New exterior cleaning & polishing advice from Craig and Cary

Bear said:
Sixteen plus continuous years on the road, I have tried a thing or two when it comes to polishing these rigs.
I stopped polishing the Stagecoach (#070) back around 2008 give or take a year. On a moonlit night while camped in Superior National Forest of Minnesota. I went for a walk. When I came upon a hill that looked down upon the 550, I saw that it was lit up like a beacon at sea. That was then end of its regular polishing days until November 2020. What I don’t need when camped in the backcountry is for the camper or Jeep to send up signals, like flares in the night sky, that I’m out there. I don’t know of anything that will get the heart pumping faster than to have unexpected visitors coming calling in the black of night. This has happened twice.
In 2015, I stopped at a truck stop in Fargo, North Dakota. While there, I took advantage of the truck wash and asked the attendant to give the camper an acid bath. Boy did ol’ #070 shine like the tankers going down the highway. This was in November and I was heading west. Upon entering the Panhandle of Idaho, I met up with a deicing truck that was spraying I-90 with a liquid solution. That solution left a gazillion little white spots that no buffer has been able to remove.
And then I come upon White Diamond metal polish. It restored the shine and reduced the size of the spots. I am very pleased with this product given how it removed the patina and restored the shine to year number two or three on road. The white spots are still visible but not like they were.
There is my two cents for whatever it is worth.

That’s it from the road and until next time…

Walk in Beauty,

BEAR​
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Thanks, Bear. Your point about not wanting to stick out resonates with me.
 
TheSongDogHouse said:
Bumping, for an update if any on newer products than Wizard, mentioned here.
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I've had good luck with mother's aluminum polish and a random orbit polisher. I had a giant bird crap on the hatch that sat too long. Bartenders was too course, took about 45 mins to do the whole hatch, did end up a bit shiner though. I also had some pitting just in the middle and around the handle, not sure from what, best guess is the rain ran over the gutter on my garage and drug some roof granules with it. I couldn't get them out.
 
I posted about this some time ago. I used to ride motorcycles and fell in love with "Honda" cleaner. It disolved bugs well, and left a nice shine. But it is expensive and I don't have a honda dealer near me.

I found SprayWay glass cleaner and gave it a shot on Serenity. The major stuff mentioned above like around the water fill, probably will take more buffing than my recommendation will do, but for general cleaning this stuff is amazing, and had I used it on every trip (or at least every other trip) mine likely wouldn't have gotten as 'bad' as it has. My trouble spot is by the sink.

Amazon.com: Sprayway Glass Cleaner Foaming Aerosol Spray, 15oz, Pack of 6 | Ammonia-Free, Streakless, Fast-Acting | Cleans & Polishes Glass Surfaces | Fresh Scent, Removes Fingerprints, Dust, Dirt, Smoke Film : Health & Household

Buy Sprayway Glass Cleaner Foaming Aerosol Spray, 15oz, Pack of 6 | Ammonia-Free, Streakless, Fast-Acting | Cleans & Polishes Glass Surfaces | Fresh Scent, Removes Fingerprints, Dust, Dirt, Smoke Film on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
www.amazon.com

I did a little research and found that the active ingredient in it is designed for metal cleaning --- so I feel confident using it. I use a microfiber towel (which walmart sells on rolls like paper towels now) and in just a few minutes, Serenity is looking good, and no water spots.

If you do a deeper clean it takes a while -- getting bugs off etc, but it took me 10 minutes to 'dress' the camper Saturday. It even polished up the wheels nicely, though I did see some rust -- time for some super-fine steel wool (0000). I havn't tried it before so Cary I may be ordering some new wheels ;)
 
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Sweeney said:
I posted about this some time ago. I used to ride motorcycles and fell in love with "Honda" cleaner. It disolved bugs well, and left a nice shine. But it is expensive and I don't have a honda dealer near me.

I found SprayWay glass cleaner and gave it a shot on Serenity. The major stuff mentioned above like around the water fill, probably will take more buffing than my recommendation will do, but for general cleaning this stuff is amazing, and had I used it on every trip (or at least every other trip) mine likely wouldn't have gotten as 'bad' as it has. My trouble spot is by the sink.

Amazon.com: Sprayway Glass Cleaner Foaming Aerosol Spray, 15oz, Pack of 6 | Ammonia-Free, Streakless, Fast-Acting | Cleans & Polishes Glass Surfaces | Fresh Scent, Removes Fingerprints, Dust, Dirt, Smoke Film : Health & Household

Buy Sprayway Glass Cleaner Foaming Aerosol Spray, 15oz, Pack of 6 | Ammonia-Free, Streakless, Fast-Acting | Cleans & Polishes Glass Surfaces | Fresh Scent, Removes Fingerprints, Dust, Dirt, Smoke Film on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
www.amazon.com

I did a little research and found that the active ingredient in it is designed for metal cleaning --- so I feel confident using it. I use a microfiber towel (which walmart sells on rolls like paper towels now) and in just a few minutes, Serenity is looking good, and no water spots.

If you do a deeper clean it takes a while -- getting bugs off etc, but it took me 10 minutes to 'dress' the camper Saturday. It even polished up the wheels nicely, though I did see some rust -- time for some super-fine steel wool (0000). I havn't tried it before so Cary I may be ordering some new wheels ;)
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I took your recommendation on your earlier post and had good results with Sprayway as well. Thank you!
 
Sweeney said:
I posted about this some time ago. I used to ride motorcycles and fell in love with "Honda" cleaner. It disolved bugs well, and left a nice shine. But it is expensive and I don't have a honda dealer near me.

I found SprayWay glass cleaner and gave it a shot on Serenity. The major stuff mentioned above like around the water fill, probably will take more buffing than my recommendation will do, but for general cleaning this stuff is amazing, and had I used it on every trip (or at least every other trip) mine likely wouldn't have gotten as 'bad' as it has. My trouble spot is by the sink.

Amazon.com: Sprayway Glass Cleaner Foaming Aerosol Spray, 15oz, Pack of 6 | Ammonia-Free, Streakless, Fast-Acting | Cleans & Polishes Glass Surfaces | Fresh Scent, Removes Fingerprints, Dust, Dirt, Smoke Film : Health & Household

Buy Sprayway Glass Cleaner Foaming Aerosol Spray, 15oz, Pack of 6 | Ammonia-Free, Streakless, Fast-Acting | Cleans & Polishes Glass Surfaces | Fresh Scent, Removes Fingerprints, Dust, Dirt, Smoke Film on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
www.amazon.com

I did a little research and found that the active ingredient in it is designed for metal cleaning --- so I feel confident using it. I use a microfiber towel (which walmart sells on rolls like paper towels now) and in just a few minutes, Serenity is looking good, and no water spots.

If you do a deeper clean it takes a while -- getting bugs off etc, but it took me 10 minutes to 'dress' the camper Saturday. It even polished up the wheels nicely, though I did see some rust -- time for some super-fine steel wool (0000). I havn't tried it before so Cary I may be ordering some new wheels ;)
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How would it do with tree sap and bird poop and road salt?
 
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Jenn said:
How would it do with tree sap and bird poop and riad salt?
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Salt is its own problem --- that corrodes the aluminum which scars it, the only thing you do with salt damage is to buff it out. But, I would guess (and it is just a guess) that this will clean it up assuming you get to it fast enough that it does not begin the chemical process.

I can say that the bugs, and ploppies the birdies left behind was really easy to remove, and some of it had been on the roof for a few days so it had ample opportunity to 'set' Honestly, this has been the best cleaning method I have found. I am 99.44% certain that it does not leave any protection behind --- and if you wax your camper it probably removes it. But it at least gives you a marvelously clean starting point. Better than any hose/water and soap I've tried.
 
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