How to remove oxidation before waxing?

I use Collinite products. All of there products I have tried have worked great. I would first use the 920 cleaner and then the 925

The best way depends on a lot of variables. I don't know how anyone can recommend anything without knowing the details. How old is the MH and how bad is the oxidation? Will it come off with just hand polishing with a good compound wax after cleaning it good with the ZEP's process? If so you have your answer. If it won't clean up by hand how good are your shoulders? If good I would use a polishing wheel and a good compound. I have done this before I tore both shoulders on a really oxidized boat and it came out good with white FG and gel coat. Gel coat thickness on a boat hull will be similar to a front and rear cap on a MH .020-.040 ins. Side walls will be thinner. Does your trailer have full body paint? If so it should not be that oxidized and I would be real careful with a machine polisher using the smallest grit possible. My MH is 25 years old and I have two torn shoulders so when I could no longer hand polish about 10 years ago I did the Zeps process and every several years I reapply mostly to the front cap because it gets more wear than the side caps. I have never stripped it I just clean and reapply. My gel coat was really worn so it adhered well and has never yellowed. Still shines better than when I got it in 2004. Good luck with you project, hope this helps.

For many years I have had good results using ZEP liquid wash and shine on TT. Removes the white powder residue and leaves a clean shinning finish to the TT. Easy and quick to use with sponge mop and no mess to deal with. Then you can wax over it if so desired. Cheers to the brave

Starbrite.

westend wrote:
All of this talk of buffing is great until a guy gets hooked on polishing bare metal. I've polished aluminum plate to mirror finishes using average car products and sundry sanders. I use a 10" or 7" rotary to burnish car waxes. As was said, the machine can make movements 1000/1 over hand.

Metal polishing example:

Yes, it's amazing what can be done to aluminum with Mother's brand mag and aluminum polish and some time and effort.

All of this talk of buffing is great until a guy gets hooked on polishing bare metal. I've polished aluminum plate to mirror finishes using average car products and sundry sanders. I use a 10" or 7" rotary to burnish car waxes. As was said, the machine can make movements 1000/1 over hand.

Metal polishing example:

RinconVTR wrote:

gmw photos wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:
How many RV'ers does it take to change a light bulb?

Man you guys make life difficult!

Just buy your favorite brand RV/Marine product like this;

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-M4965-Marine-Fiberglass-Restoration/dp/B0000AY4YT/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436579149&sr=8-1&keywords=meguires+rv+wax+kit

AND TO ELIMINATE ANY HIGH EFFORT AND SAVE TIME...BUY ONE OF THESE;

http://www.amazon.com/Kawasaki-841475-10-Inch-Orbital-Polisher/dp/B00NARC9B8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1436579268&sr=8-6&keywords=10%22+buffer

You'll have your camper done in no time, and the buffer can be used o all your cars and trucks as well. These 8-12" orbitals WILL NOT burn your paint, no matter hard you try.

Not trying to pick an argument here, but my opinion of these random orbitals is they are only "slightly better" than hand polishing. And yes, I have one.

As you point out, they will not burn your paint. Which is both a blessing....and a curse. The reason they won't burn your paint is because "they are not doing much".

I do still use mine sometimes for final buffing on clear coats of the cars and trucks. I also let the beginners use it when they are learning how to use power to buff wax off. The clear coats on factory paint on cars is very thin indeed. The gel coat on these campers is a lot thicker than clear coat.

Your point is valid though that using a rotary buffer is an acquired skill, and if a person is stupid with it, you "can" screw up the finish.

You cannot screw up the finish using an orbital buffer unless you contaminate the pad with an abrasive or an abrasive polish, which these machines are not made for.

That aside, these 8-12" pad size buffers are impossible to misuse. When my son was 6, he helping out many times, and I let him use the buffer. No big deal. Worse this that can happen is he gets the wax/polish in or on something it should not be...same as hand waxing/polishing.

I use to be a professional detailer, and have used all types and brands. What is an acquired skill not everyone can master and can damage paint easily, is HIGH SPEED BUFFING. I never was comfortable doing it, but I was pretty good at it. There are people who could put me to shame and repair heavy clear coat damage (and blending) better than I could ever dream.

Rotary buffers are a hybrid of orbitals and high speed buffers. There is mild skill involved, but relatively safe to use for beginners. Larger orbitals are fool-proof.

Regarding hand vs machine. They are not better or worse than waxing/buffing/polishing by hand. But your hand cannot orbit thousands of times per minute, right? That's the difference. Its effortless and fast. You wont even break a sweat in most cases.

To be honest, I'm not sure the distinction you are making between what I am calling a "rotary" and a "high speed buffer". Maybe ( likely ) I am getting my terminology wrong. The "rotary" buffer I have simply goes 'round in a circle. It has a dial to adjust the speed from zero RPM up to some top speed ( can't remember how fast, but it's faster than I have ever needed ).
Your point about using the correct pads and being certain to not contaminate them with "other" products is of course critical to the success of using these things.
All of which goes beyond what is likely needed to make a RV look good. Let's face it, the final finish on an RV is simply not on the same level as even a factory automotive paint job, let alone a good higher end pro body shop paint job.
My only point about the whole thing is that a true buffer that simply rotates, as compared to these "dual action, random orbital, jitterbug" ( or whatever you want to call them )....the rotary that you can control speed on, simply does a faster job, and the result is typically smoother. Although, to digress on that, the final finish smoothness also has a lot to do with how well you do the initial prep work ( clay bar, compounding, polishing, etc ).
Which is way more than anybody here probably wanted to know ! :)

I will admit, I enjoy using buffers, hand waxing, detailing etc. To me, the whole exercise is "therapy". It's something for me to do on stupidly cold or hot days, because my shop is heated/air conditioned, and it's just a peaceful place to be doing something "fun". And the results are nice when all done.

You're right that using a lightweight random orbital is "easy" to the point of, as you say, you won't even break a sweat.

Over and out.

gmw photos wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:
How many RV'ers does it take to change a light bulb?

Man you guys make life difficult!

Just buy your favorite brand RV/Marine product like this;

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-M4965-Marine-Fiberglass-Restoration/dp/B0000AY4YT/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436579149&sr=8-1&keywords=meguires+rv+wax+kit

AND TO ELIMINATE ANY HIGH EFFORT AND SAVE TIME...BUY ONE OF THESE;

http://www.amazon.com/Kawasaki-841475-10-Inch-Orbital-Polisher/dp/B00NARC9B8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1436579268&sr=8-6&keywords=10%22+buffer

You'll have your camper done in no time, and the buffer can be used o all your cars and trucks as well. These 8-12" orbitals WILL NOT burn your paint, no matter hard you try.

Not trying to pick an argument here, but my opinion of these random orbitals is they are only "slightly better" than hand polishing. And yes, I have one.

As you point out, they will not burn your paint. Which is both a blessing....and a curse. The reason they won't burn your paint is because "they are not doing much".

I do still use mine sometimes for final buffing on clear coats of the cars and trucks. I also let the beginners use it when they are learning how to use power to buff wax off. The clear coats on factory paint on cars is very thin indeed. The gel coat on these campers is a lot thicker than clear coat.

Your point is valid though that using a rotary buffer is an acquired skill, and if a person is stupid with it, you "can" screw up the finish.

You cannot screw up the finish using an orbital buffer unless you contaminate the pad with an abrasive or an abrasive polish, which these machines are not made for.

That aside, these 8-12" pad size buffers are impossible to misuse. When my son was 6, he helping out many times, and I let him use the buffer. No big deal. Worse this that can happen is he gets the wax/polish in or on something it should not be...same as hand waxing/polishing.

I use to be a professional detailer, and have used all types and brands. What is an acquired skill not everyone can master and can damage paint easily, is HIGH SPEED BUFFING. I never was comfortable doing it, but I was pretty good at it. There are people who could put me to shame and repair heavy clear coat damage (and blending) better than I could ever dream.

Rotary buffers are a hybrid of orbitals and high speed buffers. There is mild skill involved, but relatively safe to use for beginners. Larger orbitals are fool-proof.

Regarding hand vs machine. They are not better or worse than waxing/buffing/polishing by hand. But your hand cannot orbit thousands of times per minute, right? That's the difference. Its effortless and fast. You wont even break a sweat in most cases.

Vulcan Rider wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:

Just buy your favorite brand RV/Marine product like this;

I can't speak for anyone else but in my case I don't HAVE a favorite brand......because I haven't "polished" any kind of a vehicle myself for.....oh, about 30 years.

One needs the most help when you know NOTHING.

Picking "favorite brand" of wax is about like picking a favorite brand of oil, or Ford vs Chevy. Between my son and I, over the years, we've tried many of the various brands of waxes. We've settled on Meguiers, but honestly, from what I've seen it's "the effort" you put into it more than what brand.

As an experiment one day this past winter, I had grand daughters late model Ford in the garage, and I tried four different Meguiers products on the car, and in the end, I pretty much could not tell the difference.
Yes .... I'm a little bit obsessive about car care here !