Wax, How often and what to use?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Jeff Brown

Jeff Brown

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 23, 2010
Posts
717
Location
So Cal
I just use my rig too much to put a cover on it, so in order to keep it looking nice I'm going to have to wax it pretty regularly I'm thinking.  So, I'm going to try to apply some logic to this and I'm looking for comments on other peoples actual experience. 

My RV is not painted, it is Gel Coated with stickers for stripes.  Standard for a 2002 Bounder.  (Mine is in the blue trim stripes by the way.)
During our summer months (Southern California means May - September) I'm thinking I should wax it every 60 days?  Winter (October - April) every 3-4 months?

I've read about the spray on waxes and I've always used paste waxes.  My dad told me that paste waxes can be hard to rub out of areas where the gel coat is thinner or worn down so on his trailer he uses Nu Finish?  I paste waxed my Pinnacle and it most of the gel coat was gone on that rig and the paste was a bear to get off! 

Thanks in advance for everyone's cordial opinions!

Jeff
 
We have an article on Maintaining the new look of your RV in our forum library (click the Library button above).

If it truly is gel coat, then here in CA a good carnuba paste wax is the way to go, and every 6 months should be fine. OTOH there are some good liquid products that contain carnuba, and they're easier to apply and buff (by hand), but they'll need more frequent application.

Be careful using a power buffer, especially if the wax contains any abrasive. As you've already found, the gel coat is quite thin. Even if there's no abrasive in the wax, power buffing can burn the gel coat if you're not careful.
 
I do mine twice a year, using Protect-All (a synthetic, not carnuba). This one is painted, but the previous one was fiberglass with decals, like yours.  Seems to do fine in the Florida sun and elsewhere.With regular polishing, yout coach should stay great looking for years, except for the decals. Not much can help them - they dry out and fade in the sun after several years.  Getting wax on them can actually be counter-productive.
 
Tom,
I had read the article on "Maintaining Gel Coat Finishes" by Tom Jones but I missed the "... New Look" article.  Either way the information provided isn't exactly what I was looking for, more of a what do you guys use than a what does 1 guy use perspective.  I try very hard to hit the library before asking a forum question.

Gary,
I pulled the following quote from the Protect All Protect All Polish, Wax & Treatment website (http://www.protectall.com/palong.aspx).
"Produced by the wax palm tree in South America, carnauba is the hardest wax known to man. Although there are other ingredients in Protect All that provide the user with many unique benefits, the quality of carnauba wax incorporated into the formula is largely responsible for providing durable protection and a deep natural showroom shine." 
How hard is Protect-All to apply?

Jeff
 
Turtle Wax spray on, easy (well not easy but doable) and has served us well through three units, they have always looked great to us and shine.  Just my $.02
 
Understood Jeff, and I added my suggestions in my prior response in addition to pointing to the library article.

Gary's RV in FL is under cover of trees, so I'm not sure how representative that is. I have a large uncovered boat with gel coat here in Northern CA. Carnuba paste wax is a lot of work, but it's good for 6 months in the summer. I've done quite a bit of the waxing myself, in addition to paying "pros"; They and I have tried various products over the years, but nothing beats carnuba paste wax.

An easier option for you would be one of the liquid waxes containing carnuba. However, they don't last as long as the heavy paste. But, even if you have to apply them twice as often, it's still a lot less work than the heavy paste wax.

Our RV has full body paint, and I use Turtle Wax spray liquid wax for that; Apply it once or maybe twice a years. But, if I used Turtle Wax on the boats with gel coat, it would be good for a few weeks.

My aluminum fishing boat gets none of the above  ;D
 
Protect-all is easy.  It can be applied to everything; glass, paint, gel coat, black trim,etc.  Spray on, spread with towel, and wipe dry.  Comes in trigger spray or aerosol.  I like it.
 
Rays RV where I store my rig is a dealer for Protect all, so I guess I'll give that a shot first.  The theme of the articles seems to be the easier the application the more often you are going to ne applying it!  I'd like to hear Gary's thoughts about that in relation to Protect all.

Does the statement about less work equaling more frequent applications ring true to you guys and gals as well?
 
[quote author=jeffbrown]Does the statement about less work equaling more frequent applications ring true to you guys and gals as well?[/quote]

Here's a discussion started by the owner of Protect All, where he repeatedly says yes, frequent applications are needed. I tried to play devil's advocate in the discussion, although some folks misinterpreted what I was doing. Bottom line, the answer is still yes.

You could also use the Search button above and search separately for "Protect All", "Protect-All" and "Protectall". You'll find lots of prior discussions on the product.
 
No buffing with Protect-all, or other synthetic "protection" finishes either. Just wipe off the haze. A soft t-shirt or microfiber cloth works great.

Protect-all recommends every three months, but I never found that necessary.  I do a thorough job in the spring and another in late summer and that seems adequate for our purposes. Same for Rv and car.  Your mileage may vary.

A carnuba wax product holds up better in severe environments such as salt spray (boats), acid rain, blowing sand, etc.
 
I just did a hand buff. The NXT stuff came off easily, but with a motor home there sure was alot of it.  :p
 
Just to complicate matters a bit, what about the roof?  Mine doesn't appear to be rubber, but it seems to be something different than the sides of the rig?  How should I be caring for that?  What do you guys use?

Tom,
Thanks for the link to the other thread it was actually very informative.  It is enlightening to think that people spend so much more time caring for what is to most of us a considerably less valuable investment (their car) than they do for a motor home. 

Jeff Brown
 
Jeff, I consciously do nothing to the roof except wash it. I really don't want to slip when I'm up there, and I'm less concerned about the aesthetics of the roof.

BTW on our boat, I hand polish, not machine, but, it consistently takes me 21 days using carnuba paste. My bod can't continue doing this so, going forward, I'll be using one of the liquid waxes containing carnuba - much quicker to apply and polish even if it has to be done more often, or hire the pros. Most local boat detailing pros use a liquid wax containing carnuba, but will use paste if I specify (and pay extra). In any event, I'll continue to use carnuba, even though we have no salt or sand within 100 miles of where we live and boat. 25 years of waxing/polishing boats in this area has shown that nothing else compares for gel coat in the brutal northern California sun.

My neighbor complains about the time and effort every time he applies a spray polish to his coach. I always tell him I'll polish his coach if he'll wax our boat  ;D  It usually takes me 1-2 days to polish our coach with Turtle Wax, and it gets done once or twice a year. In between, all it gets is the occasional wash with ZipWax car wash and water.
 
Just a quick follow-up; I couldn't recall the name of this company/product until I looked around in my garage.

Most of the gel coat detailing pros in this area use this product; It's a liquid polish containing carnuba and contains no abrasives. Relatively easy on/easy off (compared with carnuba heavy paste wax). 3M makes a similar product which I've used quite a bit, but it's more expensive. The 3M product is available at marine stores, but WalMart usually sells it for less. If choosing 3M, be aware that they have several different versions, including no abrasives, light abrasives, and heavy abrasives; The choice depends on whether the surface of the gel coat is oxidized and how badly it's oxidized.
 
What about Mop and Glo? Someone mentioned using that a while back?

Is that a big mistake?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 975 (members: 25, guests: 950)

Forum statistics

Threads
132,141
Posts
1,390,951
Members
137,860
Latest member
GeeRob
Back
Top Bottom