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RV Rubber Roof Maintenance

Click to see What's New at RVeCafe According to the manuals you should clean your rubber roof once each quarter. I doubt that anyone does it that often, it's so much work. Perhaps it was promoted by the makers of the cleaner although according to the cleaning seminar I went to, there is no need for the cleaners. I already own Clean the roof four times each year
  Using a brush with Thetford Rubber Roof Cleaner
the Thetford Rubber Roof Cleaner iconso plan to use that up before switching to the suggestion of Mary Findley. The Rubber Roof Brush with aluminum handle works well for this job. The handle is sturdy enough you can apply pressure without the worry of breaking the handle. This is my second time this year (August, 2005) to clean the roof and it needs it as you can see in the photo below. I would like for this rubber roof to last a long time so I'll clean it again later this fall.
Can  you see the difference?
Trying a new product June 24, 2006: This weekend was a time for roof maintenance again. I followed the proceedure I outlined last year (above) but added some additional steps. First, this is about the 4th or 5th time I've cleaned the roof in the 1.5 years I've owned this trailer so the roof didn't look nearly as badly as it did the first time (above) but it still needed a good cleaning. After the Thetford cleaner, I used Protect All Rubber Roof Cleaner and was surprised at the additional amount of dirt and chalk which was removed. I followed this double cleaning with Protect All Rubber Roof Treatment which is advertised
to seal and protect the roof. I learned of the Protect All products at the Spring Escapade where they were one of the sponsors. I'll admit this photo does not look like much fun ... on hands and knees, spreading the treatment. The directions say to use a sponge mop to spread the treatment but I didn't have a sponge mop. I could choose to postpone the project, drive down the mountain to get a mop or use what I had. I chose to complete the project with what I had. The treatment left the roof with a glossy finish which gave me the feeling that it might really work. My plan is to sweep off the roof in a couple of months and apply another coat before winter.
August 3, 2007: This is the first time for cleaning the roof of the Cameo. I found the instructions for cleaning the roof which calls for Murphy's Oil Soap. That was a surprise but I happened to have some on hand. The soap seemed to work OK but it's not a "miracle soap". The water I used to spray off the clean roof beaded up after the Murphy's Oil Soap treatment, that seems a good thing. I'll try it again before winter. First roof cleaning for the Cameo
08 roof maintenance August 24, 2008: It's that time of year, I'm on the roof cleaning and scrubbing. In the photo, I'm actually cleaning the roof edges. Those need to be done by hand with a scrub brush. The larger portion of the roof is done with a brush on a long handle, pictured above. Camping at Howard Prairie put lots of pine needles and debris onto the roof. This clogs the rain gutters on both sides of the trailer and it must be cleared.
 
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