It’s easy to think that if you’ve cleaned one roof, you’ve cleaned them all. But cleaning an RV roof—and the awning that may come with it—isn’t like wiping a soapy sponge over the top of your coupe, either. RV roof cleaning should be done with a few extra steps of special care and maintenance to ensure that you’re giving your RV the best possible treatment without ever risking your personal safety.
But that doesn’t mean it has to be a fifteen-step process, either.
So how do you clean your RV roof and awning right the first time, ensuring that you can maximize the soap exposure to every nook and cranny and extend the life and quality of your roof for many years to come? Well, we may just have a few tips up our sleeve.
Getting Safety Right, Every Time
Whenever you’re working with slippery surfaces and heights, you know you’re flirting with potential disaster—but only if you don’t take the proper precautions to ensure that disaster is kept at bay.
Before you even think about climbing up that ladder and cleaning up your RV roof, keep the following safety tips in mind:
A little caution goes a long way. It only takes a free foot stepping on soapy water to trip you up and send you where you don’t belong. But if you take the time to plan out your cleaning method, you’ll not only have a plan you can repeat every single time for extra efficiency, but you’ll make more room for safety.
Keep your shoes on dry roof. There may be no avoiding walking on your RV roof to clean it, but you can always do yourself a favor and keep the shoes on dry material. You can do this by starting on the end of the roof farthest from the ladder, placing your feet on the dry untouched area between you and the ladder.
Rinse and Clean
From here, you’ll want to rinse out the top of the awning and the roof, as well as the sides of the RV, even before climbing up. Maybe give it a little time to dry so it’s not so slippery when you go up there. The key here is getting the awning—since it’s less stable than the RV roof, water will do most of the work for you.
Get up on top of the RV and clean it out, using a stick sponge to reach and sweep a large area than you could with a regular sponge. A simple soap-water mixture like SUDS is a great way to ensure that you’re using a biodegradable formula and not letting any nefarious chemicals get into the environment simply by cleaning.
It may be best to work in stages, soaping and rinsing your way back to the ladder, to ensure the best possible footing behind you. Be cautious the entire time, and make sure to rinse the awning thoroughly, as the water pressure should clear most of the debris. Don’t overextend yourself when cleaning out the awning—let the water do the work for you.
Voila! You might expect that cleaning RV an roof at 50/month would give you this kind of thorough cleaning. Cleaning RV awnings? 70/month might be your estimate. But if you follow these steps, you’ll secure a clean RV roof—at minimal cost. Your awning should be cleared of major debris and ready to extend some clean, wholesome shade, as well.
