Your RV is more than a place to travel and rest. It’s also
a point of pride. You take care to make sure that the fiberglass looks good,
that the windows are clean, and that your vinyl is well protected.
That’s why it can be so darn frustrating when you develop
RV stains all around these areas—and why you work so hard to get rid of them.
You buy all sorts of products, you scrub them extra hard, you sweat and you
toil…and sometimes it feels like you’re not making any progress to get rid of
stains at all.
Let’s fix all of that by matching the appropriate habits
and products to the most effective solutions. Here are some tips for preventing
and cleaning common RV stains without all of the frustration:
Stain
Prevention 101
The most stress free way to eliminate stains is to make
sure they never happen in the first place.
- Cleanliness. Invest
in a general RV cleaner like Suds and start cleaning
your RV regularly. This isn’t to get rid of stains—you’ll mostly clean off
debris—but rather to prevent their formation in the first place. Keep your RV
clean with a quick run-through every once in a while and you’ll prevent many of
the problems in the first place. And that’s a lot less strain. - Dryness.
Moisture is good for a lot of things, but for cleanliness, it’s generally
better to keep your fiberglass and metal dry. Moisture can lead to rust stains
in particular, which can be frustrating to deal with if left alone. For other
items, like vinyl, use appropriate vinyl protectant.
Unfortunately, no matter how stringent you are about preventing stains, some inevitably form
under your nose.
Match
the Cleaner to the Stain
You’d be surprised at how often this is the real problem
behind why those stubborn stains won’t go away: you’re not using the right
product to match the right surface. The RV, after all, is a veritable
cornucopia of different materials—and they all react differently to water,
rust, and more.
Here are some of the most common stains you’ll need to
address with specialized products:
- Fiberglass: Use Fiberglass Powder Cleaner to get rid of rust stains, scuffmarks, and the like. Because it’s a
non-scratching formula, you’ll be able to work hard without all the
frustration. - Stainless Steel: A quick spray or two of Stainless Steel Cleaner might seem odd given the very name
of stainless steel, but you can be sure it will help you keep your metal
spotless. - Vinyl: Remember when we told you to use vinyl
protectant? Try our VinyLife Vinyl Cleaner and Protectant to get two uses out of one bottle.
When you use the right products and don’t try to force any one
universal cleaner on every substance in your RV, you’re going to reduce the
stress of eliminating stains and guarantee yourself faster cleaning. We
recommend keeping an RV cleaning kit handy to spot-clean any stains that
immediately come up. Your reward will be less work, less sweat, and more time
enjoying your RV.