Fibreglass cleaning/polishing

[Buddy]

Originally Posted by Garand

LMAO!!! Curses, typo'ed again!

Spell check is my enema.

[padlin]

And here I thought I'd get away from black streaks going to a fiberglass trailer.

[Rossue]

Umm, kinda embarrassed to say but am going to second acupuncture treatment today for tennis elbow in my left arm. This has been going on for about two months. Not exactly sure how, but along with golf- am right handed- I waxed the trailer and car at that time. I remember trying to give my right arm a break. Will definitely buy and use a power tool next time.

[Zardoz]

I just discovered LA's TOTALLY AWESOME spray cleaner which gets rid of black streaks VERY easily. And for $1.00 (16 oz.), you can't go wrong.

[mitsui]

Originally Posted by BRietkerk

Here on the wet coast the rain leaves hard to remove black streaks on any white vehicle. The PROTECT ALL product called BLACK streak CLEANER made easy work for me yesterday. Very little elbow grease required if sprayed on liberally. Used all 946 mL to do our 19. Then used the PROTECTAL Wax product. The trailer now looks brand new after an afternoons work.

Brian did you buy the product locally in Canada?
Jim

[BRietkerk]

Yes at Traveland RV on the Langley Bypass.

[MyronL]

Before you go spending the big bucks on dedicated gel coat re-finishing you would be wise to check out and read every post in that link to the fiberglass RV forum that Jon suggested. Then make up your mind.

I have used Red Max Pro on my horridly oxidized '81 Burro and '86 Scamp. Elbow grease? After a good cleaning, at $18 a gallon nothing could have been easier. I found the worst thing you could do was glop it on. 6 thin, light, easy coats and the transformation is amazing. Of course, your results may vary.

[gharper]

I have applied gel coat and refinished gel coat on boats and the very worst, i.e. severly oxidized gel coat with scratches, will come back by using a rubbing compound or wet sanding with progressively finer sand paper then power buffed with a quality wax.

It is likely though that 95% of the time oxidized chalky gel coat on fibreglass trailers will come back to a glossy appearance by using a liquid cleaner wax that has fine abrasive additives applied by hand or buffer and then followed with a good coat of a quality wax. However, if not applying by hand you need to know how to use a buffer and start with a test spot where you will not notice your poor technique, e.g. roof. Best to purchase quality products for this job and research how to use them and you will be amazed with the change. I would suggest first apply cleaning products by hand in a test spot to before using a power buffer to see how they work. I prefer to apply by hand if I can so as not to remove too much gel coat.

To maintain wash the trailer with a mild soap made for vehicles or boats so as not to strip the wax off and apply a quality wax once in spring and once in fall. I prefer 3M products like Finesse It cleaner wax and 3M high performance paste wax and follow the manufacturer's instructions (they have a rubbing compound that would be used for bad spots and where you do not want to wet sand and Finesse It does not work). Another great resource to look at for caring for fibreglass is boat websites such as the Hull Truth.

[Fox hunt]

Do you have buff all the waxs can you use one that doesn't need buffing on a newer trailer ?

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

I just discovered LA's TOTALLY AWESOME spray cleaner which gets rid of black streaks VERY easily. And for $1.00 (16 oz.), you can't go wrong.

Hi: Zardoz... Great stuff Eh?...In Florida @ Dollar Tree I found some 32 oz. refill bottles with no sprayer for $1.00 I've got lots of empty spray bottles. I used LA's to clean the awning. Changed it from a grubby tan to like new white... and that was the underside!!! Small amt's. of elbow grease required. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Zardoz]

Hey, Alf! Yea, it's so good and easy I was wondering if it was going to eat through the fiberglass. But, so far so good. You gotta love simple (and cheap) solutions to annoying problems, huh?

[CADreamin]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

I just discovered LA's TOTALLY AWESOME spray cleaner which gets rid of black streaks VERY easily. And for $1.00 (16 oz.), you can't go wrong.

I've got some in my cleaning supplies! I'm going to give it a try.

[gbaglo]

What is in LA? Sounds like it contains a lot of chlorine.
If you read the manual for the awning, it says to use soap and water and either a stiff brush or a soft brush depending on the material.
Takes elbow grease, but they don't say that.

[Zardoz]

Glenn, I found this FYI ... http://http://apps.wku.edu/sds/uploads/docs/8095.pdf

[gbaglo]

That certainly covers the bases.

[Brian B-P]

The LA cleaner (according to the helpful documentation linked by Zardoz) contains:
Tetra Sodium EDTA: according to Wikipedia...

The reduction of water hardness in laundry applications and the dissolution of scale in boilers both rely on EDTA and related complexants to bind Ca2+, Mg2+, as well as other metal ions. Once bound to EDTA, these metal centers tend not to form precipitates or to interfere with the action of the soaps and detergents. For similar reasons, cleaning solutions often contain EDTA.

(HowStuffWorks has similar description)

and

Hydroxy Sodium which I assume is what makes this cleaner caustic (bleach-like, but without chlorine). The info sheet says it has a pH of 12 to 13, which is on the pretty aggressively caustic on the pH scale.

It also has orange oil, the usual active ingredient in "citrus" cleaners.

I'm not surprised that this is an effective cleaner; I'm just not sure what I would trust it to clean without damage... but I haven't tried it or objectively compared it to other cleaners.

[dglasrud]

Just came home from the escape rally. Does anyone have a suggestion for a cleaner that will get the bugs off of the gelcoat on my new 17B? And also off of the paint on my new Dodge Ram.

[padlin]

Best I've found for after the fact is drier sheets, you should rewax afterwards if such concerns you. I've heard of using either Rejex, Nu-finish, a couple extra coats of wax, or WD40 before a trip.

[gbaglo]

Turtle Wax Bug 'n' Tar is made for the job.
I'd think dryer sheets are abrasive and more costly in the end.

[padlin]

Used drier sheets cost nothing, and unlike my efforts with Bug N Tar remover, they work. I think you'd have to try them to see if you think they are abrasive or not.