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RoyBell's avatar
RoyBell
Explorer
Jun 06, 2016

Waxed the camper this weekend. Any tips/tricks for future?

I picked up my Radiance last year and washed it a couple times. It stayed indoors over winter. Picked up some Meguires marine/rv wax last weekend knowing I had to wax this weekend. I started to apply with with my 6" orbiter but I felt like it wasn't applying that well with it. Tried with by hand and felt it was going on better, so I did the entire thing by hand and then used the orbiter to remove it.

I didn't time it, but I would say it took about 4-5 hours to wash and wax the whole thing. I noticed the passenger side was a lot dirtier, even after washing it. I applied the wax and saw dirt coming off. I was not impressed with the wax job as it appeared streaky so I am going to apply another coat this week.

Then it dawned on me, my exhaust exits out the passenger side. My dad was telling me how he was cleaning his soot on the boat this weekend. Does anyone find that their diesel truck coats the side of their camper with soot? It's a new truck so it's running properly. That's the only thing I could think of as the driver side washed easy and waxed fine. My dad needs to wash his boat after every trip because of the diesel soot.

I am debating stripping the wax and soot (dawn) and starting from scratch now that I know the problem, or just adding another coat of wax. Does anyone have any tips/tricks to speed the process up though? The worst part is moving the ladder every 4'. I did the whole top half (roof to bottom of windows) and then doubled back doing from the bottom of the window to the bottom of the trim. Doing it that way ensured I didn't mess any areas. I was thinking of making a scaffold out of some ladders and 12' planks of lumber or engineered beams. Then I could just work my way across.

What does everyone use on the window frames and trims? I will probably wait on cleaning the roof until after my music fest in July again. It gets so dusty there and coats the camper. Luckily I can walk out of the upstairs windows right onto the roof :)

2016-04-19_10-43-46 by RoyBelluomini, on Flickr

What find cleaning these things are :D
  • liquid. paste on a camper would take more days than I am willing to give up.
  • Paste or liquid wax? I've always felt with liquid that it never covers as well as pastes.
  • DutchmenSport wrote:
    I think I would wash the camper and make sure the soot was completely off before applying the wax.

    I honestly can say, I've never had problems with soot on my camper, or my utility trailer from towing with my diesel. Maybe having your camper under roof is not letting the exhaust from the truck blow away, like it would in the open if it were not under roof. The soot does not blow away, so it settles on the first thing it comes to ... your camper. If you can get some air moving inside where you store your camper, you might be able able blow some soot out the door.

    I never back my vehicles into the garage. They always go in nose first, so the tail pipe is closest to the garage door, so the exhaust can blow out. If back in, the exhaust would blow against the walls of the garage, making them black over time.

    Many, many, many years ago, my wife and I lived in an apartment complex. Parking 90 degree parking spots to the curb and sidewalk. The apartment rules prohibited backing into the parking spots (always nose forward). When I asked the manager why, she said it's because of the exhaust from the vehicles. The exhaust was turning the sidewalks black and also the heat from the exhaust was killing the grass.

    When I got my own house, I never backed in for this very reason.


    I meant soot created while driving. My camper is not under roof while at my house. It is either on the driveway (picture) or in storage.
  • I pay a detailer to wax mine every two years. I wash it each time we take it out using a long handled soft brush that attaches to a garden hose. I rinse it with Turtle Wax wash and wax every 6 months.
  • You chose well on the wax. We wax every spring. Two to three coats. Great therapy for even thinking of a bigger rig. LOL
  • I think I would wash the camper and make sure the soot was completely off before applying the wax.

    I honestly can say, I've never had problems with soot on my camper, or my utility trailer from towing with my diesel. Maybe having your camper under roof is not letting the exhaust from the truck blow away, like it would in the open if it were not under roof. The soot does not blow away, so it settles on the first thing it comes to ... your camper. If you can get some air moving inside where you store your camper, you might be able able blow some soot out the door.

    I never back my vehicles into the garage. They always go in nose first, so the tail pipe is closest to the garage door, so the exhaust can blow out. If back in, the exhaust would blow against the walls of the garage, making them black over time.

    Many, many, many years ago, my wife and I lived in an apartment complex. Parking 90 degree parking spots to the curb and sidewalk. The apartment rules prohibited backing into the parking spots (always nose forward). When I asked the manager why, she said it's because of the exhaust from the vehicles. The exhaust was turning the sidewalks black and also the heat from the exhaust was killing the grass.

    When I got my own house, I never backed in for this very reason.