Grey Streaking

[George Glovier]

Does anyone have a good way to clean the grey streaking on a painted aluminum trailer?

[M K Wilkie]

Thanks for the report on the cleaner wax. What kind of buffer did you use? Did it require a lot of the cleaner wax products?

Thanks in advance.

Paul and Marilyn

[CH Smith]

Used the cleaner wax on our '85 Mallard with a buffer. Cleaned and shined at the same time.

[M K Wilkie]

We bought some Maguire’s Cleaner Wax after someone suggested it. We haven’t had a chance to try it because it turned cold fast up here. Will report on the results once it warms up. Our rig looks terrible! 1996 aluminum sided Shasta.

[George Glovier]

Thanks Rich, I haven't used 409 in many years, I'll try it out.

[Rich Thomas]

I used 409 spray cleaner on my palace George, I rinsed it immediately because the rag had chalky residue on it after cleaning. I posted this once before but it never showed up, so if this is redundant, I apologize.  You might try it on a small inconspicuous area first to make sure it won't harm your paint. The Palace is 40 years old so its hard to say what the paint difference's may be and I wouldn't want to recommend something that would harm your paint so please try it with caution if you choose to use it.

[George Glovier]

I haven't had any luck with bleach on grey streaks on aluminum. Some people recommend a dollar store cleaner call Awesome. I tried that and it removed some of the streaking and also some of the paint! I have used Camco grey streak remover with fair results, not great. The Camco product works fantastic on the front cap of a Fifth Wheel, not so good on white aluminum.

[Drew]

If you use the bleach trick make sure to rinse it very well once the streaks have disolved. If the 50/50 mix isn't strong enough you can use straight bleach but I wouldn't leave it on more than 60 seconds or so before rinsing. On stubborn spots use a scrub brush in conjunction with the bleach. The streaks will turn brown then vanish.

I've used this trick several times once on an entire trailer. The worst of it is waxing and buffing to get the shine back.

[Drew]

You can spray it with a 50/50 mix of clorox and water. It will remove the streaks but will also strip the wax from the paint. You will have to re wax any areas that you use this on.  Another option is to use rubbing compound, again you will have to apply wax after the streaks are gone.