How to polish your Winnebago

[tatkin]

Sent: 4/11/2006

What chemical I guess, polishes the Winnebago the best. 73 Brave exterior I would really like to make it shine... Elbow grease I assume is required at a minimum ...

[Oz]

Sent: 4/11/2006

You'll notice that the amount of oxidization varies around your rig, depending if one side was constantly facing the sun.  It can be so bad that the only real fix is to repaint those areas.

However, Wal-Mart sells 2 kinds of oxydation remover/polish in their boating section.  One for heavy, and one for light.  It works fantastic on gel-coat finishes and runs about $10 a bottle; you'd need about 2 - 3 bottles to do your rig, and yes, a lot of elbow grease to go along with it.

Again, I've used it on gel-coat, not sure if it work the same on the enamel paint, but I would venture it safe to say you could buy one bottle, try it on a small, not so highly visible area, and if it didn't work well, you can simply return it for a full refund.

- Sob

[another1bytesTHEduss]

Sent: 4/11/2006

Don't use Lysol with bleach it will fade the paint I used some on the eyebrow area by the old numbers it used to have,now bare metal almost shows through.But it cleaned very well.I recommend a water and soap mixture of Johnson's baby shampoo.Use a loofa sponge,then dry with a chamois cloth.This will leave a nice polish on your old Classic,with considerable elbow grease,depending on the condition,I however wanted to use less elbow and paid the price,But I am repainting it anyways,so I don't care.Also,don't polish in direct bright sun,it will bake the surface and make water-spotting.

[drummertom]

Sent: 4/12/2006

While not directly dealing with polishing, mine was kinda dirty when I first bought it and I washed it with soap and a Mr. Clean magic eraser. That took off a lot of the build-up and made it look really nice. Didn't hurt he paint either.

[Oz]

Sent: 4/12/2006

Regular car polish also works well.  I used that on my first rig.  However, it did help on the oxidized areas, but you could tell the difference.   - Sob

[Slantsixness]

Sent: 4/12/2006

On the bright aluminum trim, I used steel wool (000) with Spic and span liquid. Then I used stuff called "Water" you can buy at truck stops that makes aluminum so shiny you'd think it was chrome, but it's A LOT of work. Mothers Aluminum polish is also just as good, and just as tedious.

I use Spic and span Liquid on the overall exterior wall washing too (without the 000 steel wool of course!). It still needs to be repainted, but it's brighter and less grimey (for a 34 year old turd...). 

Tom

[Slantsixness]

Sent: 4/12/2006

oh yeah... I forgot to mention....

My Eyebrows are already bald! (worse than Erik's). If I wash them again, they just be polished aluminum! (That's why I have to paint my Winnie, theres no paint on it anymore, just chalky dust! LOL!)

[tatkin]

Sent: 4/12/2006

Once I bought a power washer, for the old siding on the real house. Oooops ... It looked like worm tracks when I was done. 

[Elandan2]

Sent: 4/13/2006

1.  Wash, scrub and chamois.
2.  Get tons of polish, sealer, and wax.
3.  About 100 pounds of clean terrycloth.
4.  Spend a weekend on the ladder.
5.  Enjoy the appreciative looks and comments in the campground.

Seriously, I've found that Protect All does a good job and is easy to use, but it is expensive, especially up here in Canada.  Normally, I use whatever liquid wax I find on sale.   Rick