Waxing

[itchy_wheels]

I have a 14 year old fiberglass shell motorhome and I can't get the shine to come up. I've tried the top brand car waxes to no avail. Can anyone recommend anything?

[mookie6]

Always had the feeling the RMP or Zep reps were on here hocking their products

[DANO2014]

My 2001 Allegro Bus is looking as good today as when I bought it but I can assure you it covers a lot of hard labor. She sleeps outside under the pine trees but at least once every two weeks or more often if needed I will wash this 40" with RainX Car Wash. Leaves no water marks and makes it super easier to wax. Now the hard labor begins which takes about 3-4 days. I use Mothers Wax, applied by hand on every square inch and come back with a soft bathing towel to remove.
The reason for 3-4 days is I do one side in the morning shade and the other late in the afternoon shade to complete and the other reason it takes that long is my age of 70+ ??? I also wax my Bus every 2-3 months to make sure the shine is there. You would not believe how good this coach looks for its age.
Just thought I would throw my two cents in and brag a little on how hard I work but really like to have clean wheels when I pull out for a journey even though I live in South La with all the wet sunshine.

[jbird68]

Has anyone tried this.

Shine On-Wipe On Clear Coat!: https://youtu.be/Pt6UIZhv-bA

We bought a used pop-up and the roof is not shiny at all. Except for the very back end. I park it next to the garage every winter and the run off from the roof stains the roof of the pop up. I end up pressure washing the dirt off. It gets most of the black stain off. This last time I took a bristle brush to it to get some of the tough stains off. I still can't get all of the orange leaf stains off. I have yet to try and put a shine back on it. I've read through all the posts on this thread. I want to try something to bring back my shine. I also am afraid because if I can't get all the stain off it will look bad when I put some sort of "polish" back on.

Nobody has mentioned "Shine On". I came across it while looking for ideas on YouTube. Has anyone tried it?

[Gjac]

I am not sure why some folks are such digital thinkers, the real world is not all 1 and 0's. I have used both methods, Zeps and machine buffing with compound. Both processes are a lot of work. It took several days to do a 19 ft FG boat with Mequires ultracut compound and a machine buffer. Some areas I had to use 800 and even 400 then 800 grit paper again to remove all the oxidation, stains and scratches. It was a lot of work but look nice afterwards. Boat was a 2002 that sat in the Fla sun 12 years. My MH is 18 years old and was always from Mass. and Ct. with little sun. Was able to hand polish up until 4 years ago. As an interim step I used the bar keepers friend 4 years ago to remove the oxidation then hand polished. 2 years ago I tried the Zeps process based on many positive reports on this forum. I was pleased with the results. My conclusion is this: I would not use the Zeps process except on an older highly oxidized surface. I think people put this on 5-8 year old MH's and it peels off because the surface is too smooth. I would not even think about it unless I could no longer get the surface to shine by using the Bar Keepers Friend first then a good cleaner wax. Both processes are a lot of work but I am older and have 4 Ti pins in each shoulder due to rotator cuff repairs. My son had to finish the buffing for me. So for older guys with bad shoulders like myself I would use the Zeps, if I was 50 or younger with good shoulders I would opt for the machine buffing, just remember that a good gel coat surface is only about .020 thk and you can burn through the gel coat into the FG if you are not careful. Also on non gel coated side panels(Filon) where you can see the fibers there is even less resin. Good luck and let us know how you may out.

[Gdlow]

Terryallan wrote:

brirene wrote:

Terryallan wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:

hershey wrote:
Meguires is an excellent wax and all I would ever use on my '57 Ford. But for a 14 year old dull MH, the Red Max (now Zep) process is the only thing left to give showroom results. Mine is on now for 3 years and I've had to redo the front cap twice (I;m pretty agressive on the bugs) and the entry door once (poor preparation on first attempt).
Suggest you do a search for Red Max Pro on this forum and decide. The only people who poo poo it is the people who haven't tried it.
I would not use it on a full bodied RV. Common sense should prevail.

What a load of BS.
Here we have a fiberglass repair tech posting the right way to bring the shine back to a new finish and still the floor wax people think that their coating is better than the "real thing."
You talk about how you have had to redo some areas and about poor prep and here is an expert telling you how it should be done, and you still say he has no common sense because you have used an interior floor product instead of doing the job right.
The facts are that common sense does keep SOME people from making a mistake. In your case, common sense failed, and you went with what you thought was the easy way out and you had to redo it twice in the last three years. Do it right....do it once.

Me, I don't care. there is a reason I wax my vehicles, and take care of the GelCoat and paint.

However. For $100.00 per hour. I'll make the OPs look like new. It really blows my mind that people pay all this money for a nice RV, and then never take to the time to care for it, Or want to do it the "EASY" way. Got more money than sense I guess. But then. That's why the repair guy has a nice house, and his stuff always looks like new. Last summer I sold a 10 year old TT. And it looked as good as it did the day it was built. First people I told about it bought it. Their friends accused them of buying a brand NEW TT. Taking care of things ain't all that tough. Fixing them is way tougher.

Lol...you guys be careful not to fall off those well maintained pedestals you've got yourselves on. Wouldn't want you to have to come in contact with all us silly, lazy fools down here. :R Happy trails!

Pedestal? Nope. Just normal care, and maintenance. See. I can't afford to pay someone like me to fixup the TT. I cost too much. Its the same reason I replace the TT tires every 4 years. I don't like changing tires on the side of the road.

On the other hand. IF you don't maintain yours. You WILL come into contact with someone like me. And you might end up sending his kids to college.

I really don't understand paying tens / hundreds, of thousands for RVs, and letting them go. That is the reason some CGs have the 10 year rule. But then. Neglect your RV, and it will look like******in 2. And I guess you will be putting "spic, and span" or hard wood flooring polish on the paint

You know I am reading these posts quite late as I am looking for a way to remove oxidation...HOWEVER...I have the oxidation despite putting on Nu Finish two to three times a year and having had it hand washed and waxed by professionals every other year in addition to the Nu finish application.

[hershey]

Another PM

[brirene]

Grandpere wrote:
I am new to RV.net and was hoping to gt some useful information from this thread. But her is what I have learned:

1. Everyone has an opinion
2. Some people get really testy when their opinions are questioned
3. Some people are so opinionated that they are not accepting of other peoples experiences
4. There is no true short cuts to getting heavily oxidized fiberglass clean and shiny

My question is what is the stripper used to remove ZEP so I can start there on our new-to-us 87 Southwind?

If ZEP does not work then I will pay the $4500 to have it cleaned and waxed by a fiberglass professional.

Sent you a pm.

[Grandpere]

I am new to RV.net and was hoping to gt some useful information from this thread. But her is what I have learned:

1. Everyone has an opinion
2. Some people get really testy when their opinions are questioned
3. Some people are so opinionated that they are not accepting of other peoples experiences
4. There is no true short cuts to getting heavily oxidized fiberglass clean and shiny

My question is what is the stripper used to remove ZEP so I can start there on our new-to-us 87 Southwind?

If ZEP does not work then I will pay the $4500 to have it cleaned and waxed by a fiberglass professional.

[brirene]

2bzy2c wrote:
X's 2 ^

Maybe its time to close this thread.

X2. To the OP, hope you got some useable information. Sorry it went off the rails a bit. Good luck with whatever you decide, and happy trails! I see you don't post often, and this one probably doesn't encourage it, but hope you post more often. Lots of good folks here.

[2bzy2c]

X's 2 ^

Maybe its time to close this thread.

[hershey]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
I did re-read your post although I read it right the first time. Here is a reminder to you.

hershey wrote:
Meguires is an excellent wax and all I would ever use on my '57 Ford. But for a 14 year old dull MH, the Red Max (now Zep) process is the only thing left to give showroom results. Mine is on now for 3 years and I've had to redo the front cap twice (I;m pretty agressive on the bugs) and the entry door once (poor preparation on first attempt).
Suggest you do a search for Red Max Pro on this forum and decide. The only people who poo poo it is the people who haven't tried it.
I would not use it on a full bodied RV. Common sense should prevail.

READ CLOSLY: I said that I would not use the Red Max Pro process on a full bodied paint. Common sense should prevail. Common sense was directed to that previous sentence, not to any other part of any other thread that you would like to direct it to.
For goodness sake, get real, get glasses so you can read, have someone explain the big words to you

Boy, you really got me on that one. :B
Now, read your first post CLOSELY and SLOWLY. You will see that you left off the word PAINT. Had you included that word, your next sentence about common sense could have been tied to it. Without the word PAINT to tie the two sentences together, your common sense statement meant to me that if someone did not use ZEP they had no common sense.
You also stated in your second sentence that ZEP was the ONLY thing left to give a showroom results, which is not true, and when coupled with your common sense closing sentence, your entire post took on a whole new meaning.
The previous posts of the many people that have tried ZEP, and were less than thrilled with the results, unfortunately believed all of the hype.
The sanding, or compounding method to remove oxidation on a fiberglass gel coach may not be the easiest to do but it is safer than a floor finish that may or may not peel, may or may not turn yellow, and may or may not soften/dissolve the gel coat.
Why some people continue to push an interior floor finish, for people to use on their valuable RV's, when there have been many documented problems, is beyond me.

I really don't know what put this burr under your saddle. My original post was straight forward and was made with the experience(s) I had and suggested other to do a search for further information. It absolutely didn't even elude to other solutions that others have used to get a desirable result. Your taking a lot of time to do a search and cherry pick only the 10% of negative results didn't do the other 90% of positive results justice. Your choosing to make this very personal and it really is only an alternate method to achieve a nice shine on a neglected MH. Its is not the only way..there are dozens of other ways to achieve the same results.
With that, lets just go ahead and say that your process is the only process that can be used and those that those to follow that process will be happy ever after. I think the subscribers to this thread are smart enough to make up their own minds as to which process they will chose and probably be happy with any process they use. Lighten up.

[MikeDavies]

The suggestion for having it professionally detailed is a good one but not cheap.
Meguires has 2 grades of cleaner/wax for Gel Coat and the one we used does a great job.

[rgatijnet1]

I did re-read your post although I read it right the first time. Here is a reminder to you.

hershey wrote:
Meguires is an excellent wax and all I would ever use on my '57 Ford. But for a 14 year old dull MH, the Red Max (now Zep) process is the only thing left to give showroom results. Mine is on now for 3 years and I've had to redo the front cap twice (I;m pretty agressive on the bugs) and the entry door once (poor preparation on first attempt).
Suggest you do a search for Red Max Pro on this forum and decide. The only people who poo poo it is the people who haven't tried it.
I would not use it on a full bodied RV. Common sense should prevail.

READ CLOSLY: I said that I would not use the Red Max Pro process on a full bodied paint. Common sense should prevail. Common sense was directed to that previous sentence, not to any other part of any other thread that you would like to direct it to.
For goodness sake, get real, get glasses so you can read, have someone explain the big words to you

Boy, you really got me on that one. :B
Now, read your first post CLOSELY and SLOWLY. You will see that you left off the word PAINT. Had you included that word, your next sentence about common sense could have been tied to it. Without the word PAINT to tie the two sentences together, your common sense statement meant to me that if someone did not use ZEP they had no common sense.
You also stated in your second sentence that ZEP was the ONLY thing left to give a showroom results, which is not true, and when coupled with your common sense closing sentence, your entire post took on a whole new meaning.
The previous posts of the many people that have tried ZEP, and were less than thrilled with the results, unfortunately believed all of the hype.
The sanding, or compounding method to remove oxidation on a fiberglass gel coach may not be the easiest to do but it is safer than a floor finish that may or may not peel, may or may not turn yellow, and may or may not soften/dissolve the gel coat.
Why some people continue to push an interior floor finish, for people to use on their valuable RV's, when there have been many documented problems, is beyond me.

[TechWriter]

hershey wrote:

Suggest you do a search for Red Max Pro on this forum and decide.

OK. From this & previous threads . . .

Peg Leg wrote:
I'm doing my cap now. I had the ZEP, won't do that again.

Dog Trainer wrote:
I used the Red Max and after 2 years the coach started to yellow. I had to get the s**t off and the finish back it was a big job.

timmac wrote:
Do not let the stripper sit to long because it will melt the fiberglass and turn it yellow . . . What I learned about the Zep wax is the hot desert sun will still shrink the stripes and the wax will turn white on those areas, only my south facing side had the issue, the north facing side no issues after 2 years.

Bumpyroad wrote:
I bought a couple of gallons of it when it was being cleared out and did use a little of it on my winnie before trading it, and the rest is still sitting in my garage. putting it on is easy, maintaining it is difficult.

larry barnhart wrote:
I also have some flaking on the entry side. Nobody has prepared any better than what I did or even close to the work I did. I still feel it is better than 2 to 3 wax jobs each year. I will have to wait until we arrive back home in April to correct the problem.
chevman

fizikpal wrote:

I had some flaking on the rear end of the coach which gets beat up by the sun. I used Zep floor striper. It was a major pain to remove the finish. The chemicals run before they loosen the wax.

chast wrote:
Been using this stuff for about five years now and have removed it several times.

royl wrote:
I did the Zep floor finish process on my motorhome last fall. It looked great but now I am in the desert southwest and the wax is turning white and peeling off only on the stripes on the sides of the motorhome. It is still fine on the white where it stays cooler but on the dark gray stripes it is peeling bad. Any ideas? How could I remove the wax on the stripes and not affect the white parts? I would hate to start a whole new process.

Weldon wrote:
My RMP started to flake last year. I washed it and put more RMP on. 4 coats, this year the flaking is worse. I do feel the prep was done correctly in the beginning. I have used Zep stripper to remove the old floor polish and it was quite a job getting it off. Also used some compound on it which helped. The ends which seem to be gel coat were the bad area for me, the filon sides did not show any flaking. Used Nufinish this time.

larry barnhart wrote:
I have had some flaking on the dark green decals.