All You Need to Know About Washing Your RV

Regularly cleaning your RV can help ensure it continues to perform and shine like it did when it was new. Washing helps prevent corrosion and mold from building up on your camper and damaging it, and you can be sure you will turn heads no matter where you go. However, washing a recreational vehicle is more than turning on a hose and letting the dust slide off. If you don’t clean your camper properly, you might do more harm than good.

Pressure Washing

Pressure washing is a quick and simple way to remove dust from your camper’s exterior. However, unless you are cautious, this method can damage your RV’s surface and force you to seek costly repairs.

Begin with Your Roof

Ideally, you will want to start cleaning your camper from the roof. Most older RVs feature a rubber roof, while the newer models come with a fiberglass roof. Although rubber roofs are still widely available, fiberglass roofs are less maintenance intensive.

Cleaning a Rubber Roof

Rubber roofs flake to keep the rubber pliable and soft. Though you can use a pressure washer to clean your roof, be cautious, or you might damage the seals, especially around any protruding features, like your tank exhausts.

Use a rubber roof cleaning product, and once the part is dry, treat it with a compatible rubber roof treatment.

Cleaning a Fiberglass Roof

You can clean your fiberglass roof with your regular RV cleaning supplies. However, you will want to take care of your seals to ensure they are intact and not broken.

Wash Down Your Camper Body

Determine whether your camper’s body is metal or fiberglass, and then clean it suitably using the tips discussed below:

Cleaning a Metal Body

You can clean the painted metal sides of your RV using a pressure washer and any standard automotive cleaning products. However, be careful around the spots where the metal sidings overlap. The gap can allow water to enter and start rotting your frame away. Ensure you pull back your pressure washer before six inches to avoid leaks.

Cleaning a Fiberglass Body

When cleaning a fiberglass body, swap the pressure washer with an old brush and a bucket. High water pressure can damage any decals along the bodywork, so you will want to be careful around these areas. Once you have washed down the body, make sure you re-polish the wax, as the harsh cleaning solutions can strip it off and make it appear lackluster.

Clean Out the Wheels

Your camper likely has three types of wheels: painted metal, aluminum, and chrome.

You can use your regular auto cleaning supplies to clean your painted metal wheels, but you will need to be cautious about rust and corrosion. On the other hand, you will want to use aluminum-specific cleaning solutions to wash down your aluminum wheels and chrome brushes and a buffer to clean your chrome wheels.

We hope that these pro tips will help you with cleaning your RV. If you have questions or need assistance, please reach out to 47 West Trailers. Our dealership is located in Troy, MO, but we also welcome those from Columbia and St. Louis, MO.