New here. Need help with washing/detailing TT

I use the same car wash soap I use on the truck. It's Turtle Wax Car Wash. Works great. The streaking is likely because of the Simple Green. It's great cleaner, but it's a degreaser.

AFAIK dishwashing detergent will not harm the paint unless it is not rinsed properly, and that takes a lot of rinsing. Products such as ZipWax, Blue Coral, Turtlewax require a lot less rinsing to remove the product completely. Try this: pour some dishwashing liquid on your hands and rinse with cold water. Then try the car wash products. You will quickly see which rinses easier and more thoroughly, thus less likely to leave spots or streaks, especially on the glass.

good point , larry .
it is better to keep 'em clean , using any product , than leaving the dirt on .
people rub up against the dirt and grind it into the (clearcoat ) finish .
i use alot of palmolive to thoroughly wash my tires and wheels every week .
that keeps the black disc brake dust from making my wheels ugly .
for civilians that do not have car geek tendencies , i have found that using liquid " ICE " by turtlewax to be an extremely easy protectant (wax, kinda ) to apply after i wash my cars in winter .
ICE is especially good to use if you use dishwash liquid to wash your car .
it is better to have something like "ICE" to protect my clearcoat finish than nothing at all .
it is the easiest product to use , not the best .
that means for me that i use it very frequently between serious detail sessions .
the car geeks all use a clay bar ( many manufacturers , mine is meguiars ) followed with a protective wax (lots of brands ) on their paint .
the clay bar removes the invisible gunk that is on the paint , and it takes out the tar , bugs , tree sap , and other serious defects.
most folks don't want to put in that work .
i find the shine is proportional to the labor put into the effort and less dependent on the " high quality name brand product " that is used .

amxpress wrote:
Do not use dishwashing liquid. It's meant for dishes, pots, & pans...NOT your trailer or car.
As mentioned, use a good automotive car wash soap. A soft car wash brush on a pole makes it easier.
As for the black streaks, there are a number of products on the market specifically for that, if the car wash soap and brush don't do the trick.
Any quality car wax or cleaner wax will work, too. Use whatever you use on your car or truck.
Have fun.

I use Ivory or other dish wasing liquid On my truck, and cars. Have for 40 years. To date. None have been harmed, and in fact all looked great when traded. Even the one we kept for 15 years. Not to mention the 10 year old truck sitting in the driveway that looks like new. So exactly what is dish washing liquid supposed to do to the paint?

Generally something like Turtle Wax Car Wash is what we use, or similar. Try to do this when the sun is not hitting it, but make sure to wet the area well, wash with a soft brush and rinse right away. Just work your way around doing a section at a time. We do use a product from Dollar Tree, LA's Awesome, a yellowish liquid for tough spots on the trim. It gives you a dilution chart, but we have been known to use it full strength on really tough areas, but make sure you rinse well immediately after. Simple Green is a great product, but overkill for washing your trailer. Some folks have used a pressure washer for this job, but strongly suggest you NOT do that. It's a disaster waiting to happen for your decals and also encourages water to seep in to any small cracks in the caulking. Do this with a soft brush on a long handle and you'll be able to see potential problem areas at the same time. Agree that you probably need to give it a good waxing. Not only will it look better, but makes follow-up washing a lot easier....getting those pesky bugs off the front especially.

frequent washing is how i keep my 2002 Komfort 21T ( ordered new ) looking shiny bright .
i wash it thoroughly after EVERY campout .
i often wash it before some campouts .
trailers sit 90% of the time .
i use Palmolive dishwash liquid .
i use a bucket of HOT water .
i use a 9 " wide X 4" soft truck brush on a 7 foot pole.
i use copius amounts of water to rinse before and after .
i wash out the brush in the HOT water .
i lay down a stripe of Palmolive on the face of the brush .
i then wash my 4'x 5' section with the brush .
i do the same for the awning and the roof .
most civilians are not going to wax or polish their trailer .
but they can get 86 % there by frequent washing .
i am a car guy born in 1946 .
i have a porsche and a mercedes .
i belong to the porsche club.
i hang out with car guys .
i use a clay bar , good polish , and lots of elbow grease to keep my fancy car shiny , just like the car geeks that i hang out with .
for a trailer that sits 90 % of the time i just cannot spend the extra time polishing it , instead of polishing my duramax , my boat , and my cars .
frequent washing of rolling stock is the solution .
there are lots of products .
i have used all of them .
the best product is elbow grease .

Do not use dishwashing liquid. It's meant for dishes, pots, & pans...NOT your trailer or car.
As mentioned, use a good automotive car wash soap. A soft car wash brush on a pole makes it easier.
As for the black streaks, there are a number of products on the market specifically for that, if the car wash soap and brush don't do the trick.
Any quality car wax or cleaner wax will work, too. Use whatever you use on your car or truck.
Have fun.

I found that lemon pledge helps kill the black streaks quite readily as well. I basically cleaned each side with lemon pledge, then washed each side right after the pledge. black streaks were gone. Then just apply a solid coat of wax.

My bottle of Simple Green says "All Purpose Cleaner" and does not mention anything about being a de-greaser. It also states to dilute per the dilution chart for various cleaning projects. I know that full strength it is a very strong cleaner.

We use a gelcoat wash for marine and rvs and then polish it and use Mcguires. It can take 3 X polish over the whole thing before you can wax. Look under boat care on gogle.