Nasty Roof

[jrgkfg]

We have been in Minnesota parked under the trees since May 1st. Needless to say the roof and everything up there is black from the sap. Last year the wife and I spent a day on our hands and knees scrubbing by hand to get it clean. It's way worse this year, the sap was really bad and the knees are not what they used to be. I have used a 4 to 1 mix of water and bleach on the awnings and it works really well, I'm wondering if that mixture would hurt the roof? Spic and Span didn't work last year, ended up with Blue Coral car wash, water and a stiff brush. Is there an easier way?

[homeguy]

My wife has used a leach mix since we owned the unit and no ill side effects yet. Knock on wood!

[RomanyLife]

Have you tried "30 seconds cleaner" on the roof/awnings? I feel worried that your 4 to 1 might be a strong bleach ratio! And bleach is good for stains, but it is NOT a detergent. "30 seconds cleaner" has TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) and that is detergent and it has bleach in it too for stains and mildew. It works pretty darn good, and you can dilute it as directed so you won't weaken your fabric and surfaces. We use ours in the pressure washer, and it's miraculous on most things that get pretty ugly being outside all season.

Sap is a bugger, I am not sure how to get that off of there. I know I use acetone on my skin to remove it but that won't work on the roof. There must be SOMETHING that takes it off! We live under big trees too and it's a problem. :-( Hopefully we'll get some good ideas...

[travelin' texans]

Typically we don't like to have someone come wash our rig because in my opinion they use too much bleach which strips all the wax & is hard on the decals if you have any. I have a small electric power washer, a long handle brush, a 1 gallon pump up sprayer & Simple Green. Mix SG concentrate fairly strong in sprayer & after rinsing roof with hose spray heavily with SG mix & let it set 30-45 minutes, mix more in a bucket & scrub with brush, rinse. I use the same method on my awnings except I roll them up after soaking with SG, so far so good & smells better than bleach.

[RomanyLife]

That's true, Simple Green is good stuff.
I am reading some interesting stuff about "Murphy's Oil Soap" being a good tree sap remover. I THINK it would be safe to use since you use it on household wood floors and cabinets which are more fragile than the finish on our coaches. Still reading... Sounds promising tho!

[GA1817]

I just did my nasty roof this past weekend. I used Spic-n-Span as directed by the roof manufacturer. Had to get on my knees with a scrub brush but it worked rather well. My problem is cleaning that stupid awning. That is a whole different story. The price of living in the middle of the woods

I am learning to blow the roof off once a week and clean the roof once a month That RV barn may be coming sooner than I was ready

[RomanyLife]

I would call that an EXCELLENT result! GOOD JOB! Thanks for sharing, SPIC N SPAN it IS!

[Blue Dogs]

Yup, spic n span is what I use, works pretty good and doesn't damage the material.

[Shane Wood]

Originally Posted by homeguy

My wife has used a leach mix since we owned the unit and no ill side effects yet. Knock on wood!

Well you are one lucky guy. I can not get mine to dump the black tank let alone scrub the roof off