How do you clean the roof?

[Billy Casper]

I know it's an embarassing question and i feel a bit daft for asking it, but i've 3m high motorhome with the usual stuff (solar, arial, roof lights etc). I was happily up a step ladder having a go at some of the nooks and crannies and looked at my filthy roof.
I can't climb on it. What do others do?

 

[steve69]

My rooflight is big enough to squeeze the top half of my body through on a short stepladder and I can clean my roof with a long handled brush & soapy water (of course).

 

[fishplug]

I use a pressure washer to 'snow foam' it and let it sit for a while, then hosepipe to rinse, then ladder, bucket sponge, move ladder, and repeat all the way round.

It's a PITA job and one that only gets done on warm sunny days!

 

[Andy Norfolk]

I have a long attachment to my hose. When the water flows it turns the brush, the cleaner is mixed in via a bottle attached.

 

[Happy Jack]

Use wet & forget couple times a year.
I got the kit with spray attachment bottle.
Simple attach to your hose pipe and spray it all over.
Leave it to dry. Roof stays clean.
I get up ladders once a month or a bit more regular to hand clean the solar panels and rooflight domes etc with one of those extension poles with a head which takes microfibre cleaning cloths. Soapy water and sometimes showroom shine.

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[kev54]

I paid someone to do it Not sure he wants to come back though!

 

[PhilMary]

Rain.
( or snow if in Yorkshire)

 

[B+W vanman]

Rain.
( or snow if in Yorkshire)

Why? Is snow cheaper?
Ow much!!?

 

[Just smiffy]

€10 euro gets the whole van cleaned including roof here in Morocco..

 

[royandsharont]

On our old Bessacarr van I could walk on the roof so put ladders, with scafolding foam padding fastened on the verticals legs, up against the awning rail and then climbed up them. Or if I didn’t need to be on the roof I just stood at the top of the ladders and used a long handled water brush to reach the parts.

The PVC roof cannot be climbed in so I do it using a very sturdy set of step ladders and the said brush but because of the. Any channels and fittings up there I have to do it by hand to with an assortment of brushes/tools to clean the gaps.

A pain really compared to the Bessacarr but needs doing and I’m terrible for wanting to do it myself, whilst I can, as it wouldn’t get done as I wanted by paying someone to do it.

I still always wash my car by hand first that very reason

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[Whippet93]

My rooflight is big enough to squeeze the top half of my body through on a short stepladder and I can clean my roof with a long handled brush & soapy water (of course).

Same here

 

[dunnah01]

Either scramble around the roof with a sponge and bucket or use the jet washer off my cherry picker

 

[Bill-H]

I've a telescopic step ladder high enough for me to get on the roof and walk or crawl about to do it after the winter, use an extending brush with a water flow through it off the step ladder if theres just a bit of dirt later in the year, extending flat mop dipped in bucket of soapy water to give the solar panel a quick clean

 

[Branston]

Just finished doing it, luckily not much of porker, ladder with protection of rubbing against bodywork and got on top. On my knees, avoiding pressure washing. Step lightly !

 

[IRHP]

Just move it around

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[MichaelT]

Did mine today. Invented in a tower platform to gain access then a brush and soapy water. Before that it was a platform and ladder combo from lidl.

 

[TerryReis]

Spent all day Saturday/Sunday giving my PVC a very good roof clean. It didn't arrive that clean from the dealer when we bought it. A large set of step ladders that extend beyond the level of the roof and an array of brushes large and small (some attached to poles) to get in all the nooks and crannies. It was clean I was happy. On Monday my neighbour had a garden fire, covered the van and all our cars in ash which then stuck on due the damp atmosphere. Arrggghhhh !

 

[steve69]

Rule No.1: Always wash the roof before you wash the rest of the van.....

 

[Northernraider]

Telescopic ladder , small bucket of soapy water and a sponge ... climb up on roof and wash away .. followed by a good polish and 2 coats of wax. If you wax it well enough it won't need washed very often. Rain will do it.

 

[cyberyacht]

Must be the week for it. Took two hours with a hose brush to clean the winter muck off at the beginning of the week. Then two more sessions with the Autoglym, finishing yesterday. I'm now sat at the keyboard in recovery mode.

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[DDJC]

Fell off a step ladder three years ago when cleaning the mh roof. Busted ribs. Six weeks of sleeping upright. Ow.

Bought a cheap ally 5m platform tower for one fifty. Problem solved.

 

[Sue and Rick]

I know it's an embarassing question and i feel a bit daft for asking it, but i've 3m high motorhome with the usual stuff (solar, arial, roof lights etc). I was happily up a step ladder having a go at some of the nooks and crannies and looked at my filthy roof.
I can't climb on it. What do others do?

Climb on ours

 

[Jev88]

I usually get up there myself with appropriate brushes / scrubbers and cloth etc.... and i'm around 17 stone but that can't be done on all Motorhomes.
I now send my son up there and under careful guidance he is "allowed" to clean the roof for me and not step backwards through a sky light.

 

[Garfields]

First thing invest in decent ladders
This is ours less it's extensions. It has wide adjustable feet
More than one funster has came to great in the past.

 

[gus-lopez]

Climb on ours

ditto +2 friends vans I can do the same.

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[Jewellbags]

Simple hose attached shampoo sprayer , let it soak a bit , step ladder and long brush with hose attachment, do the balance of death all around the outside, rinse then wet and forget . Once / maybe twice a year . Once every two years spend more time on the nooks
and crannies

 

[optimus-prime]

I use a pressure washer to 'snow foam' it and let it sit for a while, then hosepipe to rinse, then ladder, bucket sponge, move ladder, and repeat all the way round.

It's a PITA job and one that only gets done on warm sunny days!

I learned from this forum some time ago that you should not do it on sunny, but on rainy days. Someone said something like work with the weather, not against it…. It stick with me

 

[Oldrat]

A decent steady ladder is a must then and an extending brush, something like this.

I also use a large rectangular mop bucket which the large brush head fits into, but even from the top of the ladder, I can still dip the brush into it to refresh it.

Jet wash off the soap suds to finish, it keeps the solar panels in tip top condition.

 

[The Coops]

As you can't legally send them up chimneys anymore I tend to bribe a young child to go on the roof with a bucket and sponge and leave them stranded up there till done to my satisfaction, failing that a 7 rung step ladder and extendable washing mitt does the trick