The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

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Shivster

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 21.05.2014 · #1

Quote by mark

List ! Really ? OK. But you asked for it.

This is what I would do with a van that needs it.

1/ Rinse whole van with a hose.
2/ Wash all over with autoglym shampoo conditioner and rinse with hose again.
3/ Silky in areas of about a square meter or less. Rubbing very aggressively.
4/ Polish each meter area immediately with Autoglym Super Resin Polish before moving on to the next area.
5/ Repeat points 3 and 4 until whole vehicle is done.
6/ Rinse whole vehicle with hose again
7/ Chamois off all surplus water
8/ Polish whole vehicle with Super Resin Polish again.
9/ Rinse whole vehicle again.
10/ Apply Autoglym Aqua Wax to whole vehicle (except front screen) with a soft sponge.
11/ Rinse whole vehicle with hose
12/ Chamois off all water
13/ Apply a light coat of Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection
14/ Buff off with a soft cloth
15/ Step back and enjoy the results of your work.

Use micro fiber cloths for polishing. The softer the better.
Sorry but you did ask.

I appreciate it honestly I like to do a job well and if he doesn't do it i will.

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 21.05.2014 · #2

If your van is dull and you plan to use Silky make sure you take your time and do it right.

There is no point in doing all the other layers if the base isn't cleaned really well first. You are just sealing in the bad finish.

the fat controller

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 21.05.2014 · #3

I'm exhausted reading that never mind doing it

mad max

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #4

Mark are you on commission or are you being sponsored by autoglym

No mention of the dreaded elbow grease

Waterman

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #5

Quote by Shivster

Quote by mark

I appreciate it honestly I like to do a job well and if he doesn't do it i will.

My thoughts will be with Paul this weekend

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #6

Doing a whole van in a weekend would be a challenge.

Sorry forgot to mention Lots of elbow grease especially with the Silky.

Blag

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #7

Quote by mark

Wow... (seriously).

I wouldn't have the patience to go to half of that effort polishing my lil motorbike, let alone doing a whole bleedin camper!!! Much respect for your efforts Mark, fair play.

Do you use a polishing machine? Reason I ask, is my neighbour recently bought a Makita polisher (looks like a 9" grinder) and you'd really notice the difference between hand polish and machine polish...

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #8

Nope. All done by hand.
I prefer not to use a buffing machine. It is very important to be careful on edges where the paint is thinner.

PaulH

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #9

Thanks Mark, I reckon on taking 4 weekends doing one side / end per weekend!! Just about get finished in time to start again!!

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Subject:

Re: The..... What did you do to your Motorhome today thread!

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #10

I really don't want to do yours Paul. LOL

Ally

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #11

Ok I split the topics - it didn't really work how I planned but .................

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #12

WTF ????
LOL

Bob

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 22.05.2014 · #13

grp and plastic panels on motorhomes and indeed boats have just over half the thickness of paint a car panel would have
a rotary polisher and a cutting pad and compound would be through it in a blink of an eye

a dual action polisher and a polishing pad is ideal for applying autoglym srp then let it haze then use cloth as usual to buff off
that will half your time polishing
polisher to apply the polish NOT remove it

as with everything take care and if you havent used a polisher before dont use your motorhome as a test piece !!

Shivster

Eat's Sleep's craic

Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 23.05.2014 · #14

I read it out - quote "go to bed for two days to recover - that is a huge job!!!!"

Bob

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 24.05.2014 · #15

just spent two days machine polishing my mx5 which is about a tenth of the size of the van lol

my regime for van is
rinse
snow foam leave for fifteen mins then rinse
citrus pre clean on any marks or awkward places then rinse
shampoo and clean van
rinse
clay van (the g3 claymitt is great for the van instead of a clay bar)
rinse then dry with microfibre drying towel
polish with autoglym srp or orchard speedseal and coat of perfection

then theres wheels and glass and thats a whole other story lol

Flipperdipper

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 24.05.2014 · #16

What IS cleaning and polishing?????

flans van

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 24.05.2014 · #17

Wish we had the time to do all that , we are either working or out in the van .Message
to ones self or John stay at home for once and take the time but I bet the first time we would take it out it would just get mucked up lol

the fat controller

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 24.05.2014 · #18

:hide: Knowing your luck you would do some damage while washing it :sorry:

Bob

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 24.05.2014 · #19

polish certainly helps with the bug problem in France, they are much easier to clean off

would only polish twice a year

quick wash does the rest of the time

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 24.05.2014 · #20

Quote by Shivster

I read it out - quote "go to bed for two days to recover - that is a huge job!!!!"

LOL.
That would be the usual reaction.

The only way to get it into a condition which is easy to maintain is with serious hard work. All the quick fix shines tend not to last too long.

I don't blame anyone for not wanting to do it properly. That is why people make a living from cleaning vehicles. I ran an auto valet business and I saw it from both sides.

flans van

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 24.05.2014 · #21

Quote by the fat controller

:hide: Knowing your luck you would do some damage while washing it :sorry:

On that note think its best to leave it dirty

the fat controller

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 25.05.2014 · #22

let's just do that

Bob

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 25.05.2014 · #23

dirty vans make no difference to tax insurance mpg or mot

a sign of a lived in and enjoyed van........

Shivster

Eat's Sleep's craic

Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 25.05.2014 · #24

Quote by mark

Quote by Shivster

I read it out - quote "go to bed for two days to recover - that is a huge job!!!!"

you mean you can pay someone to do it?

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 25.05.2014 · #25

Yes.
There are not too many Motorhome valet people out there. Especially in Ireland.

the fat controller

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 25.05.2014 · #26

There is a business opportunity for someone

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 26.05.2014 · #27

Most people wouldn't pay for the time put into a proper job John.

Bob

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 26.05.2014 · #28

can you really see someone paying for up to 20 hours work plus products

i looked at valeting for motorhomes but after talking with many owners they just want quick wash and something on it to make it shiny, which really doesnt mean its clean !
or take it to our foreign cousins who wash it with traffic remover and one cloth cleans all for a tenner.

the fat controller

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 26.05.2014 · #29

Problem with that is they use power washers which are not ideal for motorhomes or caravans

Bob

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 26.05.2014 · #30

plus traffic remover mixed with brick acid !

PaulH

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 27.05.2014 · #31

Just finished mine this evening, phew, about 5 hours of hard graft. Washed,dried, waxed and tyres blacked. Well chuffed, she looks like new, I swear by Nubawax, it can be applied if the surface is still a bit wet, and buffs off really easily, gives a really shiny, glazed finish and doesn't leave white marks on trim or rubber . That'll do for this summer : )

CHAUSSON

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 27.05.2014 · #32

Quote by the fat controller

Problem with that is they use power washers which are not ideal for motorhomes or caravans

You said it John!

I left the Motorhome into the local garage for a service last week and they decided to wash it with a hot wash power washer, when I got it home I detected that it is full of streaks, what ever they used dissolved the paint in the grill and the plastic window surrounds , They must have used some kind of acid.

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 27.05.2014 · #33

You might find they used Traffic Film Remover which is very acidic.
It should never be allowed to run into anything but itself. It must be applied from the bottom up.

If it is what they used it will be a job and a half recovering it.

Shivster

Eat's Sleep's craic

Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 27.05.2014 · #34

Ah lads at this rate he will never wash the MH and it will be like it is forever! lol

PaulH

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 28.05.2014 · #35

Quote by PaulH

Bloody "ell, arms and shoulders killing me this am, phew, glad I don"t have to do that too often...... Still worth it tho".

DevaDave

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 30.05.2014 · #36

Can I just give mine a good coat of "looking at it"

:whistle:

Tristan @ PHM

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 30.05.2014 · #37

I did one for a customer the other day , using a Kestrel Dual acrtion polisher , it kinda "vibrates" more so than rotates , and isn't at all hard on the paintwork . Did it with a light Farecla colour restorer , then AutoGlym polish , it took years off it! Doing the windows always lifts a MH too IMO

oh and I always prefer if it's a little wet , it's easier to spread the polish .

re Traffic Film Remover , we had to try a few suppliers before we got a non Caustic one. Other brands used to even stain the windscreen. I find running a little Dishwasher Rinse-aid through the water helps the process too , I've been using it for a long time , and it hasn't been any way harmful.

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 23.06.2014 · #38

Van hasn't been polished for a few weeks so I gave it a wash and chamois this morning.
The preparation listed in the first post of this thread are now proving to be worthwhile.

It came up a treat.

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Hessy Hymer

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 23.06.2014 · #39

Doesn't Half Mark

Looks like new

Whats the gadgets up top of the unit? Separate TV and Satellite Antenna? Air Con?

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Subject:

Re: The cleaning and polishing your Motorhome thread.

· Posted: 23.06.2014 · #40

Thanks but it is very new but even new vans don't have much of a finish on them.

What you see on the roof is ;

Two rear roof openings
Solar panel
Mid centre roof vent/fan
Standard status TV ariel
Snipe self seeking satellite dish (see this thread forum/topic.php?t=5964&page=fs…ight=snipe)

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