What Cleaning Products Should We Use To Clean The Outside Of Our RV?

by Jerri
(Lakewood, CO)

We just purchased a 2007 Allegro Bay and do not know how to take care of the outside. Are there any products one should not use? Ie, 409 to easily remove the bugs.? My other question is, can you apply the clear bra to the front of the coach as they use alcohol products. Thanks

ANSWER Hi Jerri, congratulations on your new RV. Now, let's get to your questions. First as far as the clear RV Bra you are referring to, yes they are safe to use as long as they are classified for use on an RV, there should be no problem having one installed or installing it yourself using one of the available kits.

Formula 409 has different cleaners under the 409 label. They have a degreaser, a mirror and surface cleaner, etc. I am not sure which product you are referring to. If I were you I would read the label on the cleaner itself and see if it is safe to use on a gel coat or Fiberglas surface. Even if states that it is safe, I would first test it on a small out of the way portion of the RV to see how it reacts to your particular finish. Even the color of the exterior of the RV can affect the way some cleaners work. On darker surfaces some cleaners can leave an unattractive residue or increase the color fading process.


If your RV came with an owner's manual, the owner's manual usually has a section on cleaning the exterior and interior of your RV. If your RV does not have an owner's manual, I would get in touch with your local Tiffin RV Dealer and see if you can order one. In most cases you can order an owner's manual through the parts department. It is always good to have an Owner's Manual, not just for the cleaning information, but for all of the other valuable information it provides about your motorhome.

There are tons of great products out there that are designed exclusively for cleaning RVs. In fact we have a lot of great RV Cleaning Products in The Everything About RVing Camping and RVing Accessories Store. When you get to our store just type "RV cleaner" in the search box and you will see that we have some very competitively priced products that we can ship directly to you.

Hopefully this information has been helpful to you. If any of our visitors have any RV cleaning tips or tricks that they would like to share with you, they can do so by clicking on the add a comment link located near the bottom of this page.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

Click here to post comments

Return to Ask an RV Question.

LEARN HOW TO RUN 2 RV A/Cs ON A 30 AMP CONNECTION