Black spots on rubber roof

As recommended by the manufacturer, I use a mild detergent like Simple Green or Spic and Span and a push broom. Keeping the roof clean also reduces those unsightly black streaks on the sides of the trailer, too.

I removed some of my vents and and cleaned the area of the roof around the vents before installing the new ones. I found that using CLR with mold and stain remover turned the roof white again and got rid of most of the spots. I was really surprised at how white it became when I rinsed it down with water. I was using a tire and wheel brush for these small areas but I plan on using a brush mop on the rest of the roof and the awnings now. The bleach didn't do much for my roof.

blofgren wrote:

BFL13 wrote:
Bunch of misleading info above (as in 'the black part of the roof showing through') ! The black spots are most likely mould, which will come off with a good dose of laundry bleach. (It turns yellow first then clears up) That bleach will not harm an RV's "rubber" roof. Use your sponge mop and a hose with a sprayer.

As to cleaning the roof or not, it is like cleaning your car. Do you care what it looks like or not? Up to you. "A ship is known by her boats."

While cleaning the roof, that's when you notice things like cracks in the Dicor that must be corrected, so it is not all about looks.

This is my experience as well. The roof on my trailer is vinyl and Murphy's oil soap works extremely well on it. Just be sure to keep the sides of the trailer wet.

Good point. The bleach run-off down the sides when being hosed off might affect the graphics on the sides. Not an issue with my trailer that I can tell, but that is mentioned in the proper advice for cleaning the roof with bleach.

BFL13 wrote:
Bunch of misleading info above (as in 'the black part of the roof showing through') ! The black spots are most likely mould, which will come off with a good dose of laundry bleach. (It turns yellow first then clears up) That bleach will not harm an RV's "rubber" roof. Use your sponge mop and a hose with a sprayer.

As to cleaning the roof or not, it is like cleaning your car. Do you care what it looks like or not? Up to you. "A ship is known by her boats."

While cleaning the roof, that's when you notice things like cracks in the Dicor that must be corrected, so it is not all about looks.

This is my experience as well. The roof on my trailer is vinyl and Murphy's oil soap works extremely well on it. Just be sure to keep the sides of the trailer wet.

Bunch of misleading info above (as in 'the black part of the roof showing through') ! The black spots are most likely mould, which will come off with a good dose of laundry bleach. (It turns yellow first then clears up) That bleach will not harm an RV's "rubber" roof. Use your sponge mop and a hose with a sprayer.

As to cleaning the roof or not, it is like cleaning your car. Do you care what it looks like or not? Up to you. "A ship is known by her boats."

While cleaning the roof, that's when you notice things like cracks in the Dicor that must be corrected, so it is not all about looks.

i hose my down, the same time I hose my soar panels, about 3 times a year
mainly during the dry season

But there are black spots that do come off with a light wash with dish detergent. Prolly just mold.

And my rain gutters collect gobs of algae and moldy gunk, which easily comes off as well.

But if it requires too much effort, I wouldn't do it. Not good for you or the roof. :B

Personally, I've never washed the roof, but have occasionally wiped out the gutters.

The white is a reflective cosmetic coating, it does aid in cooling and beauty
The black is the real color of the rubber

There are white rubber roof coatings you can buy
But then you have to do the whole roof for it to be color matched

If you coat only the black spots, you will have bright white spots

It will not be noticed by airplanes or people in high-rise apt.
They will be to far away from the black spots to notice.

Denny & Jami wrote:
The black spots is the rubber showing, scrubbing will do nothing but make then bigger as you wear more of the white off.

Denny

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