RE: White Enclosed Trailer Maintenance

[GLASEM]

Purchased an nice 25" WHITE enclosed trailer to haul my car to the track

When new it was a pain to try and keep those black spots showing
up in the paint. You who own trailers know what I mean.

Sort of let it go the last year or so and it looks terrible.

Any easy suggestions on how to clean the paint on the aluminum panels
to remove the embedded black?

Tried paint cleaners....not much good.

A long time RV owner suggested a bar of Lava soap in a cotton sock and wash it down. Worked OK. Took about 75% of the black marks out.

Anyone try aluminum siding cleaner that one would use on their home? Results?

Open to ideas

[white85carrera]

I used various spray on wheel cleaners and windex, between the two and all the elbow grease I had it came out pretty nice. I had to try a few brands to find the right one....some work better than others. YMMV

[Joe Ricard]

Motorhome Black Streak Remover For Sale

[Jim Bremner]

RV shops have "Black Streak Remover" Spray on wash off.

Wax it when you're done to help prevent it.

[rouxroux]

I've used the "Black Streak Remover" with fairly good results. I also used a very fine abrasive kitchen polish (light scouring powder) called Zud (or Barkeeper's Friend), then followed with a good wash & wax.

[juan ruiz]

I never had any success with any product to remove them, some of them will remove the streak but will leave heavy spot marks from the product, others will simply remove the streak along with the paint, at the end I removed them via a porter cable with an orange pad and a paint cleanser then I applied two coats of polymer liquid wax, and so far she has hold for about 7 months streak free.

Another idea that I have is once they are removed is to spray about 2 inches from the top with clear coat (via spray can), but I'm not sure. How will work with the panels flexing?

[MotoSook]

Perfect timing. My new to me trailer is starting to look pitiful with those streaks!

[Red88Carrera]

Filon/fiberglas sides use black streak remover(wallyworld) and a magic eraser.
Aluminum sides use Awesome(dollar store) and a magic eraser. Effortless!

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by rouxroux

I've used the "Black Streak Remover" with fairly good results. I also used a very fine abrasive kitchen polish (light scouring powder) called Zud (or Barkeeper's Friend), then followed with a good wash & wax.

I used Bon Ami powder and it worked, but you do need to polish and wax afterward.

[GLASEM]

Thanks for all the suggestions
Blackstreak remover never did a good job for the cost

Any one use aluminum cleaner for house siding???

[Red88Carrera]

Originally Posted by GLASEM

Thanks for all the suggestions
Blackstreak remover never did a good job for the cost

Any one use aluminum cleaner for house siding???

Black streak remover will not work alone. If the trailer is filon or fiberglas you need black streak remover and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.
If it is painted aluminum, use Awesome and a Magic Eraser. One wipe with the eraser and the streaks are gone. I've tried bleach, dawn, windex, black streak remover alone, etc. Then I stumbled on this.
How do I know???

[MotoSook]

I recall the PO of my trailer mentioning Simple Green. When I picked up the trailer it looked brand new. Anyone tried that?

[NutmegCarrera]

What about doing a clay job?
I know there are less expensive alternatives to the spray on "lubricant" needed. The Griot's speed shine is nice - but I'm sure there is an alternative to spending that kind of money to cover your square footage. If I understand completely, those marks are surface contamination.

No direct experience here, other than removing the little rust specks that show up on (especially white) vehicles here in WI over the winter.

Good luck.

[juan ruiz]

Clay will not work either you need some source of compound, this is what I did with ours

1. Wash
2. Wash the sides with a safe degresser
3. Using the high speed buffer and an orange foam pad and at times a yellow foam pad with medium compound.
4. Porter Cable with orange pad and pre wax clenser
5. Applied wax by hand removed with a black foam pad x 2

As found



Almost Done


You can see the difference between the last panel and the rest of the trailer, it took 18 hours to get it to this level

[azasadny]

I use a pressure washer, hot water and Krud Kutter...

[GLASEM]

Thanks for all the responses.

Looked at the roof and found it a sheet of un painted galvanized sheet metal.

A lot of galvanized wash off over the years.

Going to go to my local hardware store and purchase some white paint made for going over galvanized metal.

Once that's done....tackle the streaks.

Will keep you informed

[dtw]

Let's try this without starting a new thread: what about black enclosed trailer maintenance? I am hopefully closing a deal on a black Haulmark soon, but it has a few years unmaintained in the NC sun. The black side panels have faded. Is there a way to revive the black finish?

[juan ruiz]

Originally Posted by dtw

Let's try this without starting a new thread: what about black enclosed trailer maintenance? I am hopefully closing a deal on a black Haulmark soon, but it has a few years unmaintained in the NC sun. The black side panels have faded. Is there a way to revive the black finish?

Absolutely, I don't think by hand but with the correct products, buffing machine and foam pads she will look like new again! if you need more help you can PM.

[dtw]

Juan - understood - would love to hear more here in open forum - thanks!

[juan ruiz]

Dave, without getting into many details or complexity,

To accomplish your "New" look will require a little bit of work;

1. First you will have to wash the trailer( pressure washer as suggested will speed the process up) but extreme care should be taken because you can easily damage the surface.

2. After the "Pre Wash" with the pressure washer, you want to wash the trailer with a good car shampoo, as long as is PH7 you will be safe, usually I use a 5 gallon bucket and a soft brush with an EXTENDED retractable handle! you will be glad of that!

3. Depending on the surface condition you will need some source of Pre Wax Cleanser, Pre-Wax cleanser is just as the name implies, to get the surface ready for wax to be applied. Tar spots, some tree saps and various other surface contaminates are usually not taken off by a product that is termed wax only. Your better pre-cleaners have a small amount of abrasive in them, and a lot of the wax/cleaners on the market have a very high content of solvents in them. The wax/cleaners with high solvent content in them need to be avoided.

you can certainly applied it by hand and remove with a Porter Cable and a foam pad.

4. Special care must be taken when operating the Porter Cable, if your trailer is like ours that the panels are riveted together you want to avoid going over the rivets with the foam pad, they will destroy the foam pad immediately.

5. If you have some imperfections like swirl marks or light scratches then a swirl remover will do the trick and you can skip the pre wax, "IF" the swirl remover has similar qualities as your pre wax cleanser.

6. From there you can applied your wax and again you can remove it via porter cable.

Plan on spending around 16-20 man hours, is a very long process to get them back into top shape.

Tool and products that you will need

1. Water hose/pressure washer
2. Shampoo
3. Drying microfiber towels or a shammy
4. Porter Cable XP ( Don't pay more that $120.00 for it)
5. Foam pads-Orange-Yellow and Black with the backing plate
6. Pre Wax Cleanser
7. Swirl Remover
8. Wax
9. Microfiber towels

*if" you want to go all out
1. Spray Wax or Detailer for the interior panels
2.Wheel and tire cleaner
3.Tire dressing
4. Chrome polishing


This is a sample of a "Black Surface fully contaminated with tons of over spray, the process was similar to the one I'm suggesting

As found




Sample area done




and the rest of the car that I skip