Where do you go to get an RV washed and waxed?

[Brent]

I can't resist posting to this topic, I'm a little bit of a fanatic on this subject with all my vehicles.

I do one of two things for the 23.5' BF:
1. Do it myself. I use only Meguiar's RV/Boat wax (especially for fiberglass finish). They also have a polish for RV/Boats, but since my 1999 has always been under cover and washed after every trip and waxed 2-4 times a year the polish has never been needed (no oxidation or chalking). The way I do it takes me two days about 16-18 hours.

2. Hire a local guy who comes to my house. I paid him $215 yesterday and bought lunch and drinks, for a "detailing". It includes a wash and wax, removal of all marks and stains (includes the roof), dressing the tires, cleans the engine, the cab (washes the carpets, vacuums etc.), and vacuums the floor of the unit. It takes him about 10-12 hours of hard work time. He uses an orbital buffer, clay and lots of cloth. I require him to use the same wax I use.

I used an RV service once but it didn't go too well. They would drop a cloth and then try to reuse it (had grit in it at that time). They wanted to use brushes (not too clean), not hand mitts, etc. They charged $5/foot for a wash and wash/wax. Not worth it to me. I was concerned they did damage and I think they were just as glad to get rid of me.

The benefit is 100% of the people think it is brand new.

[whemme]

Sam Ryan,

1) One bottle should be enough to complete your coach one time.

2) If any area is still shiny, I would not use Turbo Cut on that area. Use Finish Cut. If the area is real shiny you would not even need to use the Finish Cut on it, just apply Shine Master to such an area.

3) The Turbo Cut should be able to cut thru and eliminate the black stained areas on your roof. It probably will take some real effort and elbow grease. Once cleaned up, then use the Finish Cut to bring back the shine and then apply the Shine Master though I don't know that those last two steps would be really necessary because it is your roof area and not really visible from the ground.

4) Yes you need to use the Finish Cut after the Turbo Cut. The Turbo Cut is like coarse sandpaper in that it does not leave a shiny finish. The Finish Cut application is necessary to leave a shiny finish. You will find that to get good results, real application effort is needed and the job is quite a bit of work. You might want to spread this work over a period of two or three days because your arms are going to be tired with the work involved. As they say, no pain - no gain!

5) My first orbital polisher was an 11" diameter unit and I soon found out that that size unit is too large. Turbo Cut and Finish Cut create quite a bit of friction when applied with an orbital polisher and if you are standing on a ladder when operating the polisher (which you will be doing to reach the upper areas on the BF coach), you will find that a 11" polisher will be hard to control to the extent that it tries to throw you off of the ladder! A 7' diameter orbital polisher is much easier to control in my opinion.

[Trisha]

Once a year, I hire a local guy "Vehicle Valet" (Dustin) who will do anything from a simple wash and chamois dry, to the works, including all black mark removal, deoxidization, and polishing. He'll keep his eyes open for cracks, clean up calk, I have to lift covers and deal with vents. He will do tires, full wax, trar and bug removal, cleans windows, indside & out. Uses filtered, non-hard, no-chlorine, water he brings himself. Buffered. It's all the other things that makes it take time.

will tell you how quick and how wonderful tomorrow. Also awnings. College student working his way through work.

Will follow up.
Trish

[Roger H]

For those of us (ESPECIALLY me) who are a little less inclined to do heavy manual labor, there's a product called Gel-Gloss that's available locally in most automotive and department stores that does a fabulous job on slightly oxidized gelcoat. If you have heavily oxidized gel coat, I'd recommend the multi-step process Bill describes. If you don't let your coach get too badly chalked, you'll be amazed at how nice it looks after using Gel-Gloss. Each coat improves the shine. I've used it on sailboat hulls and fiberglass RVs for years. It's easy-on, easy-off with rags just like a liquid car wax, and will remove most oxidation while leaving a nice shine.

Roger

[BornFree_n_Now]

The second website where these products are also available at somewhat reduced cost relative to the factory site is: http://www.scooterleather.com/winleatprot.html

A) Turbo Cut W11044 - $18.95 per 32 oz supply
B) Finish Cut W11049 - $18.95 per 32 oz supply
C) Shine Master W11033 - $14.95 per 16 oz supply

OK, getting ready to order these three products, to renew my coach's exterior, step by step.

QUESTIONS:
Will one bottle of each be sufficient to do a cabover 24'RB? Or will I need two of each bottle?

I would say you will probably need 2 bottles of each if your coach is as you say, and you end up using a Porter Cable 7424 polisher (we have used with good success), or such.

The stated unit is really better for maintaining the surface of your coach than reconditioning it, but will do both with a little more “elbow greaseâ€

[mi99amigo]

I had mine waxed and waxed with Protect All, at the local detail shop beofre last winter. Cost me $300.00. today, I tried to wash it at the local slef serve car wash. The clearance was only 9' 6" and the Born Free is 9'10".

*sigh*

[Trisha]

I said I'd report back, and here I am.

Dustin (the owner) and his partner came, spent 6 hours (working HARD) and washed, waxed -carnuba), removed some water streaks, polished all chrome, cleaned and 303'd the tires, all the rubber and all the calking strips, and washed all the windows, plus the bonus of removing a large wasps nest from under the air conditioner cover. *sigh*.

Yep, he got stung. No, he didn't charge extra. (amazing).

It has only ever once looked this good, and that was when it was brand new. The did wheel wells, mud flaps, everything. Dustin is a perfectionist. His partner was his dad They bring their own water, their own generator, many cloths, (but they did use brushes, but so do I...) and it really, really looks great! Then it rained. Naturally.

They also apply 303 to the entire roof (instead of wax). 303 is an UV protectant. It doesn't make the roof slick, but it keeps it from the usual problems of UV. I'll do it again every 6 months from now on. $350. They use all professional, not available for retail, products. He did offer to share his sources... lol

Prompt, professional and great result, very detail oriented, and bonded and insured. They even do wasps.

They will do the Twin cities Metro (Minnesota). Also do boats and cars, if you are interested. Ask me. They can and will do polish if there's oxidation, and they will use something like a that other compound (something-cut) if you have chalking. I didn't have either. Only some pesky marks from water running down from the air conditioner. Oh, and they pressure wash took part of a decal off on the cap (not the born free logo, above it...one of those swishes) so next time I'm down at the factory, I'll have them look to that.

sign me, happy camper.

LOL.

Trish

[bcope01]

Sam, sounds like you need some professional assistance. If you don't know of anyone near by that can do this work, you might try contacting your local Camping World (Denton?). Most now have an RV Spa associated with them that provide services to help you maintain the appearance of your RV. Prices seem competitive, at least for my area (North San Diego County). In addition to the normal washing and waxing service, they can do buffing and oxidation removal (at an additional charge based on an inspection). Might not be a bad idea to stop by and get an estimate.

http://www.campingworld.com/rvspa/

Once you get it back in shape, you might want to consider maintaining it with periodic washing and waxing.

Bill