Detailing the Motorhome

I've been a busy girl. 

Real busy. 

Real, real busy.

Time for a break! 

This job, I did last Sunday. I detailed the truck part of the Motorhome, which was tough work. I'm sure glad it's done though. Then on Tuesday, I replaced some bulbs on the clearance lights, with the intention of caulking around the covers, but could not get it done. It started to get too late & I was hurting too much. 

I tried again yesterday to do the lights, but could not make it up any ladder. Still hurt too much, leg kept getting cramps & my foot hurt like someone had twisted it backwards. I need to listen to my body. 

BUT I don't have anyone to do these things for me. I don't have an expense account to pay someone to take care of these things for me. 

AND I'm a perfectionist. Which makes myself my own worst enemy, yet, it gets the job done right. Very few service centers pay attention to the stinky little details like I do...so I do it all myself. I probably saved myself a few hundred dollars of work this week anyhow.

So onto the truck part that I did last Sunday. It looks marvelous -- even if I say so myownself!

We'll go step by step & I'll add a video at the end of all that went into detailing the truck. 

Here are my supplies:
See photo below - 
Rubbing Compound because the hood was so covered in caulk, sap, debris, glue (grrrr), & needed to be deoxidized. 
Turtle Wax for the truck part only. The last step in the process. 
A car wash brush on an extended pole. I also have a window squeegie on an extended pole. Both are a MUST!
A rag for the rubbing compound. 
The yellow chamois is to keep moistened to wipe rubbing compound away as I go. 
The blue chamois is to wipe any dust off the places I'm working on before hand. 
I washed the rig the day before, so it was still pretty clean.

Photos below are what I was dealing with. 
Notice all the stuff on the hood. It's caulk, it's sap, it's gray oxidation & two spots were glue :-(  
 From now on, IF I ever have to have the overhead cab worked on again, I will supply a canvas TARP for them to cover the truck with! I swear, it was a real mess. 
Some of it was because it really needed a good deep cleaning, but there's no excuse for the caulk & glue. One spot of glue would not come off, so I had to leave it....

 The rust scrape below is probably from their scaffold. Fortunately, the rubbing compound did a marvelous job of removing it! Whew! Their scaffold is rust colored.

Below, rubbing compound. One thing I was told I did right was that I got Turtle Wax brand. The person that told me shows cars, so he was glad to tell me it was the proper product as it's not as abrasive as some of the other brands. Use it carefully on painted surfaces though. It can scratch & if you go to intensive, you can do some damage to your paint.
I dipped my moistened rag into the compound & worked small areas at a time. 
Then wiped each area as I went along with the damp yellow chamois to keep it from drying on the surface. 
It states not to let it dry onto the painted surface.

Oh & I used the typical kitchen yellow gloves that I bought at the 99 cent store to save my hands & nails.

Then I moved onto the other parts of the painted metal surfaces. I lightly compounded the entire truck part because I soon discovered that cleaning up small spots with the rubbing compound left white spots against the area that needed to be deoxidized anyhow. Be careful when doing this, but you won't be sorry of the end result if you do it right! 
So I compounded it all, wiping it off with my wet chamois as I went along.

OK, now time to wash the truck part again. Need to be sure to get all this comfounded compound off...sorry, I simply could not resist saying that ;-) 

I use the Gel-Gloss heavy duty RV wash & wax soap. I use that on the entire rig, it does a pretty good job. 

Note how much better this hood looks! Smashing! Wait, I'm a little afraid to use that phrase...strike that...outstanding! Wait, that's a little scary too. Well, you get my point. It just looks damn good! 

Note how the water is puddling & not beading though. 

So now to protect the surface, I waxed the truck part! I'll spare you photos of that process. 
Why? 
Because I forgot to take pictures - heehee. But I did capture it on video! 
Why wax since it all looks so shiny & clean? To protect the paint from all that work I just did!

OK, now ElFinished! YAY!!! Collective cheers world wide! Do you hear it? I do. Even if it's in my own head. C'mon. Try. YES, YOU CAN HEAR IT!!!!

Just look at that beautiful hood! YAY!!! 

Just look at that beautiful shiny motorhome! Yay!!!

Ellie enjoyed her day at the spa. So much so, that she requested that I put her bonnet on her to keep her windows clean. She needed to close her eyes for a much needed rest. We girls really do feel better after our spa treatments & must get our rest!

And if you've not been driven to suicidal boredom, there's even a video! But don't blame me if you need mental help after wards. Really. I did warn you....












 

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Washing the motorhome

Today, I washed the motorhome. 

She seriously needed a bath! 

I also had to get up on the roof, lay down on the roof, so I could reach over on the overhead cab area & clean off duct tape reminants. What a job that was! I probably should have gone to the store & got some kind of adhesive remover, but I hadn't showered & just wanted to get this job done!

So I grabbed my tube of Goop, a plastic scraper, a towel & a flat razor blade. It was a job, but I did get it all off! Too bad the RV place didn't do that. They did some, but not all. 

Then I had to wash the RV. I had black streaks, but that black streak remover stuff really didn't work well. 
So I just did the best I could & will work on those again later as the entire RV needs waxing anyhow. 

I'm just not up to that kind of work right now though. I over did it today & could barely walk once done. Foot swelled up on me, making walking painful. I took a shower & took some pain pills & took it easy afterwards. Love my TENS unit, it really helps. (it's an electrotherapy unit that uses electrodes on a stick on patch - feels good for injuries & sore muscles)

Need to get some compound tomorrow so I can get caulk, sap & scrapes from my hood. I guess, their scaffold scraped the truck part of the RV! I swear, I complained to them the last time about scratching the truck, but fortunately, the compound they used took care of it. Why are they so rough? Is it because my RV is older, so they don't care???? Well I do! I know it's not new, but I still want it in the best shape possible! The sap didn't come from there though, but I could not give the RV a good washing until that leak got fixed first. 

Supposed to rain tomorrow. I hope it won't be bad because it would be nice to get some compound & get the hood taken care of. I do push myself too hard, but these things are important to me. I've got to take care of my little house!

Speaking of houses. While on the roof, I looked over the roof on my friends house. I remembered all the maintenance that a house requires. Every so many years, you need new shingles, they need painting, etc. Nah, I'd rather just maintain Ellie instead! Even if I had some land to park her on, I'd still be happy just with RV living! I'd be happy with a nice little deck for outdoor furniture, plants & a little landscaping as a docking station. A little building for a washer & dryer would be nice too.

My puppy dogs would be happy to be let out into a lovely fenced yard each day like that too. Maybe one day....then I could always go on trips & no worries! Just come back when I'd feel like it. Hmmmm, I act like I have a retirement thing going & I don't! Ha! Once I am able to return to work, I'd like to find a job that I'd work here in Texas over the winter season & take off during the grueling summer season. That would be nice. 

I should have treated my tires today, but that's just a simple spray on treatment, so I can do that tomorrow. I debated on if this is ok for the tires or not, then read that for an RV that sits a lot, it's actually a good idea to use the treatment for protection. I also keep them covered when sitting. 

I hope maybe by Wednesday to take her in town to get the generator done. That will be one less thing to worry about then.

The Oscars are on now. I found part of it to be extremely distasteful! That boob song. How awful for those actresses! They were NOT happy with it, nor was I! Very, very distasteful in my book.

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~