Cleaning Mucky Motorhome Roof

Hello All,
As usual at this time of year the view from my bedroom window shows the top and sides of our Harmony's roof looking filthy dirty! It is fibreglass which long before we adopted her had already lost its gloss. I've always had a job to get it back to white because it is stained. Last year in my spring cleanup I resorted to using household bleach on it and it worked like magic.
When I told a caravan owning friend what I'd done he was horrified and said it had probably some some damage. If bleach is no go, what else will work?
I'd be really glad of some of your knowledgeable advice on this, please.
(Not that I'm likely to start any cleanups for a while - it's just me trying to wish the winter away, by planning for the first trip of the spring!) 
Hope 2015 will be a good year for you all.
Gran

Yikes!        Bleach!  

I hate to think what that will have done to your gel coat* . . .

You will need proper products specifically designed for marine/RV use and lots of elbow grease to try and restore it e.g:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

followed by:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Good luck!

cheers
Roger

*PS Actually, what it will likely have done is made the gel coat more porous, which in turn means it will get mould/algae on it sooner and will be more difficult to clean each time.  Hence the recommendation to use products which firstly clean, then deal with oxidisation (the chalky looking appearance) and then restore the smoothness by "feeding"  (i.e. filling/sealing) the tiny holes then polishing to a shine which will mean it should take longer to reappear and should be easier to remove.

Hi there,

Glass reinforced plastic is often used to store bleach so I wouldn't worry too much if you cleaned the roof of your van with it; especially as you probably diluted an already weak solution with water and then rinsed it off after use.

Personally, we leave the top of our Duetto mucky because:

1.  We live in a bungalow and can't see it.

2.  There is a real threat that when cleaning the roof a clumsy beggar like me will damage the seals on the skylights, TV cable, satellite dish etc.

3.  I have yet to see a Transit van with a corroded roof.

Hope this helps. 

Best regards,



Reference (purely as an example):

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I would go with rogerblack as I used the same products last year.
Oh and by the way don't forget to order a bucket full of 'elbow grease' 

PB

ps: it's worth the effort!

Thanks all of you for these reassuring replies, especially Dutto's about the fibreglass/bleach reaction!
It would be great to restore the sheen of the hightop with the special products suggested by Roger and seconded by Peugeotboxer. We have never seen it looking like that since we had the van!
Trouble is our age and getting a firm enough standing place to be able to reach over and apply the necessary elbow grease!
 When we bought Nin it was to replace Min, the Holdsworth Minuet which was stolen from our drive nearly 8 years ago. I altered things internally to suit ourselves on the principle that she was going to be our last van, so blow any effect on resale price! At night we sleep across the van in a pullout sofabed made to slide by the runners from the offside passenger seat  and so on.
It would have been cleverer of me to concentrate on externals perhaps..... not so agile these days!,
Regards , Gran

Gran there are plenty of mobile valeters around who should polish your roof for a reasonable fee, if you ever go to any of the Motorhome shows you can get it done then... (I'd buy the polish and request they use that instead of their own) As above I highly recommend Meguiar's Marine RV gel coat products, IMO they are the best and I wouldn't use anything else.

I don't share the sentiment that using something as harsh as bleach on a gelcoat is harmless, especially when theire are products out there that are purpose designed and will remove every trace of algae and muck from motorhome roof and bodies.

I've discovered an excellent one by Direct Chemicals which I now use and it's simply unbelievable, it's definately not cheap but a little goes a long way. 





I use a handheld double action pro spray bottle (that sprays on both the forward and backward movement of the trigger) and spray the motorhome roof, followed by a gentle brush all over using a Vikan brush to agitate the cleaner and get a foam going then rinse off with my pressure washer using the gentler special car end adaptor for a fan spray as not to cause any damage to seals etc.

Brilliant idea DUTTO - we'll move house to a bungalow and then we won't have to look at the green roof. 

Have a look at this thread.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Farecla Restorer and wax, purchased one bottle and used about half of it. Has been done a second time much quicker than the first. Can reach all of the roof from a large step-ladder .

jennyandpeter wrote:Have a look at this thread.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Farecla Restorer and wax, purchased one bottle and used about half of it. Has been done a second time much quicker than the first. Can reach all of the roof from a large step-ladder .

Hi there,

I just knew you would Post here ....    

.... and hope that Members follow the link to the "Photograph of Shame!" that shows all Duetto owners what their roof should look like!!   

Best regards,   

Thanks for that, may look into getting the wheel arches done this year as a 21st birthday present. The plan is to take dougle over to France in the summer.

Hello and thanks to everyone for all the above!
Your suggestions are most helpful and I feel inspired to really have a good old go at the poor old neglected fibreglass once this weather improves.
Mind you, today you wouldn't know why I was bothered about me mucky roof - when I look out now it's gleaming and perfectly white all over.....!
 Gran

jennyandpeter wrote:Thanks for that, may look into getting the wheel arches done this year as a 21st birthday present. The plan is to take dougle over to France in the summer.

Hi there,

Horse and Cart. 

Cat and Dog. 

Morecambe and Wise. 

Transits and Rust.  

All famous duets; and the last one makes "Dirt and Roof" pale into insignificance! 

Enjoy the new wheel arches.  When we replaced ours there was apparently a national shortage and we had to wait for imports from China! 

Best regards,

The originals certainly do rust really badly (because of the way that Ford sealed the seams) but the great thing about Mk5 Transit panels is that they are really cheap!

When I had them done on my van I asked the body shop in advance whether it was worth buying Ford original panels, and his answer was a resounding "No"! Aftermarket ones may be pressed a little less accurately, but in his opinion that made very little difference to the amount of work needed to fit them - and they were at the time a quarter the price of Ford items...