[VAL] Washing

["Brian Jenkins" <jenkins1924@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello all,

To clean and even out the skin color of your Airstream, you might try 
something that Spartan owners (including myself) have tried. Pick up a 
couple of bottles of Eagle One Etching Mag Wheel Cleaner at your auto parts 
store. Make sure it's the "etching" cleaner. Add one bottle to a bucket with 
about two gallons of soapy water and use this solution to clean the trailer. 
Keep the solution on the trailer for about five minutes, adding more to keep 
it from drying, then rinse. Keep going around the trailer, doing a few feet 
at a time. You should be able to see the color of the trailer lighten and 
even out as the etching agent works. Make sure you rinse well.

Some people believe that an etching cleaner isn't good for the rivets, but 
I've had no problems with this method. I think that most people make the 
mistake of using the etching cleaner full strength. I find that by diluting 
it, the results are much more even and controllable.

If you are concerned about the long term effects of the etching cleaner on 
the rivets, dissolve a box of baking soda in a couple of gallons of water 
and rinse the trailer with this to neutralize any remaining traces of the 
cleaner, then give it a good long final rinse.

Of course, all of the above will only work if the clearcoat has been 
removed. Also, don't use this method on a polished trailer. However, it is a 
good pre-polish treatment.

Brian Jenkins