RV Rubber Roof Cleaner - 1 Gallon Jug

Video Transcript for BEST RV Rubber Roof Cleaner Review

Shane: Hi everyone. Shane here with etrailer.com. Today I have three cleaning products and we're going to be testing them against each other on this RV roof behind me. They're all three going to work for synthetic rubber roofs and natural rubber roofs. One thing when we clean our roofs, we want to make sure we're doing it every two to three years, because what happens with a rubber roof if we don't clean it and condition it, the sun beating it down, it gets hard and it starts to break apart. When it starts to break apart, creates weak spots.

If it tears, now you have water getting into the inside of your camper or maybe ruining all the wood on the top and it's going to cause a lot of issues down the line.So, what we want to do for you, is we're going to test these products against each other and let you know which one works the best. Here we have the Best it's called the Best Rubber Roof Cleaner. This is Alpha and this is going to be Valterra. Now, I've used Valterra, I have not used these two yet. With the Valterra, it is designed just for your rubber roofs.

With the Alpha, it is going to be for rubber. It's going to work on glass. It's going to work on metal and painted surfaces. With the Best, it's going to work on your rubber roof, it's going to work on your rubber trim and also bumpers.The Best is going to come in a 48 ounce or one gallon. It's going to be a non-petroleum base.

It's going to have UV blocker in it. The Alpha is just going to come in the 22 ounce bottle. So it's going to be more for your spot cleaning. With the Valterra, it's going to come either in a 32 ounce or a 64 ounce bottle. With the Valterra and the Best they do need to be diluted so you just want to make sure you follow the directions for diluting it properly.

With the Alpha, this one really doesn't give us a whole lot of information on how to use it. It doesn't tell us if it needs to be diluted, when you put it on a spot if you need to rub it down or if you leave it to sit, anything like that. So it kind of leaves you up in the air on exactly how to use it and the best way to use it.With these two for the rubber roof, these are not only going to be cleaners, but they're also going to be conditioners. So they're going to work great for your rubber roofs. That being said, the Alpha will also work on rubber but again, it only comes in this bottle so it's going to be more of a spot cleaning rather than something you're going to use. You're not going to use just this one bottle to clean your whole roof. Now that we've taken a look at the different ones, let's go ahead up on the roof and test them out against each other.I've got three of the buckets here with each product in. I got the same amount in each one. What we're going to do is we're going to go up to the front of the RV and we're going to clean a three by three section with each one and see which one comes out better. So I'm going to start with the Best. I'm going to do it over here on this front right corner. You want to make sure when you do this, you either apply it with a soft broom or a mop. I'm actually going to use, this is a soft bristle brush for cleaning the side of your car, side of your RV or something like that so we know it's not going to damage your roof.When we're doing this, you want to rinse off your area first, rinse off any loose dirt or anything like that. We going to make sure also that when you put it in your bucket, you mix it well. Mix it well with the water. Once you have it mixed, when you go to apply it, you want to make sure it's not going to dry on the top. So when you let it sit there, make sure it doesn't dry. Now we'll just brush it on. Now, it's really ideal in any time you're cleaning a roof like this with products, to do it in a shaded area. I really don't have that option here so we're going to do the best we can. Again, we want to make sure that it's not going to dry on there. Now I'm barely rubbing on this. Even though I did clean this about two years ago, I'm barely applying this on there with this brush. So it seems like it's working pretty good with getting the stuff off. Getting the black spots off and stuff like that.So far, I think it's doing what it's meant to do. So now before this dries, we let it sit on there for a second. We scrubbed it down. We're going to go ahead and rinse it off. With the Best it does state to make sure you rinse it off the sides well because it will leave streaks. So you can see the square that we did there. Now there's still a little bit of black in there. Along the edges you can see some black, so it may have to be done again. But overall I think it worked out pretty good. It looks like it cleaned it pretty well.Now here in the center, we're going to do the Alpha. Again, there weren't any instructions on how to mix it or dilute it so I'm venturing to say that it's probably more of a spot cleaner. We went ahead to be consistent and mix it the same as we did the other ones. So we're going to see how it does.(silence)I can tell you already this one does not seem to be doing as well as the other. This one, I got to put a little bit more into it. Now, again, that could be because it's diluted.(silence)I'm going to go ahead and rinse that one off.(silence)You can see this one, the Alpha, didn't quite do as much as the Best product did but it seemed like it did pretty good. It seemed like I had to push a little bit harder with the brush. I did scrub that one a little bit longer than I did the Best product. So, with the Alpha, you may have to put a little bit more work into it to get the look that you want. And last we're going to be testing out the Valterra. Again, this is going to be just a rubber roof cleaner and conditioner, while the other two or at least the Best is a roof conditioner and cleaner along with being able to use it on other surfaces.(silence)This one seems to be doing about what the Alpha did. It's taken a little bit more to clean. A little more to get the stuff off. I'll go ahead and rinse it. And again, with the Valterra and the Best you're going to make sure when you rinse it off, don't let it dry on the roof. I wouldn't let any product dry on the roof. Let it dry and then make sure you rinse the sides of the RV or camper to make sure that product doesn't dry on it.Now let's go ahead and take a look at the three side-by-side this side. This side we did the Best, here in the middle we did the Alpha, on the left side we did the Valterra. As I mentioned, I cleaned this roof before with the Valterra. When I did it the first time, I did have to do a little bit of scrubbing but it did come off. Now that we've tested out each of the products, let's talk to the rest of our team members who may not have as much hands-on experience with them and see if they have any other questions that we might be able to answer for you. I know that residue was kind of a common sort of precaution that we want to avoid any time you're working with these types of cleaners. So, if there was any kind of residue leaving behind, I can find that being a pretty obvious negative. So hearing that one left, I guess, the least residue, I think that would be a pretty good contender for one of the better ones. Shane: I don't know if which really left the least amount of residue as far as on the side. But once you're done with cleaning the roof, you want to obviously come down and wash the sides and not let the product dry on its own. So inaudible 00:09:07 actually it took us a little while to inaudible 00:09:13 and do three patches and then leave it like that. So I had to clean the whole roof. I haven't tested to see. This one actually tells you once you're done doing the roof to clean the side or wash and wax the side of it. So if it he does have residue or streaks, they're probably going to come off. With this one, it doesn't really say. It just says to make sure you rinse it thoroughly. I would assume that it's going to do the same but we are actually going to be testing that also when we do the comparison for the washing and waxes between a couple of other products. Speaker 3: Did you test the middle one You said it can be used on glass and metal surfaces too. Did you try it on any of those just to see how it worksShane: I have not yet. Speaker 3: Okay. I just find it hard to believe that rubber roof cleaner can clean glass. That's kind of, I don't know. Shane: Yeah, I think it's probably a little diluted crosstalk 00:10:16Speaker 3: Yeah. Shane: So, I think point to have as much chemical in it as these two. So I think that's where they get away with being able to use it like on your painted surfaces and stuff. Yeah. I was kind of curious because I know that all purpose cleaners, I guess from my experience, tend to be a little less effective when you're working on a specific surface. So something that's designed for a specific surface would probably be the better choice. When someone is looking for a type of cleaner, usually if it's for a specific surface, it tends to be a better result. Is that kind of something that you came acrossShane: Yeah, because it's going to be designed for specifically for that purpose. Like these two they're designed for cleaning and conditioning rubber roofs. This one is going to be more for your spot cleaning for your smaller areas. If you have a rubber trim or something like that, then you can spray this on there and wipe it off with a rag, this is probably going to be the better option because it's a little surface. Obviously using this type of bottle, you don't want to mix it in a spray bottle and then spray it on there and that's paying the buck, when you can just take this one and spray it on there and use it. This one comes in the spray bottle but again, this is not for your rubber roofs. They don't say anything about being able to use it on anything else. You find a spot on your roof or along the edge that you want to scrub down, you can spray this directly on there, scrub it down. You just want to make sure you rinse it well. Speaker 3: So when you we're cleaning the roof with the bottled one, so you're not spraying on, you don't dilute it at all You just pour it on and then scrubShane: I diluted all of them the same to be consistent. Speaker 3: Okay. Shane: This one says 12 to 16 ounces per one gallon of water. I didn't want to waste 12 to 16 ounces and use a whole gallon of water so I used a spray bottle and I put five ounces in to a little, small bucket. And I did the same thing with each of them and tested them against each other. Same amount of water, same amount of product. Speaker 3: So once you're actually up there scrubbing, you're really just using a bucket and sponge or brush or whateverShane: Yeah. Speaker 3: I'm just curious. And this might be a really stupid question, but I see rubber and I think rubber. So what's the difference between rubber roof cleaner and. Can you use it on your tires just as an exampleShane: Your rubber roofs are going to be a little bit different. And there's two types of rubber roofs, you have a natural rubber roof and you have a synthetic rubber roof. Synthetic rubber, most people aren't going to know what they have because on the top surface they feel the same. But only way they're going to know if they have a regular rubber or a synthetic rubber is if they have a spot and they flip it over, if the backside's black it's synthetic. If it's white, it's going to be natural rubber. Usually tire rubber is manufactured. So it's not something that. What I mean by manufactured is, it is put in through a machine. Speaker 3: Yeah. Cobbled together. Shane: Yes. Obviously you're not going to get a natural rubber roof that's going to come out looking like that, you just laid on. It's spread out in a manufacturing plant and stretched or however they do it. I don't know how they do it for sure. But on your tires, your tires are going to be a much different rubber than your rooftops. Speaker 3: Do you think it just wouldn't get them clean or do you think it might even degrade the rubber of your tires or stainShane: I don't know for sure. I don't know why it would, because if it works for the rubber roof, the rubber roof is a lot thinner. Speaker 3: Yes. Shane: I don't know why it wouldn't work on your wheels or on your tires. I'm sorry. But I haven't tried so I don't know for sure. It's really hard to say that it's going to work on other things it's not designed to work on, without actually talking to someone who actually made the product. You know what I'm sayingSpeaker 3: No, I was just curious. Honestly, we have plenty of other tire cleaners and dressings. I just, like I said, see rubber and wonder what makes a rubber roof different from any other rubber. Shane: Yeah. You probably can use it on a tire. I don't know why you can't, but it's probably not going to clean as much you probably would want it to. Speaker 3: Yeah. Shane: You'll probably use a lot more of the product than what you want. You'd be better to go with a cleaner for a tire that's designed for it so it actually gets deep into that rubber. Speaker 3: Yeah. That makes sense. So not having cleaned a roof of any kind before, how long does that take you You're just up there scrubbing away or does it cut through grime pretty quickly and you just kind of have to wipe it off and rinse itShane: So, it does. The first time I did it with this, they had never cleaned it. They weren't aware that it needed to be which most people are not. Most people that get campers or RVs or whatever Reus, are not told by manufacturers, they're not told by places they buy it from, that with a rubber roof it needs to be cleaned and conditioned every two to three years. If they don't, the rubber starts to break down. They can start breaking apart and you can take your finger and you can rub it across it and it'll actually flake off. When it does that, it starts getting thin. Again, most places aren't going to tell you that. So cleaning the roof, if you've never done it, it's obviously going to take a little bit longer because some of the stuff is embedded in the force. It may take a little bit more scrubbing or maybe doing it more than once. When I did it the first time with this, it took me a few hours. Speaker 3: Okay. Shane: But when I did with this today, would you say hour and a half to two hours JohnJohn: Yeah, I would say, I mean crosstalk 00:17:01Shane: It went pretty quick. John: I mean, and that's including the water break you took too. Shane: Yeah. I actually got down and got a drink at about three quarters of the way through. Speaker 3: Okay. Shane: So it really depends. Most of the time you're not up on your roof. So some people may not be real picky about it. Some people may be really picky about it. They may clean off a roof and then see some more black streaks like some light shrieking and then go back up and hit those spots again. And as far as time, it's all going to be determined by the person. Speaker 3: Okay. Shane: I'd say average couple hours, probably. When you we're actually scrubbing it, do you happen to have the tool that you we're using to scrubShane: Yeah. I just use a regular brush. You can use a broom or a mop to apply it. This just a carwash brush. I think when I cleaned it the first time, when it was a little bit dirtier, I used more of a tire brush. Some that has a little bit stiffer bristles on it. I mean that car brush right there works fine. As long as you keep up with it, a soft brush like that will work every time. If you make it a habit to get up and do it every two years, it's not allowing your roof to get as bad as if you hadn't done it for several years. So you get out there and do it every two years, make a habit of it, the cleaning process each time after your first time, is going to be a lot faster. Speaker 3: If you cover your RV, would that cut down on how often you would need to clean the roof Or really it's just go with two years anywayShane: Yeah. So if you cover it, you're not letting the sun beat down on it. I would still condition it because the heat is still on. Are you talking about a cover that you just put over it or are you talking about it actually being parked underneath the metal coversSpeaker 3: I was meaning, yeah, a cover that you would put over the top of it. But either, I guess, however you're storing it. Shane: Actually, if you store it under either one, I will still suggest conditioning the rooftop because when you're out, you're taking it out of your storage, you uncover it and you're taking it out camping or on a trip, the sun's beating down on it. So, it's drying out the rubber top. You keep conditioning, it cuts down on how much that rubber material dries out. I think in the first video I did, I kind of put it in a way, it's like putting lotion on your skin. In the winter time or summertime, when your skin dries out, if it starts flaking, you put lotion on it. You're conditioning your skin. If you don't put it on there, it's going to keep flaking. Then it's going to start getting red and it's going to start hurting. You lotion on it, it stays moist and you don't have that issue. Doing the rubber roof is going to be along the same lines. As long as you keep it conditioned, you don't have the sun breaking down the material. Now, this is kind of maybe a silly question, but when you're up there on the roof where there's a lot of different kinds of stains, was there just road debris was there, bird bombs or something Was there a lot of different kinds of grime that one was easier to clean than the otherShane: You don't really see a whole lot of road grime up there. You've all seen bird dropping, stuff like that. The hardest thing to clean is where your air conditioners are. crosstalk 00:21:17 when the air conditioner is on, it obviously drains water. When that water runs down the side of your roof and then down the side of your camper or RV. Well that black streak gets pretty black and it kind of embeds in there. Those parts are a little bit harder to clean. Those may take a couple of applications if you're that worried about it, when you're cleaning it to get it completely cleaned off. I see. Yeah. That makes sense. When you we're cleaning that specific kind of stain, one was one of the products a little bit better at cleaning that specifically than the otherShane: So, I did not try the three in one of the dark spots. I tried it, at the front of the RV where it's the open roof. I did sections and left a black mark in between each one so you could see them separate. I scrubbed them the same amount of time. And that's where I want to see what it was going to do. If this one is doing better on just a plain area, then it's going to work better for your black streaks. Okay. Speaker 3: Makes sense. I guess my thought anyway, I would expect the Best to have been the best just because that's what they do. They specialize in cleaners. Valterra and Alpha, they do everything so it's like, let's come out with a cleaner for this stuff but I don't know if they're necessarily creating them the same. Shane: Yeah. That sounds-Shane: Go ahead. Just going to say, it's interesting that the Best cleaner was inaudible 00:23:14 best because it was so specialized, because they focus on specific parts of the RV they clean. I think that's pretty interesting. Shane: Yeah. Now what I haven't tried is, with this being in a spray bottle and this being a spray bottle, I haven't tried spraying this on the black marks that come down from the air conditioner, then actually getting a small brush and actually scrubbing it by hand. I guess it would be like any cleaning products. If you get up there and scrub long enough, it's going to come off. But our whole goal is to spend the least amount of time on the roof as you can. crosstalk 00:24:01 clean it, get it as clean as we can and get down. Speaker 3: Yeah. Shane: We want to use the least amount of effort. At least I inaudible 00:24:09Speaker 3: Which is why it seems strange that it would come in spray bottles. I mean, I see a spray bottle and I think touch up. Shane: So the Valterra also comes in a 64 ounce bottle. Speaker 3: Okay. Cool. Shane: So this one obviously is going to be more for your spot cleaning also. But this one comes in a 64 ounce bottle, which I used. Did the video on this roof two years ago with. This one comes in a 48 ounce and a one gallon jug. Now we've tested each one of these against each other. You've seen what each one does. Out of my professional opinion, I would pick the Best. This one, it seems like we had a lot less scrubbing we had to do, a lot less effort we had to put in, a lot less time up on the roof. I hope this has helped make your decision a little bit easier on picking the best roof cleaning product..