Pressure washing rubber roof

[Jnich17]

What are thoughts on pressure washing rubber roofs on 5th wheels. Not the 2" from surface cleaning but maybe 4 to 6 inches? Any damage reported? Of course then seal with UV protectant.

[ChuckS]

Nope. I would not use a pressure washer on the roof. A bucket mixed with soap and water and an RV brush on a light weight extendable pole..

Work a section at a time. After roof dries get down on your hands and knees and do a good visual inspection of the Dicor sealant and reseal accordingly.

[chuckster57]

I’ve used a pressure washer for years without any issues. Keep the tip about 12 inches from surface and you’ll be fine.

[captcolour]

I use a bucket and sponge mop. Use this to clean:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Use this to protect:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Put each in a spray bottle. Usually wash on Saturday and treat on Sunday if both days are dry.

[travelin texans]

The membrane manufacturer recommends a mild cleaner, such as Spic & Span if they still make it, with a medium bristle brush, scrub & rinse, no protectorants required.
I have used my pressure washer on a finer spray about 12" from the surface to rinse the Simple Green that I sprayed on it 20-30 minutes earlier that works great, have never used any type of sealer/protectorants.

[JRTJH]

To suggest "do use" or "don't use" a pressure washer on an RV roof is likely to be the same as "do let" or "don't let" a bull in a china closet... Some bulls would likely make it through without destroying anything while other bulls.....

Well, you get the idea.

That said, some people would destroy the edges of the current DICOR seals by getting "too close with too high a pressure" while other people have a "knack for finessing the spray" that simply is lost to other people.....

Then there's the "pressure washer"... You can buy a 1100PSI electric one or a 6500PSI diesel heated one.... So, would you use a tack hammer to drive 10" spikes or would you use a 10 pound sledge to hang a photo????

Depending on the user, the equipment and the condition of the roof are all "deciding factors" in the question, "Can I use a pressure washer on my roof?"

Short answer: Maybe, maybe not....

[Frank G]

The professional RV washers that work the resort pressure wash roofs all the time (including ours). When Carl gets done with the washing he will come back and repair calking as necessary. Air Conditioning cleaning is included. Now, the guy in the Cardinal in back of us has been spotted on his roof working with a tooth brush cleaning every inch of the calking seams.

[flybouy]

You can't paint a mural on the head of a pin with a broad brush.

I can takeoff, fly, and land a light aircraft. I wouldn't for a second attempt or think that I could do that in a high performance or heavy aircraft.

As John pointed out, to many variables to pose a "broad brushed" answer.
JMHO

[ChuckS]

My comments about pressure washer were plain and simple.. has nothing to do with “bull in a China closet”.

What ever floats your boat ... a brush with a mix of simple green and dawn is all that’s required if the roof is properly maintained.

But a pressure washer would make the job easier I suppose as long as common sense is used ... it would be easy to destroy some of the Dicor sealant around vent covers and front membrane to cap area if care was nit exercised..

[Logan X]

Here is how I wash my roof, if you are interested.

https://youtu.be/KlhVYQgVVM8

[Ken / Claudia]

Using a pressure washer on a RV roof is not plain nor simple. Be careful. A garden hose and bush likely the best to prevent damage. I did that for years and finally tried my 1900 psi washer on low pressure and brush after. That worked fine, the garden hose did as good ,but with more hassle with the bigger/heavier garden hose vs the washer line. I think the psi is the problem and what is too much?

[gearhead]

I've never used a pressure washer but maybe if I was very careful.
I'm lazy. Been using Wet & Forget for 5-6 years.
Last I heard Simple Green would damage aluminum. I'm thinking the A/C and some trim is aluminum.

[skids]

I used a pressure washer on my Dodge Dakota once and it took off hunks of the decals. I would NOT use it on the roof of a camper.

[sourdough]

Just some thoughts;

A high pressure sprayer can do tremendous damage to an RV..period. A person needs to know what they are using, pressures, spread etc. You can use them to clean cinder block walls but that same process will destroy our roof, or sidewalls.

I don't use a high pressure sprayer. I've watched a "professional" RV cleaner, running whatever psi, lift the edges of the decals on a trailer maybe 8 years old. His reponse; the older ones have that problem.? What?

I don't use a high pressure sprayer, advocate it or allow it on my trailer. It is just a shortcut to minimize the labor required to do a "good" job vs a quick and easy and gone. That's JMO and sure others thing differently but.....have you ever tried to replace decals? ...

[fjr vfr]

I don't know that it saves much time and effort. By the time I was to gas up and prepare the pressure washer, I can be on the roof with a bucket of water, simple green, zip wax mix and have a third of the roof washed. It doesn't take long at all. You have to get the hose out in any case. I wouldn't even think about a pressure washer...why?
Also, even if I was very careful with it there is always the chance to get carried away and make a mistake. And roughly the same amount of time and effort.

[Logan X]

Originally Posted by fjr vfr

I don't know that it saves much time and effort. By the time I was to gas up and prepare the pressure washer, I can be on the roof with a bucket of water, simple green, zip wax mix and have a third of the roof washed. It doesn't take long at all. You have to get the hose out in any case. I wouldn't even think about a pressure washer...why?
Also, even if I was very careful with it there is always the chance to get carried away and make a mistake. And roughly the same amount of time and effort.

Does zip wax have wax in it? Any product with wax usually contains petroleum distillates, which will destroy your roof. Petroleum products cause the roof membrane to separate and bubble.

If you use it on your roof, make sure it doesn’t contain petroleum or petroleum distillates. A lot of the wash and wax products don’t list the actual ingredients. I emailed Meguiars to inquire about their wash and wax and they said it contains petroleum.

[Logan X]

According to the turtle wax website FAQs, zip wax contains both silicone and carnauba wax. Silicone usually has petroleum distillates in it as does carnauba wax. The petroleum distillates are additives that they add to help spread the wax and clean the surface. I would not use this product on my roof.

[JRTJH]

There has been some suggestion to use Simple Green to clean the roof. Gearhead mentioned that Simple Green can be detrimental to aluminum fixtures and siding. Additionally, Simple Green contains citric acid. There are numerous warnings/cautions at all of the TPO/EPDM roofing websites that state DO NOT USE PRODUCTS CONTAINING CITRIC ACID....

Here's the MSDS for Simple Green Household cleaner. https://cdn.simplegreen.com/download...oseCleaner.pdf As you can see, it contains not only sodium citrate, it contains citric acid.... Use at your own risk and potentially your own "peril"....

[fjr vfr]

I didn't think about Zip wax having petroleum distillates in it. I guess I won't be using it any more. I only added some to the solution a couple times. I though it would give it some UV protection.

In the past I used it on the vinyl siding on my house along with bleach to clean off the mold. The zip wax left the siding nice and shiny.

As for the Simple Green, that was recommended to me by RV mechanics on more than one occasion as well as the parts guy at one place. I'll give that another thought. I doubt it's very bad since it gets rinsed off right away. some of the wax in the zip wax remains behind...so I won't use that any more. The Dicor and similar products are expensive.

[Logan X]

Originally Posted by fjr vfr

I didn't think about Zip wax having petroleum distillates in it. I guess I won't be using it any more. I only added some to the solution a couple times. I though it would give it some UV protection.

I used Meguiars wash and wax a few times on my roof before I realized it had petroleum in it. It has been a couple of years since And I haven’t seen any ill effect. If you only used it a little, you are probably ok.