Awning cleaner????

[Allen in MT]

What is the best cleaner to get the brown stains off the awnings, Is the store bought stuff from RV dealers any better that dawn dish soap. The slide awnings are the worst after setting a summer in the hills and collecting rain water and pine needles. Yes every once in a while I have to hit the slide buttons to tighten the slide awnings to get the water off, but they still get awful dirty.
Allen

[exav8tr]

Had a Dometic rep give a briefing on cleaning the awnings. 1/4 cup household bleach, 1/4 cup liquid dishwashing soap to 5 gals of water. Spray on awning, liberally, roll up awning for 15 minutes, unroll and rinse awning, (may use soft bristle brush if needed).

[OntMont]

Dometic sales guy suggested using Dawn (or similar). The trick seems to be to get the cleaning solution on to the awning fabric, then roll up the awning wet and let it soak a while (1/2 hour of so), then unroll and rinse. You can unhook the awning support arms at the bottom, and let the awing hang right down against the side of the trailer to get at it better.

[rogue]

One tip to remember. If you use bleach, make sure you are either wearing all white, or old clothes. Don't ask.
Bob

[ols1932]

I've used Dawn dish soap with great results. I'm not sure about the bleach. Seems to me that bleach could cause more problems than it cures.

Orv

[Waynem]

I'm with Phil on this one. Read the same in a manual somewhere.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

quote:Originally posted by exav8tr

Had a Dometic rep give a briefing on cleaning the awnings. 1/4 cup household bleach, 1/4 cup liquid dishwashing soap to 5 gals of water. Spray on awning, liberally, roll up awning for 15 minutes, unroll and rinse awning, (may use soft bristle brush if needed).

Phil is correct. This information came to us directly from Dometic just this past Friday. One addition was the worse the stain the longer you may want to leave the awning rolled up.

OntMont is correct also as that is what Dometic recommended last year.

[Waynem]

p.s., the reason for rolling the awning up is that what you spray on the top will transfer to the underside when you roll it up, so don't let it drip off, just spray it and roll it, ASAP.

Using a spray bottle that mists would help in spraying the underside before rollg it up.

[exav8tr]

A good tool to use to do this would be a garden sprayer, pump type that many of us have, Just make sure it is a clean one and no fertilizer or pesticide residue in it. Or better yet, buy a new one....

BTW The dilution factor of bleach to water, with the above solution, is about 320:1. I would not worry about this small amount of bleach doing anything to the paint or graphics, or your clothes for that matter....

[Lambchop]

Another reason for using some bleach is that it will prevent most of the mildew that forms on the awning.

Instead of using dish soap, I generally use Tide or similar soap.


Roy

[kerry]

A good product that I've found that works good is 4-U. It's good for lots of things from glass to engines. I use it to clean everything around the camper, does a super job. Use it on a lot of things around the house. It is a citric cleaner and will take wax off if you mix it a little strong. Kerry (most RV stores can get it thru their catalog)

[Pete Hanson]

We have had good luck using Tilex to get mildew and stains off the awning. I held my breath at first not knowing if it would damage the material but after quite a number of touch ups on multiple trailers we have not experienced any awning damage. Like using bleach, wear old clothing or be very careful not to get it on your favorite shirt.

[kdeiss]

I use Clorox Clen up spray and yes I have white spots on my jeans it works

[richfaa]

We had a very good seminar on cleaning the awning yesterday. Tilex was mentioned as well as diluted applications of bleach. The down side is the solution can get on the camper side walls and cause stains. Dawn sprayed on the awning then rolled up is still the suggested method. These seminbars are put on by the manufacturers of the various products and I do not understand why we would disregard them.

[TLightning]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

These seminbars are put on by the manufacturers of the various products and I do not understand why we would disregard them.

Because, as evidenced by the threads on weights, many of our members know more than the manufacturers.

[MelsJoy]

Allen,
We used to live in WA state where dirt, pine needles, mold, & mildew are common stains on the awnings. We tried everything to clean it off including the manufacturers instructions, and could never quite get it all off.

A friend suggested we try to use Oxiclean so we did. And wow! It took all of the stains off the inside and outside of the awning with just using a car washing brush and a water hose! That's our story and we have stuck with it ever since. Give it a try, no muss, no fuss. And no bleach to have to deal with. Good luck.

Joy & Mel

[PowellsMonty]

I have always used the Thedford awning cleaner with great an fast results. But if I can use Dawn & water with the same results, I will try it. Hom much Dawn to water?