getting algae spots off the roof?

[John in Santa Cruz]

yeah, these black spots on the roof took quite a bit of scotchbrite to remove, with a lot of soapy water... I don't think anything else abrasive would have cut it.

[Rzrbrn]

Someone earlier suggested Acetone. Is there some reason for NOT using Acetone on a molded fiberglass trailer? I had a smudge or two and tried Alcohol and the smudge was not altered in the least. I then used Acetone, and one swipe took it off. But I am wondering if it might do damage to the gel coat.

I have some dark specks, brown leaf stains and bird droppings on the unit.

I will be washing my trailer within the next month or so after I do some minor tinkering and am thinking about just going over the whole trailer with Acetone on a Swisher type mop, then follow up with BTS Protectant.

Unless the general consensus is that Acetone will damage the gel coat.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Rzrbrn

Someone earlier suggested Acetone. Is there some reason for NOT using Acetone on a molded fiberglass trailer? I had a smudge or two and tried Alcohol and the smudge was not altered in the least. I then used Acetone, and one swipe took it off. But I am wondering if it might do damage to the gel coat.

I used to apply all the logos/numbers and such on all the new Districts vehicles. Acetone was the final wipe down before application. Never saw any evidence of damage to paint or gel coat in the 10 or so years I did that.

[Rzrbrn]

Thanks Dave.

[Alf S.]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

WD40, which I've used to remove some nasty tar spots from the fender wells of my Casita, as well as cleaning the alloy wheels on my former BMW motorcycle, doesn't even touch these hard crusty black spots on the roof.

sigh, its looking like I -am- going to need to use something abrasive

Hi: John in Santa Cruz... Looks like Artillery Fungus aka Shotgun Fungus to me. It's shot out of the trees/mulch etc and attaches itself to the fiberglass like glue. Bleach might be the only killer.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Dan Meyer]

I tried everything. In desperation I tried Fast Orange Hand Cleaner with pumice. It did the job. It got dirty again over the winter, Now I need do it again and also give the trailer a good wax job.



--Dan Meyer

[Rzrbrn]

Dan did the Fast Orange Hand Cleaner scratch the gel coat due to the pumice? My wife has always had some of that on hand in the laundry and not once did it occur to me to use in on the trailer. It is 4:00 in the morning: I can barely wait to go out and try using this on a small test area on one of my trailers where I have a bit of road tar (or something, not sure exactly what is is) that just won't come off.

[Dan Meyer]

The Fast Orange with pumice left the trailer in a matte finish. I did't find the time or energy to wax the trailer last summer; I just enjoyed that it was clean!

... and I need to clean it again, and either find a cover or different place to park when being stored.



--Dan Meyer

[Joe Romas]

Originally Posted by ehoepner

ZEP floor wax remover works really good.

That's what I used on the same oak spots on the roof of our 1999 Casita

It's available at Lowes.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Dan Meyer

The Fast Orange with pumice left the trailer in a matte finish. I did't find the time or energy to wax the trailer last summer; I just enjoyed that it was clean!

before you wax it, you should hit it with a marine polishing compound suitable for gel coats, to get the shine back up, then the wax will protect it. once you've got the shine going again, use a polymer protectant like NuFinish or ReJex, and the shine will last much longer than conventional wax.

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by Captleemo

Scotchbrite pads are basically plastic sandpaper with the green color being a heavy grit so bear that in mind when using it. I have used the L A Awsome cleaner that is available at any dollar type store in combination with a magic eraser with excellent results on black streaks. Not sure about those black spots but a spray bottle of awesome is only 1 dollar so it is worth a try. I just recommended some of that 30 second cleaner to some friends that were getting algae on their house siding and they couldn't believe how well it works. It is also available at Home Depot and Lowe's. Again not sure how it would work on those spots. I'm sure everybody has noticed the black spots that get on some of the silicone sealant on our RV's. Even bleach doesn't seem to touch that 100 %.

Scotchbrite pads are not made from plastic, they are made from aluminum wool rather than being made from steel wool.

[Garycamper]

Years of sitting uncovered under pine trees. I used a car wash soap to get the surface grime off, then Barkeepers friend with a power buffer and a green scotchbright. I had to sew the scotchbright pads onto the regular buffer pad... See my blog


My Scamp Fiberglass Egg Camper: Shine bright like a diamond


GQ

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by k corbin

Scotchbrite pads are not made from plastic, they are made from aluminum wool rather than being made from steel wool.

the yellow sponges with the green scour pad on one side? or blue and darker blue ? pretty sure those are a abrasive laced plastic.

3M is now using the Scotch-Brite brand name on a wide range of products, sigh, not just these sponges.

[Steve Hammel]

While everyone's on the subject of getting stains out I'll throw this out there. I had a fiberglass pool that some bolts accidently fell into and were forgotten for a few days. As you can imagine the bolts rusted and stained my fiberglass pool horribly. An old time pool guy told me to take a single tablet of vitamin C and rub it on the stain. The stain came right out. Years later I bought an old Scamp and several of the metal pieces on it were rusty and had stained the fiberglass body. I tried the vitamin C on it and like magic it took all the rust out of the fiberglass. Just for future reference.

[Rzrbrn]

Let me get this straight. You took a vitamin C tablet then you rubbed on the stain and it came out. Did you take the tablet with water or a beverage? I am not certain of the chemistry involved. why would you taking a vit C tablet have anything to do with you rubbing on a stain?

[Steve Hammel]

Originally Posted by Rzrbrn

Let me get this straight. You took a vitamin C tablet then you rubbed on the stain and it came out. Did you take the tablet with water or a beverage? I am not certain of the chemistry involved. why would you taking a vit C tablet have anything to do with you rubbing on a stain?

LOL rub the vitamin C tablet, or powdered ascorbic acid if you prefer, on the stain. Most people have a vitamin C tablet laying around. Works wonderful.

[Dan Meyer]

Originally Posted by Dan Meyer

I tried everything. In desperation I tried Fast Orange Hand Cleaner with pumice. It did the job. It got dirty again over the winter, Now I need do it again and also give the trailer a good wax job.

Today I decided to get the grunge off my camper. I used a Mr Clean Magic Eraser. It worked surprisingly well and was not a lot of effort.

... I still have not waxed it to restore the shine. That is too much work! I'd rather be camping!

--Dan Meyer

[Rzrbrn]

Steve, I was just joking. I figured you rubbed it on the stain. I have tried ,many things to get various stains off the trailer, I hope I can remember this when needed again. Thank you for our suggestion.
Henry

[Rzrbrn]

Try GoJo with pumice in it. I tried many supposed cleaners, such as Acetone, alcohol, mineral spirits, Dawn Ultra, etc, and then discovered GoJo in the laundry room. It took leaf stains off the fiberglass when all else failed.

I wiped BTS protectant on the BF and I am not pleased. It streaked, and I am having a hard time buffing it. I just hope it offers some UV protection. It did not add anything that I can see to the shine. Says to wipe it on once a month. Nobody ever said to do that when I researched it.

I will see what happens this camping season after which I may try to take the BTS off and use a wax like Fastwax FW1, or one of those new fangled non wax finishes like NuFinish, which I have used in the past and it seems ok.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I just cleaned a years worth of oak and spruce pollen and debris off our casita that I had partially treated with RejeX polymer finish. omg, the areas that were quick-polished a year ago are shiny and unstained, the rest not so much so. now I'm going to need to go over all the rest with cleaners to get the stains out, and do the whole thing in RejeX, then it will SHINE.

ps. we're going to be selling this 2008 Casita 16 SD once its prepped. my wife wants to be in charge of the selling, because she thinks "I'm too easy".