Waxing RV Questions..

[APOTA.]

I need to get a 2008 Beaver Contessa (new to me) prettied up and protected so it last me a little while. Also we have just moved it from Canada into Palm Springs area, and though it is winter months, there is still the sun / heat factor. coach is in very good condition and would like to keep it that way.  Any help would be appreciated.

• How often do you wax the exterior of your RV ?
• Do you do it yourself  / hire a service ?
• If hiring a service , how much do you pay ?
• Do you pay by foot / unit price ?
• What products are best ?

What questions about waxing am I not asking .. ??

 

[Bill R]

Congratulations on the new coach.  Very nice.  
 

My coach is in covered storage most of the time but still gets quite dirty from travel.  I wash about every 2 months myself.  Wash/Wax about every 6 months.  Sometimes myself and sometimes pay, $350 For hand wash and wax.  I don’t have any products to recommend.  I think for our age coaches it really doesn’t matter that much what brand, IMHO.  But not an expert. 

If you are looking to protect the coach while outside in the elements I would focus just as much on the bottom corners of slide outs and the seals, beltline, trim and roof maintenance.  
 

Lots of topics on this forum covering those.  

[Russ R]

Wash & wax myself, unless traveling in bad weather. Then will do a commercial truck wash, like Blue Beacon. Wax twice a year with Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0

[ktloah]

I wash it myself whenever it gets dirty and use F-11 to give it a shine

[Jdw12345]

I too wash ours myself and use Mist n Shine with some lint free towels from CostCo, I use it on the windshield and all the glass, when we hit rain we don’t have to use the wipes much, they also have a Bug Release that i spray on before washing, seems to help.

 

 

[Rikadoo]

Normally i wash mine when it get dirty, however lately i have been using Maguires wax and shine in between washes. The part that mostly gets dirty is from the beltline down, and using the Maguires works great while enjoying a beer at camp.

That said just before my trip out east i paid $18. Per ft for a wash and a compleat wax. The detailer first tried a wax, with the painted area it worked great, yet he spent several hrs trying to use it on the gel coat and failed, it looked like💩, so he resecheduled the next sunday an he an two helpers came back on there own dime and redid the entire coach using a marine polish, best $ i ever spent. 

[grizzly]

On my Sig its an 07,  When I first got it I had a friend strip it and clay it and rewax it. That was 2017 Since then it's only been washed once BUT I use Jay Leno products quick detail and radiant ceramic protection once a year. I may wipe it off one more time during the year with quick detail but that's all I do. Everyone says it looks like it's brand new. That's my 2 cents worth

[jacwjames]

I am in the process of buffing mine out.

On my last trip I was in Black Canyon NP and parked at the visitor center but was taking up auto spots since they didn't have pull through.  A Ranger, who was very rude, said I could park there like that and if I didn't move it I'd get a ticket.  Told me to go to the campground area for overflow parking.  ABSOLUTELY no signs designating where to park AND once you passed a certain point no way to turn around.  I drove into one of the loops but found that the way the road was designed a large RV couldn't get back out because some GENIUS put a barricade partially blocking the entrance.   I drove around the loop and ended up scratching the heck out of the drivers side of my coach.  Luckily another ranger came to my assistance, had to drop the Jeep and he helped get turned around so I could exit.  Really didn't see the scratches until I got home, made me sick.   The drivers side has scratches from above the belt line to above the belt line. 

I had my neighbor who is a "car" guy give me some advice.   He doubted I'd be able to get all the scratches completely out.  I bought a random orbital variable buffer, using it on low speed.  I'm buffing out the scratches using McGuire cutting compound which is getting most of the scratches out.  Worked on it for 5 hours today, one side.  Will go back at it tomorrow.  Once I'm satisfied with the cutting compound I'll go to the fine buffing compound and then a wax. 

Based on my progress today I'm guessing I'll 90% of the scratches out and the rest leaving faint tell tale signs. 

I know I can't get too aggressive or I'll burn through the clear coat and paint. 

Anybody have any tips on what I'm doing, am I going at this the right way??

Fist picture is before I starting bugging the upper portion of the side, the black spots are residue from buffing the middle portion.

The other picture is after I did my first pass of buffing.  I'll go over it again tomorrow on areas I can see faint signs of any scratches

[Guest Ray Davis]

You guys have some beautiful coaches.  Grizzly,  yours takes the cake, it is spectacular.   If I was just a wee bit younger temptation would surly overwhelm me to go find one like yours.  I hope sanity helps me come to my sences and enjoy what I have.  Enjoy it, I know you will.

Jim, it looks like you are doing a good job,  temptation is to go just a little more and that's when you mess up.  That's all you'll see for awhile then you'll get over it, somewhat.  The rest of us will probably never notice.  I have some hickys on mine, made sick at the time but life goes on.  Hey, I consider myself lucky to live in America and own a Monaco.  Life is good.

[djlgnd]

On 11/11/2023 at 1:16 PM, Russ R said:

Wash & wax myself, unless traveling in bad weather. Then will do a commercial truck wash, like Blue Beacon. Wax twice a year with Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0

Your Windsor looks identical to my 2003 Camelot only diff. is your 1 piece windshield

[jacwjames]

So I spent a total of about 10 hours using a random orbital 6" buffer and the McGuiar's cutting compound to try and buff out all the scratches.  I got 90% of them but there are still some that you can see when you look from the right angle.  But I decided to leave well enough alone and gave the rig a good wash today.  Still looks pretty good for a +20 year old rig.  The paint and clear coat has held up well. 

My plan now is to use the McGuiar's polishing compound and then a wax.  

Learned a good lesson though, I bought a larger buffer, which would work great standing on the ground working on a car.  But standing on a tall step ladder and still having to reach way up usually with one arm gets tiring fast.  I've been pooping Aleve every night before I go to bed. 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by jacwjames

[det944]

Looks good 👍

[jacwjames]

8 minutes ago, det944 said:

Looks good 👍

From a distance. 

Backed it into the garage after a little drive and at the right angle you can still see the deep scratches. 

But I still have the polishing step which may help and sure as heck can't hurt. 

If I were in the process of trying to sell I'd be concerned but I've decided to keep my Windsor so I'm trying to make as good as I can and keep it running.  Just turned over the 125K mile mark. 

 

[det944]

I would like to do a Polish and wax on my Dynasty but have a slight amount of checking especially on the darker surfaces. I think polish may get inbedded and enhance the checking so I've put that project on the back burner. 

[jacwjames]

I have checking on the black and dark green.  Not much I can do about it.  I do have a black polish/wax that I've used in the past so I could do that on my last pass.

It is what it is.

[Doug Hoegh]

17 hours ago, jacwjames said:

So I spent a total of about 10 hours using a random orbital 6" buffer and the McGuiar's cutting compound to try and buff out all the scratches.  I got 90% of them but there are still some that you can see when you look from the right angle.  But I decided to leave well enough alone and gave the rig a good wash today.  Still looks pretty good for a +20 year old rig.  The paint and clear coat has held up well. 

My plan now is to use the McGuiar's polishing compound and then a wax.  

Learned a good lesson though, I bought a larger buffer, which would work great standing on the ground working on a car.  But standing on a tall step ladder and still having to reach way up usually with one arm gets tiring fast.  I've been pooping Aleve every night before I go to bed. 

 

 

 

I hope you are popping and not pooping Aleve.  Hehe, just a little Thanksgiving humor.  All the best..

[Chargerman]

I really like Griots products. Their buffing compound has microbes that break down as you use them so only one product is needed for buffing out minor scratches and swirls. I the  use their ceramic wax and their Speedshine for detailing. Only decent pic I have. That’s the former owner of my coach that came over for a visit this past Summer. I bought it from him 9 years ago

[dl_racing427]

4 hours ago, Doug Hoegh said:

 

I hope you are popping and not pooping Aleve.  Hehe, just a little Thanksgiving humor.  All the best..

If you're pooping Aleve, you're taking too much. LMAO

[Paul J A]

Been using https://washwax.com/ on all our vehicles for 20+ years. I applied the ceramic product from them on a vehicle last October, 2022. Still performing great.

[RedSectorA]

This coach probably never got detailed in it's 23 years lifespan.  Anyways I used Manzerma 2400 grit polish with a Meguiars pad to give it a shine without going crazy (I go wild on cars but the surface of that coach is too large to do so) followed by Marine 31 wax made specifically for Gel Coats.  Renders a nice shine and not too hard to apply.  I use Marine 31 wash and wax for it's bath, still applies some wax while washing and specifically made for gel coats.

Edited November 22, 2023 by RedSectorA
can't spell even if my life depends on it

[APOTA.]

Thanks everyone who replied / responded.. All helpful..

Love this forum 🙂 👍 👍 

[zmotorsports]

Personally, I'm a 3M fan and have been for the past 35+ years that I've been painting and polishing show cars, street rods, boats, motorcycles and race cars.  Now on our coaches I generally don't make it a habit of cutting and buffing the paint but several years ago we got caught in one hell of a dust storm just between Goblin Valley and Hanksville, UT.

The sand blowing across the road ended up dulling a few spots due to being sandblasted so upon arriving home I got the orbital polisher out and the medium cut 3M polish with a yellow pad and it worked well enough that I didn't have to go to the coarse compound and white pad.

 

 

It did a really good job bringing the gloss back to the passenger's side.  That is a LOT of real estate so I was thankful I only had to do one side as the sand was blowing across from right to left.  Going up and down the ladder was a pain in the you know what but other than that it was just time consuming.

 

After the polish and yellow pad, I switched over to the 3M Machine Glaze and black foam pad for the final finish.

 

 

 

Once a year, usually after the last trip of the season (Oct/Nov.) I wash the roof with Meguiar's Wash 7 Wax before a full detail of the sides.

 

Than upon returning home from each trip our coach gets a full wash job of the exterior, less the roof, before it gets backed into the shop.  I use deionized water so I generally just hit the brightwork (chrome & stainless) with a chamois afterwards, otherwise the water sheets right off.  

 

However, when I feel like I have a bit more energy or on the last wash of the season before it gets put to bed for the winter I do run over the entire exterior with a chamois before backing it into the shop.

 

 

 

 

 

Tucked away from the elements for the winter.

 

So it looks good and is ready to hit the road as we pull it out of the shop for each trip.  Unfortunately, sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate and we arrive at our destination with it not looking as good as it did when we left home. ☹️

 

I will generally just apply a coat of Meguiar's #21 Sealant about every other year using a DA polisher doing a section at a time. 

 

I really need to get on that this winter so I can keep the ole' girl in tip top shape.  She turns 22-years old in two months.  🤔 

Edited December 5, 2023 by zmotorsports

[jacwjames]

Mike, your coach looks great.

 

Up until ~3 years ago my coach had been stored outside.  Built a 40X50' garage and so now it's under cover and out of the element, wish I could have done that years ago.

This is the first time I am doing a good detailing.  The scratches I had from my last trip had to be addressed as best I could. 

I did find the cutting compound did a good job of getting rid of most of the scratches but in some cases I quit while I was ahead.  The polishing compound did also help.  I did finish off using a spray Turtle Wax ceramic spray which really brought out the shine.

Still not done, have to polish out back half of drivers side, should finish that today.  About 3 hours of up and down on a ladder and handling the buffer is about all I want to do. 

 

[zmotorsports]

3 hours ago, jacwjames said:

Mike, your coach looks great.

 

Up until ~3 years ago my coach had been stored outside.  Built a 40X50' garage and so now it's under cover and out of the element, wish I could have done that years ago.

This is the first time I am doing a good detailing.  The scratches I had from my last trip had to be addressed as best I could. 

I did find the cutting compound did a good job of getting rid of most of the scratches but in some cases I quit while I was ahead.  The polishing compound did also help.  I did finish off using a spray Turtle Wax ceramic spray which really brought out the shine.

Still not done, have to polish out back half of drivers side, should finish that today.  About 3 hours of up and down on a ladder and handling the buffer is about all I want to do. 

 

Thanks Jim.

Being able to keep these things parked indoors when not in use is paramount in keeping them pristine.  We've only been able to keep ours indoors for the past 6-1/2 years now since we built our 50x60x16 shop with RV parking.  The first ten years we owned this coach it sat outside at our old home.  I still kept it very clean and detailed but it was much harder.  Actually, had to wash it twice as often, once when we returned from a vacation and again the night before we left.  So I guess having her inside has cut the washing in half.  🤣

Edited December 5, 2023 by zmotorsports

[det944]

Mike, that coach looks great! I also use 3m products for paint restoration and maintenance on my autos. I've tried some of the newer products but keep coming back to 3m. Haven't done the coach yet, my time is limited so I wash prior to trip departure and upon return.