Caravan white paint surface left dull in places.
Hello, I am not a newbie to caravanning, well over 30 odd years service ! I have always washed my caravan with usually just a splash of washing up liquid in the water. Hosed it off and used 'Silky' cleaner afterwards to give a shine. Occasionally, I have used a black streak cleaner for under the side windows. Never had any problems.
Recently, (end of last season) started using Fenwicks Caravan Cleaner. I have used this before in the past without problems. Also I used 7 Shot Black Streak Remover ( which also is used for Algae removal. ) Since using this combination my whole caravan has become 'patchy' dull areas and some patches where there is a shine but less so overall. I have washed the van all over and used silky cleaner. I have even used a car electric buffer to apply the Silky without any improvement.
Anyone got any suggestions to the cause and a remedy.
regards
Ray
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Ray. I have exactly the same problem on my 2009 Bailey! It is only on the 'metal' sides not the GRP front/rear. Don't know what caused it as I too have taken care to clean my caravan using only caravan products. I spoke with my service engineer about it a few months ago and his only suggestion was to take it to a company that specialises in getting the shine back. He advised that it was quite expensive. I hope that someone can come up with an inexpensive solution. I will do a good Google search to see if I can find any suggestions.
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OK Ray. I have done a little research and it looks as though we have oxidation. There seem to be 2 products available; Vistal Hard Surface Cleaner and Bullet 357. I have ordered the Bullet 357 and will see how it performs. There are videos on Google showing both products.
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It's not a good idea washing your caravan (or car) in washing up liquid due to the large amount of salt in it intended to kill the grease in your washing up.
And you need to be very careful with a machine polisher. It's very easy to burn the paint on even a car which is far thicker & more durable than the thin layer on a caravan.
I'd try polishing the caravan using a decent car polish ... applied by hand
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Agree - washing up liquid is the last thing you should be using because the salt will remove any polish you have applied. I only ever use good, old-fashioned Stardrops because there is no salt in it at all and three of four generous squirts in a two gallon bucket will produce a solution which will easily remove any black streaks.
It sounds as if your paint has oxidised, as mentioned above. Whilst I have a lot of experience of dealing with this problem on yachts where it is a common problem and a fairly aggressive rubbing compound and power polisher is the answer, I would be very careful on the painted surfaces of a caravan. You could try a very fine 000 grade compound (obtainable from yacht chandlers)- applied by hand - and then a good quality wax on top. Just be very careful, though, - if you get too enthusiastic, you could end up rubbing through the paint!
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Ray. I ordered the Bullet 357 on Sunday and it arrived this morning! I have cleaned my caravan with it today and am most impressed by the result. All the oxidation had been removed and I then polished the caravan, not really necessary but as it was a lovely day did it. It is now shining outside my house in (almost) showroom condition. Mind you, it was very hard work but worth the effort. I can recommend the product.
I have no link with the company.
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Well it is a while since I bought some Bullet 357 ( actually bought the whole caravan kit from Bullet. Seemed good value. ) I set to it yesterday after a wet May and a mainly sunny June to date. I started to apply the compound by hand but soon reverted to a rotary disc. ( Check speeds first that come with Bullet instructions) As has been said it is very hard work either by hand or machine. Word of caution if using a disc , stay away from the plastic chrome effect badges i.e. Challenger. as the Bullet 357 and disc can quickly remove the chrome effect as I found as I briefly slipped over a part of it.
The result is good but I found I certainly had to go over places more than once to avoid patches and swirl marks. Mind this is after 12 years of build up of oxidation. Thanks for the recommendation commeyras.
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