Home on Wheels – Motorhome Blog
Our 2 year old motorhome looks like new today, because I have found the perfect way to wash a motorhome.
I have found it very difficult to properly wash our motorhome. The main problem is getting access to the roof.
I have known for a few months that our motorhome roof needs attention due to the fact that it has somehow accumulated a layer of grime on it. Despite going through several torrential downpours on our recent trip to France the grime on the roof has stubbornly refused to improve.
It was when I looked down on our motorhome roof whilst we were on the Royan ferry crossing the Gironde, and felt embarrassed when I saw how bad the grime was, that I was then on a mission to clean it, although this was to turn out to be a harder job than I expected.
I had seen several motorhome car washes on our travels through France but never used one. These are car washes that have a high gantry so that you can access the roof. So, when I eventually found one near Archachon I was hopeful that at long last I could clean our motorhome roof.
After spending half an hour though messing about with long soapy brushes and using a power washer very gently I was disappointed that I had only made a small impression on the grime that was up there, and got soaked by water in the process. I needed to get onto the roof and tackle the problem when I got home so I could put some serious elbow grease in!
I knew that my daughter had some ladders and as we were calling at her house on the way back from the Dover ferry I was confident that this would be the answer to the problem of accessing the motorhome roof.
Ladders were soon out upon our arrival and I filled a bucket with soapy water and climbed the ladder, soapy brush in hand. Our motorhome is 2.8 metres high and I am not scared of heights, but perched on the top rung of a ladder, precariously balanced, and trying to use a long handled brush is no fun!
I soon realised that my DIY attempt at cleaning a motorhome roof was doomed to failure. Firstly, I needed a hose pipe to wash the soap off the roof and secondly I needed to climb onto the roof itself, with all the tools I needed if I was to do a proper job. In fact, I realised that I would need a toothbrush to be able to clean the dirt from all the nooks and crannies. There was no way that I was going to climb onto that roof, because there was a big risk I would end up falling from a great height! Drastic action was needed.
I have seen on the Facebook motorhome forums that many owners manage to clean their motorhome roofs but I decided I needed a professional to do a proper job. I posted a request on Facebook for a recommended motorhome cleaner in the north-west and within 10 minutes I had received a recommendation and had soon sent an email asking for a price and a free date. £85 and next Sunday came the reply so I booked Mike at Top2Tow caravan wash, and he turned up on time as agreed at 8.30am.
Six hours later I had a pristine motorhome and, most importantly, an immaculate roof. Mike had all the right equipment, had no trouble climbing on the roof and took pride in his work. He did a fantastic job and, climbing his ladders to look on the newly cleaned roof, I descended that ladder a happy man!
The moral of this story is that professionals do a better job. A toothbrush was even used in those difficult to access areas and he had far better equipment than I could hope to have.
Here are some more photos of our newly cleaned motorhome. It was money well spent.
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