After owning our travel trailer for three years, our awning started looking pretty dirty. So we decided to figure out the best way to clean up the awning. We wanted to not only get it looking nice again, but we also wanted to have a plan so it didn’t get so dirty in the future. Here is what we did to clean our awning and our simple plan to keep it clean in the future.
Rogina Roaming is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.
Using Magic Eraser Mop
Now, to clean up our awning, we decided to use the Magic Eraser Mop. We wanted to use a mop so that it would be easy to reach without getting a ladder and getting the Magic Eraser Mop seemed like a good move because we figured that the Magic Eraser would help us out even without cleanser.
So we first tried using only the Magic Eraser Mop. We did get it wet first. Our awning was actually already wet, which was convenient. Magic Eraser does say you don’t want to use it while it’s dry. It’s just a little bit more coarse if you do. So you definitely want to get it wet first, and then you could start using it to wipe down your awning.
Now, what we found was just the wet Magic eraser actually worked really well. We did have to go back and forth a little bit, but it was cleaning it. It was looking pretty good.
Using Awning Cleaner
Now, we wanted to try a few more things to determine what worked well and what the best way is to clean this awning. So next we tried still with the Magic Eraser Mop, but we also applied an awning cleaner.
The awning cleaner was pretty convenient. It had a spray applicator, so it was really easy just to spray it right onto the awning and then used the mop to wipe it down. It worked well. The awning cleaner did a good job. It was easier to clean than without the cleaner. Once we had the awning cleaner, it was just one wipe, and then it was looking really good.
Using Simple Green
Next, we wanted to try some Simple Green. The awning cleaner worked well, but Simple Green is just something that we have on hand pretty often, so we wanted to see how it compared to the awning cleaner.
To use the Simple Green, we did dilute it. So we put it into a bucket and then added some water. Then it was easy enough to just dunk the mop into that bucket that we had of Simple Green and then start rubbing it onto the awning.
What we found is the Simple Green worked just as well as the awning cleaner. You could not tell a difference between using the awning cleaner or using the Simple Green. They both did a great job, and they both sped up the process.
Finishing it Up
After cleaning the awning, we did rinse it off. We didn’t want to have the awning cleaner or the Simple Green left on there. So afterwards, we just rinsed it all off, and once we were all finished, it looked pretty good.
There were a couple of spots that we couldn’t get off, but that wasn’t because of either of the cleansers or from the Magic Eraser Mop. That was just because the way the awning designed. There just wasn’t a way for us to get enough pressure on those spots to really clean them up. As soon as you press onto the awning, it just lifts up. So you can’t really clean off spots that are up there really good.
But overall, it looks great. It looks way better than it did when we started.
Conclusion
Okay, so what did we learn about this and how are we going to clean our awning going forward? Well, what we decided is since the awning cleaner and the Simple Green worked the same, we prefer to use the Simple Green going forward because it’s just something that we already have on hand. We’d rather not have a cleaner that’s specific just for cleaning the awning. It’s more convenient to have something that you can use for several different items around the trailer.
The other thing we decided is the Magic Eraser Mop probably isn’t necessary while you’re using a cleanser. Any mop would’ve worked fine with that, but we really liked the Magic Eraser Mop because it worked really well on its own too. We did have to go back and forth a little bit more than when we were using the cleansers, but what we’ve decided is we’ll keep the Magic Eraser Mop in the pass through of the trailer, and that way we could spot clean the awning while we’re out camping and we notice it starting to get dirty. There’s something that we can do to clean it right away before it really gets caked on there.
That’s our plan going forward, is to keep that Magic Eraser mop with us and spot clean it as needed. Then if it gets really bad like it did before, we’ll use the Simple Green, clean it all off, and then hose it down again, just like we did this last time.
