best way to clean the roof?

Having spent the last several hours up on a ladder mopping all the dirt off our 2720 (but it had a lot of old dirt and a pile of undiscovered hail dents!), I'm wondering what the best way to clean the roof is? Can I just use a hose? Can I get up on it and scrub? I had read somewhere that a pressure hose was a bad idea but is a regular hose ok? Oklahoma gets pretty dusty and it is all red dirt, which makes for a dirty camper pretty quickly. I suspect the dealer cleaned this but this is just accumulated dirt from the last month or two on the lot.

-Amy
2004 2720

[Barb&Tim]

Can I get up on it and scrub?

I added some vent covers last year on mine and had to get up on the roof to do the work. I used pieces of plywood everywhere i was putting any weight on the roof to spread out the pressure and avoided making any dents in the aluminum skin.

Tim

[Wavery]

We wash ours regularly (before each camp-out). Here is our routine:

1. Raise the tongue jack so that the water flows to the back.

2. With the trailer closed up, hose off the front roof. We use a soft bristle push-broom for scrubbing if needed.

3. Wash the sides of the front roof.

4. Dry front roof-top with large towels. We throw the towel out flat on the roof, then pull it toward us. It acts like a squeegee.

5. Open the front roof. Leave rear roof closed.

6. Stand on tongue frame and hose off rear roof, holding the hose over the front of the exposed inside trailer. Use a trigger spray nozzle that doesn't leak. Scrub with push-broom or mop if needed. We've never had an issue with getting water inside.

7. Wash the rest of the rear roof.

8. Dry as in step 4.

It helps that I am over 6' tall. However, my wife does the job too and she is 5'3".....she uses a step stool in places.

[commodor47]

Amy,

I use a telescoping rv wash brush, dual wash bucket (one side to wet the brush, the other side to rinse the brush) soft scrub with bleach, garden hose and step ladder to wash our roof. Wet down the TM roof. Dip the rv wash brush into the wash water, apply a small amount of soft scrub to the bottom of the brush, scrub the roof. A repetitive, circular scrubbing motion is usually enough to remove most dirt and stains. For persistent stains apply a little soft scrub onto a clean, wet rag and scrub the stained area. Rinse the area thoroughly and allow to dry – or towel dry as desired. There were a few instances when it was necessary to wash the roof area a second time. The soft scrub with bleach does a good job cleaning our unit. To make the process a little easier, I will wash the area of roof and sides that end up hidden when the TM is closed down, close down the unit and wash everything else.

Dick

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by commodor47

Amy,

I use a telescoping rv wash brush, dual wash bucket (one side to wet the brush, the other side to rinse the brush) soft scrub with bleach, garden hose and step ladder to wash our roof. Wet down the TM roof. Dip the rv wash brush into the wash water, apply a small amount of soft scrub to the bottom of the brush, scrub the roof. A repetitive, circular scrubbing motion is usually enough to remove most dirt and stains. For persistent stains apply a little soft scrub onto a clean, wet rag and scrub the stained area. Rinse the area thoroughly and allow to dry – or towel dry as desired. There were a few instances when it was necessary to wash the roof area a second time. The soft scrub with bleach does a good job cleaning our unit. To make the process a little easier, I will wash the area of roof and sides that end up hidden when the TM is closed down, close down the unit and wash everything else.

Dick

Bleach and aluminum do not play well together.........

Thank you all! I mopped the whole thing with pine sol and a mop yesterday but I was pretty uncomfortable on the ladder (I'm not short but it is pretty tall when it is open!). My husband eventually came out from his work on the inside to get the parts I couldn't reach and he decided to just hose it all down. Somewhere between the two, it looks pretty decent. I'll look into the other options too! For now, at least it has been very thoroughly cleaned and we are gearing up for our first trip. The previous owners clearly had pets (I found dog hair in the window wells!) but they did a good job of cleaning it up. We scrubbed every surface on the whole TM yesterday and are worn out today! And now we have to fold it up and put it away as we have a major ice storm bearing down on us. SIGH.

-Amy

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by TMMiniVan

Thank you all! I mopped the whole thing with pine sol and a mop yesterday but I was pretty uncomfortable on the ladder (I'm not short but it is pretty tall when it is open!). My husband eventually came out from his work on the inside to get the parts I couldn't reach and he decided to just hose it all down. Somewhere between the two, it looks pretty decent. I'll look into the other options too! For now, at least it has been very thoroughly cleaned and we are gearing up for our first trip. The previous owners clearly had pets (I found dog hair in the window wells!) but they did a good job of cleaning it up. We scrubbed every surface on the whole TM yesterday and are worn out today! And now we have to fold it up and put it away as we have a major ice storm bearing down on us. SIGH.

-Amy

I can't imagine why you would wash the trailer roofs with it open . It's SOOOOOO much harder that way.

When you close the rear roof, there is an area of over-lap (about 12") on the front of the rear roof that you might want to clean before you close the front roof. Just stand on the tongue frame (with your body up under the raised front roof). The rear roof is right in front of you, down low.

Be sure to clean the roof seals real well too. That will keep you from developing a black line on the ceiling of the front roof.

Seriously? I didn't want to get the inside wet while cleaning so I never even considering cleaning it when it was half closed. Fully closed I figured would work but it only gets part of the roof. I will try your idea next time

-Amy

Unlikely to be an issue because the seals work well, but when cleaning the roof raise the front of the TM so the top is not level. That way water will drain off the back rather than be tempted to leak into the trailer.

[Mr. Adventure]

We find that the overlap area doesn't get very dirty, which is a good thing because it's so much easier to clean the outside of the TM when it's folded.

You have to be careful when cleaning the TM in partially opened situations, because water going down the side of the partially open rear roof section can come in contact with the curtains of the rearmost front section windows (we have some white spots on the curtain where a prior owner used bleach on the rear shell exterior!).