Bathroom Discoloration

I have been using Vim's bathroom cleaner on my acrylic shower for many years with no harm. It is recommended by plumbing supply stores for fiberglass and acrylic surfaces as it does not have any grit or bleach and it is excellent at removing soap scum and mildew. My 15 year old shower still has its bright shiny finish. Unilever appears to be phasing out the Vim brand so I am testing Clorox bathroom spray foam which surprisingly does not contain bleach. I have also read recommendation for 409 and CLR bathroom cleaners. Never user scouring pads or stiff brushes on you fiberglass shower as they can leave scratches. A soft sponge or cloth works fine. Spay the bathroom cleaner and give it time to soak, most stains will wipe off with a little pressure.

VIM cream is an abrasive product that should never be used on fiberglass showers. It does an incredible job on whitewall and raised white letter tires but not good for your shower.

es-kah-pay, I would suggest you may have a condensation issue that maybe resulting in surface mildew. When we camped for several weeks in April last year in Tofino during heavy rains we kept the maxi fan on low and a window cracked open at all times. We were also running a small electric heater and left the bathroom door slightly open. I monitored the humidity level which only fluctuated when cooking or drying wet outer wear.
 
Thanks everyone for the help so far!
Just want to follow up with the latest that ETI had to say about the issue. It could use some deciphering but I'm just posting exactly what they said:

"The discoloration shown in the photos is likely from contaminants found in the water coming from the leak. It will “warm” evenly over exposed areas, our fiberglass team stated it was staining and not the fiberglass warming. The leak would be coming in from the weep hole into the bathroom. When your trailer was manufactured, we weren’t applying silicone to that area to create a little riser."

Now let me just say... I think it's important that we rememeber these folks over there at ETI don't know everything. The reason I say this is because the "discoloration is likely from contaminants found in water" explanation just doesn't add up in the book of what I'm experiencing right now. My entire trailer's exterior including the cargo box and the screws for the body seam (same screws as in the bath) are currently and have been for some time, covered in "contaminated" water. Yet there's not a trace of the yellow anywhere on the outside. Not even the screw heads people! Look at the screws in the pictures I gave. Not trying to be a d*** here but my frustration grows as I have no real solution to this or even a solid idea of just what exactly has caused the problem.
 
Last edited:
My entire trailer's exterior including the cargo box and the screws for the body seam (same screws as in the bath) are currently and have been for some time, covered in "contaminated" water. Yet there's not a trace of the yellow anywhere on the outside. Not even the screw heads people! Look at the screws in the pictures I gave. Not trying to be a d*** here but my frustration grows as I have no real solution to this or even a solid idea of just what exactly has caused the problem.

ETI may be speculating the water is getting contaminated while it is seeping through the various layers of the trailer similar to how water leaking through the roof of a house or building drips brown into the house. That's how I read their response but it's just a guess. It would be good to follow up with them to confirm their thinking.

There are lots of comments in this thread suggesting condensation is the culprit and that is very possible. Have you tried any of the cleaning methods or remediation methods suggested? Once you've cleaned and ventilated the area you may find you've addressed the problem. In particular, ghosthunters comments in post #13 appear to be spot on.

Your trailer is relatively new and you are not that far from the ETI factory. If you still have problems you could always take it up to them for assessment.

The owner's manual that came with my Escape stressed at the very beginning that Escape trailers are not meant as 4 season trailers due to the risk of condensation in cold weather. Even in cool summer weather we have to ventilate our trailer when we're using it because we can see condensation on the windows. You may need to work especially hard to avoid condensation problems especially in the bathroom if the door is normally left closed.
 

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom