Most motor home owners know that washing their motor home is a standard part of regular maintenance, but what about detailing? Many make the all-too-common mistake of assuming that motor home detailing is an extra and a luxury. The truth is detailing is a crucial part of motor home maintenance: it can help maintain the quality of your motor home, find potential issues early, and preserve your resale value.
While it’s far easier to hire professional motor home detailers, you can do it yourself. In this article, we’ll offer you five tips for detailing your motor home on your own. A word to the wise before we get started, though: detailing is a delicate job; consider heavily and do your research before diving in.
1) Remove Bugs and Debris from Your Motor Home’s Exterior First
Before you start the detailing process, make sure you thoroughly hose down the entirety of your motor home’s exterior. Make sure all debris (dirt, gravel, etc) and bugs are off the surface. This helps to ensure you don’t scratch up your finish by grinding gravel into the paint.
Pro Tip: If you’re struggling to remove the bugs, try using Pam Non-Stick cooking spray to loosen things up.
2) Clean Leather Before Treating It
Before you treat your leather with your preferred leather cleaner, make sure to remove crumbs, dirt/dust, and loose liquids. You don’t want to grind these substances into the leather, making it even harder to remove them. There are a lot of different fabrics and materials in motor homes so be sure you’re only treating the leather with leather cleaner.
Pro Tip: Sweeping and vacuuming are a good starting point, but you can use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to help remove difficult stains before treating the leather.
3) Removing Smells from the Interior
It’s no surprise that the interior of your motor home gets messier faster than your car; you spend more time there for a longer period and you do more messy activities like eating, cooking, sleeping, and going in and out frequently. Odors can accumulate and you need to actually get rid of them, not just cover them up with air fresheners and candles.
Pro Tip: Put baking soda (a light sprinkling) on carpet and fabric inside your motor home. Leave it over night and vacuum it up in the morning. This will eliminate the odor, rather than just covering it up.
4) Cleaning the Inside of Your Windshield
The inside of your windshield gets little attention on wash days, but it needs to be cleaned regularly too. However, you can’t wash the inside of your windshield the same way you do the outside. Window cleaners can damage your dash, so you want to avoid using those chemicals.
Pro tip: The best cleaning solution for the inside of your windshield is mixing one teaspoon of dish detergent and a few drops of vinegar in a bowl of warm water. It’s safe for your dash and cleans you windshield well!
5) Don’t Miss the Nooks and Crannies
With a space as big as a motor home to detail, it’s easy to let some of the little areas slip your mind. You want to make sure to clean the cup holders, the small crevices on the das, the areas around the seatbelts, in between cushions/mattresses, etc.
Pro Tip: A tooth brush is a great tool for cleaning the dash, the steering wheel, and other small areas around your motor home.
What to Do If DIY Motor Home Detailing Is Too Much
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, motor home detailing can be incredibly difficult. Thanks to businesses like Mobile Detailing Pros, having your motor home detailed can actually be quite affordable and convenient. Mobile Detailing Pros will come to your desired location and professionally detail your motor home at an affordable cost. To make an appointment with your local Mobile Detailing Pros detailers call us or visit our homepage.
