Little Black Spots

[Don Andersen]

Hi,
We've had a Escape 17A since 2014 that is stored outside in Alberta. It is not under a tree. It gets small black spots all over it. No pattern, random.
I cleaned it once with soapy water and a sponge. Took all day. The cleaning lasted a year.
Any ideas of a cure?


Don

[Mike G]

Mildew, perhaps? Does it occur mainly on the non- or less-sunny sides?

[HABBERDABBER]

There are spray cleaners that may make cleaning easier, and bleach works pretty well too. Cure? Wash & wax, or try Poli-Glo acrylic polish or keep it out of the weather.

Just about anything will mildew if kept in a frequently damp environment.

[Rossue]

Depends on the size; I believe my really samll pencil-point spots are soot from passenger jets that sometimes fly over during takeoff & landings.

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

Hi,
We've had a Escape 17A since 2014 that is stored outside in Alberta. It is not under a tree. It gets small black spots all over it. No pattern, random.
I cleaned it once with soapy water and a sponge. Took all day. The cleaning lasted a year.
Any ideas of a cure?


Don

I have had my 19' since 2013, and am also in Alberta. I get the same spots. The longer I leave them the tougher they are to remove. If you wash the roof a couple of times per year it seems to keep the spots away mostly. I have no cures for preventing them altogether.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

Hi,
We've had a Escape 17A since 2014 that is stored outside in Alberta. It is not under a tree. It gets small black spots all over it. No pattern, random.
I cleaned it once with soapy water and a sponge. Took all day. The cleaning lasted a year.
Any ideas of a cure?


Don

Hi: Don Andersen... We live on a county road frequented by 18 wheelers. I always wondered what happened to the rubber that wore off tires. I think it causes black streaks below the window. The small black spots on the fiberglass in our case are Artillery Fungus IMHO. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Don Andersen]

Further info,


Alberta is sunny for the most part with the most sun each year in Canada. THe shadow side is equally effected as the sunny side.

After I cleaned it, about 2 years for the spots to return.

They seem to grow when the weather is cooler.

It gets cold here with lows in the -35F range.

There is very few airplanes over my house and the highway is about 1/2 mile to the North East when the winds are generally SW, NW or SE.
Most cleaning this spring I guess. I'm going to try auto cleaners and polish.


regards,


Don

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Depends on the size; I believe my really samll pencil-point spots are soot from passenger jets that sometimes fly over during takeoff & landings.

Better that than Blue Ice.

Ron

[Gingerdog]

Fly and bug droppings. bugs like lo sun bath on white warm surface... and poop
Spider droppings are the worst.

[Mike G]

Aerosolized airborne residue from the tar sands oil fields?

You have an enemy who dirties your trailer for revenge?

Residue from the jet contrail cloud-seeding, weather alteration efforts?

UFO spent-fuel droppings?

[HABBERDABBER]

Originally Posted by Mike G

Aerosolized airborne residue from the tar sands oil fields?

You have an enemy who dirties your trailer for revenge?

Residue from the jet contrail cloud-seeding, weather alteration efforts?

UFO spent-fuel droppings?

All good speculative possibilities, but here's mine.

A fiberglass trailer LOOKS smooth, and some are even shiny. But at a microscopic level, the surface looks would look like a mountain range. Morning dew, rain and moisture get in those valleys of the surface and provide habitat for airborne mildew spores.

Things are not always as they seem. Or so it seems.

[Fender]

Originally Posted by Gingerdog

Fly and bug droppings. bugs like lo sun bath on white warm surface... and poop
Spider droppings are the worst.

I would second this, especially if it is parked anywhere near a light that is on all night.

[MrLynn]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

Further info,


Alberta is sunny for the most part with the most sun each year in Canada. THe shadow side is equally effected as the sunny side.

After I cleaned it, about 2 years for the spots to return.

They seem to grow when the weather is cooler.

It gets cold here with lows in the -35F range.

There is very few airplanes over my house and the highway is about 1/2 mile to the North East when the winds are generally SW, NW or SE.
Most cleaning this spring I guess. I'm going to try auto cleaners and polish.


regards,


Don

Do the spots grow? Or does the number of spots grow?

If the former, then maybe fungus. If the latter, then maybe insect droppings.

[Don Andersen]

The black spots vary in size and they are very thin.

[HABBERDABBER]

Sure looks like mold/mildew. Less likely it's critter droppings, given the vertical position.

Ultimately, does it matter what it is? It is, what it is.

[Ian G]

I live in Calgary and on my previous Casita quite a few of these black spots appeared on the roof. I had great results cleaning them off with this marine cleaner. https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/s...p.html?loc=plp

[Mike G]

For mildew I'd wet it with a hose, spray it with Tilex, wait a minute, then use my long-handled car wash brush. Rinse with the hose to finish. Normally the spots come off pretty easily that way. I have done this on fiberglass trailers as well as my house siding.

[Bayner]

I used to use Tilex on the boat decks as well when it got a bit spotted, similar to the look in that photo.

[MrLynn]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

The black spots vary in size and they are very thin.

I wonder what those spots would look like under high magnification, say under a microscope. Mold spores might be visible. . .

[Don Andersen]

Folks,


Thanks all for your help.
I'll try both Tilex and the CDN Tire Marine Cleaner.


Regards,


Don