When leaving a campground - Cleaning tops of Slides - Slide toppers - Awnings

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by heyboom1

... I'll just stick with my broom and towel, works fine for me.

And I'll continue not having to mess with a broom and a towel.

[jdstrubel]

I was thinking on this last trip.... (I Know when the DW thinks the DH Rolls his eyes)... But I was thinking when the slide is coming in it's like a little conveyor belt and the stuff should just roll off. So the Hubby must have been thinking too.... and he was standing there with a brush to brush it off as the slide came in.... Look at that! The DW and DH are SOMETIMES on the same page...

[jdstrubel]

Originally Posted by youroo

My feeling are Slide Covers and Vent Covers for a Relaxing Trip! They Both save you $$$ in the Long Run! Slide covers also Help keep the Slide Roof COOLER also the More slides the More SQ FT to cool! Even if the CG does Not have Trees the CG by the Water have "Sea Gulls"! Youroo!!

Aaaaah "youroo".... I love your nuggets of information.... you make me smile AND you make VERY GOOD POINTS. I had never thought about the fact that the slide toppers are shading the slides.... WOW... (light bulb)... thanks for turning the lights on for me... I have not had the pleasure of a spot by the water yet... will look forward to finding a location like that in my future travels but I will BEWARE of Sea Gulls dropping gifts.... or bombs....

[OKI Marine]

Originally Posted by jdstrubel

Aaaaah "youroo".... I love your nuggets of information.... you make me smile AND you make VERY GOOD POINTS. I had never thought about the fact that the slide toppers are shading the slides.... WOW... (light bulb)... thanks for turning the lights on for me... I have not had the pleasure of a spot by the water yet... will look forward to finding a location like that in my future travels but I will BEWARE of Sea Gulls dropping gifts.... or bombs....

Yes on shading the slide out. Before I had the toppers installed, I would get condensation in the light fixture on the slideout. Cold air inside and hot air outside. Not to mention water pooling on top after it rained. Toppers installed and problem fixed. Rig a lot cooler as well.

[jdstrubel]

Originally Posted by OKI Marine

Yes on shading the slide out. Before I had the toppers installed, I would get condensation in the light fixture on the slideout. Cold air inside and hot air outside. Not to mention water pooling on top after it rained. Toppers installed and problem fixed. Rig a lot cooler as well.

WOW - that is just amazing to hear - I hope others read this because it's information I would NEVER have thought of. Thanks So Much for sharing your experiences. THAT is one of the reasons I come to this group with problems that make me wonder how others that have been handling this very same situation. We only get 30-50 days of camping a year but we are hoping in 5 years to retire and that will give us MORE TIME to get further from home - There is SO MUCH to see in the Good Ol'e USA!

Happy Trails
Debbie

[kcmusa]

I use this to sweep my slide
https://www.zoro.com/libman-floor-sq...15/i/G9559579/

[Ree]

Originally Posted by 67L48

Takes me less than a minute to climb my ladder high enough to see if I have a bunch of debris on my slide-out roof. If there is, it takes me about 1 minute to climb the rest of the way up and broom it off.

For those with integrated ladders on their trailers and the ability to climb them, this is a no-brainer, super-quick, very-easy job. If I didn't have a ladder on my trailer (and had to pack one) or didn't have the physical ability to climb ladders, then I'd be shopping for a slide-out topper.

Good luck.

X2 here, no-brainer indeed

[Royston]

I use a leaf blower unless I have been under trees

[Sebourn]

I carry a 6' lightweight aluminum step ladder in the bed of my pickup which lets me see the top of my slide. To get twigs, dew, etc. off, I have a rubber squeegee with a telescoping handle and wrap a microfiber towel around the head and wipe the top clean. By putting the ladder at one end of the slide, I can push it all the way to the other end and back.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by jdstrubel

We are right there with you. It's quite an investment and needs to be taken care of - but the work that goes with a camper is hard work. I'm not sure how full-timers keep their campers clean when I believe most campgrounds won't allow you to use the water to wash them.

I like the leaf blower idea but not sure how the other campers take the noise?

This has been a GOOD conversation so far... Love my FRF Gang!

Debbie

Au contraire! At the resort/campground where our 2007 Cherokee 38P is stationed, we are required to keep the trailer clean. Each May they do an inspection and if the unit (and lot) aren't clean, you get a notice from management.

It takes an entire day for me to pressure wash the roof and trailer sides along with some scrubbing with a microfiber cloth, and pressure washing the propane tank shroud, golf cart, and small deck.

I use an electric leaf blower a couple of times a year on the lot, and use the golf cart to haul leaves and pine straw to the campground leaf dump.

Larry

[BeckyMax]

Originally Posted by chaps2018

Pretty certain I am on the retentive end of this discussion. Every time when under trees, I use an telescopic ladder to access my roof. If it is dry and just leaves/twigs I carry a Ryobi rechargable blower in the coach.

That's the exact thing we plan to do. We had a leak in our slide on our 2nd trip out...major leak...there is a dip in the slide roof which was causing water to flow under the seal. Once under the seal it was leaking through and coming out of a light fixture over the dinette. It didn't help that we parked it in a hurry and hadn't done a good job leveling side to side. Now that we have addressed the causes we want to do everything we can to preserve the integrity of the slide. Ordered the telescopic ladder and it arrived yesterday, the Ryobi blower was already in the garage. Ready to try it all out next weekend.

[HAPP]

I check mine every time...why take the chance of tearing something up?

[djemgoss]

I use a electric leaf blower and a multi-position ladder (folded up it is 3.5' long and fully extended it 14' long), to clean the top of the slide out, tops of the bunk ends, blow the sand and rocks off the rug, and the awning. I also bring along a long handle foam squeegee for water removal.

[spock123]

Originally Posted by heyboom1

Do a global search for "slide topper problems" you will see water pooling, billowing while driving, noise on windy days, ripping in high winds, having to use beach balls under them, and so on. I'll just stick with my broom and towel, works fine for me.

I have had none of the problems you mentioned, one day wet snow fell that was a problem but it would have been a worse problem without the toppers. I wouldn’t buy another camper without the slide toppers. They work great on our Cedar Creek

[KFX450RXC]

I have no slide toppers. But the only time I've really felt the need to clean off my slideouts was Disneyworld, December, 2016. Site 1421. Fantastic site and I'd love to get it again.

But between the acorns and sticks from the tree and the acorns from those danged squirrels, my slide was covered and I knew the 620 miles home would have most of that junk on my camper floor by the time we got home.

[Flybob]

Most of the places we camp are heavily wooded.

I travel with a 8ft ladder in TV. I use a window squeegee on a 6ft painters pole to clean slide roof and awning prior to closing. Ladder is also good insurance should the roof incur damage and need an emergency repair.

[OKI Marine]

With slideout toppers.........I just use the slideout switch. Everything just falls off.

[5er_tom]

We were in Myrtle Beach over New Years and got an unexpected snow and ice storm. It would have been impossible to bring in the slides with the two inches of ice and snow on top of the slides if we had not had toppers. As it was the snow and ice just fell off as the slides came in. Thanks, but I will always have toppers.

[Radio]

The only time I ever cleaned off the slide topper was after a fairly fierce storm the night before we left out. Climbed on the roof (we have a ladder) and after draining the pooled up water swept off the leaves and such with an ordinary broom.

[spock123]

We were in Haines Junction YT on July 17 and a very wet snow fell, I had to find a ladder. I looked on top of the Cedar Creek and there was four inches of snow, I could just see myself sliding off the top of the camper. Lucky I found a short ladder, I left three Class A there. That was wet snow, ten miles from the town there was no snow