the rags/towels/cleaner and go at it. I will say, that since I tore my rotator cuff and ruptured my bicep tendon I may look to the power washer to take care of the work vs manual labor.

mfifield01 · 08-24-2018, 08:49 AM

I will use my pressure washer on occasion. I use a really wide tip and don't get close to any seams.

captcolour · 08-25-2018, 05:52 AM

There is another thread about pitting issues on the exterior of my Alpine. Both areas where the pitting occurred the dealer had worked on. Leaky seal above basement door and slide seal maintenance. I wondered if they had used a pressure water in those areas and caused the pitting. Seems more likely with some of the above comments.

Just found out last week that Keystone denied the warranty claim for the pitting. Will see if the dealer will push. If not, I will go after the dealer for this.

fatcatzzz · 08-25-2018, 06:20 AM

Get my rig washed at Blue Beacon Truck Washes all the time.

mcomeaux · 08-25-2018, 07:16 AM

Chemical guys and their foam cannon and a good soft brush....
I use their soaps and waxes....Great Stuff

Dave W · 08-25-2018, 01:46 PM

I 'love' my pressure washer but never use it on the camper except on the disc brake dust on the wheels. Even with the widest at 40 degree nozzle just don't feel comfortable with the 2900psig potential pressure. I know stealerships use them but I can get our 5er cleaner in much less then an hour with my pole mounted car wash brush then they can with their washer.

Ken / Claudia · 08-26-2018, 09:52 AM

I use the pressure washer with a wide tip on sides, stronger on roof. I do not spray up to the windows, doors. Soap up with a long handle brush. On the roof I can control the nozzle great and keep a safe distance from the roof as I spray. I learned that spraying up into the doors and window edges will produce leakage into the inside.

JimMach1 · 08-26-2018, 10:38 AM

We use pressure washer on ours no issues as stated before stay away from decals

packnrat · 09-06-2018, 08:13 AM

no problem. just beaware of all taping, seals and cauking.
keep the tip away from the paint. and never use it to remove had to remove gunk.
just hand wash everything and use the washer to rence the dust off first then to rense the soap off after.
even a cheap 500 psi unit will get water into any
and all crackes in everything.
just the garden hose does this job great. and less than 100 psi ( top max through a nozzel) far less chance. but still possable to rip off tape, get water past seals. and into any pinhole in anything.

Moneyslinger · 09-06-2018, 08:57 AM

I just bought a 2013 Keystone TT with fiberglass side walls. Thought it was a light tan, but even after power spraying it hard, there was still black streaks that I could not get off, even at point blank power spraying.

Then I tried buffer with cleaner/wax and lots of pressure...and nothing.

Then I tried LA Awesome on Amazon and Walmart website.

Sprayed it on and brown gunk immediately and literally was dripped down the walls that looked perfectly clean. Lightly wiped with a sponge to avoid streaks for extra measure and rinsed off with light mist and BANG! New white trailer!!!

Note it takes off wax too. Would not use unless you plan to wax after. But if you want clean!!! Looks like it just came off the lot.

BAPotter · 09-06-2018, 09:23 AM

Be careful with the LA Awesome. It was recommended to help get the adhesive off from old decals. Literally took the paint off my 2005 aluminum body TT.

Moneyslinger · 09-06-2018, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BAPotter

Be careful with the LA Awesome. It was recommended to help get the adhesive off from old decals. Literally took the paint off my 2005 aluminum body TT.

How long ago was that?? I tried to use it to take off the residue left over from a permanent sticker and it would not even soften it....so I gave up. I also used on the glossy front fiberglass shell and it looked like I just waxed it.

There's a video on youtube of a guy using it on aluminum TT...that's how I learned about it.

Are you sure it was not just oxidation coming off...?? Or was it going to bare metal?

**JRTJH** · 09-06-2018, 10:00 AM

Seems it's "not manly" to read instructions or labels, so I'll just throw this out as a general statement.

When you buy your next "Dollar store" spray bottle of LA Awesome spray cleaner, look at the label. Just under the list of things it's "good for" is a 3 word statement that could lead to destruction of your RV decals and FILON finish.... Those words: DILUTE BEFORE USE

On the back of the label are dilution instructions on how much water to add. The container is "full to the rim" so there's no way to add water without pouring some of the concentrated cleaner into another container. That may give some people the impression that it is a "ready to use" spray cleaner. Actually, the recommendations are for dilutions ranging from 2:1 to 120:1 depending on what is being cleaned....

If you read the MSDS for the cleaner http://clearshineclean.com/pdfs/LAs-...rpose-MSDS.pdf you'll see that it contains Orange Oil Blend (a citric base cleaner) as the main ingredient. DICOR and Alpha Systems both caution against using citric based cleaners on their roofing membrane.

So...... use if you want, but be aware it may affect the coating on the FILON, it may dissolve the ink in the decals and it's not recommended for use on the roof. It's even more of a concern if you pick up a bottle and start using it without reading the manufacturer's recommendations on how to dilute it so it's safe for the intended purpose. YMMV

rjrelander · 09-06-2018, 10:26 AM

And whether you're rinsing your camper or flushing out your gutters, be extremely careful with pressure washers on wet ladders and footwear. Many of us don't bounce back as quick as we used to when we hit the ground like we did in the old days ... :-)

**sourdough** · 09-06-2018, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjrelander

And whether you're rinsing your camper or flushing out your gutters, be extremely careful with pressure washers on wet ladders and footwear. Many of us don't bounce back as quick as we used to when we hit the ground like we did in the old days ... :-)

That is an understatement! I don't even bounce anymore

. Fell down the mountainside working on the guest house at our vacation home and when I hit the road it was head/arms/shoulders first and splat, like a big blob of wet cement.....no bounce

I couldn't even move for 5 minutes trying to figure out if anything worked and if so, what. Finally had to move because all of the blood pooling under my face. So, be CAREFUL when working on a wet ladder, like rjrelander said, if we do survive it takes a lot longer to get over it; I'm still doing rehab for a torn rotator cuff and ruptured bicep tendon from that incident

BAPotter · 09-06-2018, 11:53 AM

To Moneyslinger- Used it about 2 years ago. It did not do anything for the old, hardened adhesive, but it took the paint off to bare shiny metal, with very little rubbing.
To JRTJH: No, like a dummy I didn't read the label- used it straight.

**JRTJH** · 09-06-2018, 12:51 PM

BAPotter,

My comment was not directed specifically to you and your use of LA Awesome cleaner. It was not my intention to single you out. Rather, I was commenting to the readership in general, which is composed of people who may not have realized that the spray container of cleaner is not "ready to use" as it's sold at the Dollar Tree. I was surprised to see, after I sprayed it on the side of my aluminum boat, that the label said, "Dilute before use".

Previous experience with spray bottles of commercial cleaner have always been "ready to use" products. It seemed (and still seems) strange to me that a manufacturer would sell a full spray bottle of a product (no way to add a diluent) with specific instructions to "dilute before use".....

I do wonder, with some of the complaints of "faded front cap" and "faded and cracked decals" just how much of the "maintenance process" included using products with an assumption rather than "as instructed on the product"....

I'm not pointing fingers, have no specific examples to use to "prove my point" but just wonder how much damage owners do to their trailer by "assuming" rather than "reading" about what they spray, wipe, smear or polish into/onto their trailer surface......

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