Beeswax and White Spirit

[Emmit]

Greetings from not so sunny Spain (Blanes, where the current temp is about 15 and raining)

The bloke who checked tosee if we had any knives on board??? before we caught the ferry was a motorhomer as it turned out.
He told me that, in orderto keep the roof of his van in good condition, he had melted a block of beeswax in a quantity of white spirit and applied it to his newly washed roof.
He reckoned it kept the roof free of the green stuff.
The obvious question comes. Has anyone else tried this and if so, in what quantities. Second question. Supposedly the beeswax has to be melted by applying heat to the white spirit. How is that sdone in safety cos 'her indoors has already told me that the microwave is off limits for the exercise, on pain of losing my very tarnished jewels.

 

[TheBig1]

mmmmm carnuba wax yes, its what some vehicles used to be shipped coated in to protect the paint. beeswax will attract the dirt and in a hot environment will melt and pool on the roof or run down the windows. plus it would be awkward to remove

 

[DBK]

This is the traditional recipe for wax polish although linseed oil is often added as well. Best done by floating the pot in a waterbath on the stove - but I would use an electric stove not a gas one for obvious reasons.

Your are supposed to use pure turpentine, not white spirit although the later is supposed to work just as well according to some. It is possible it is what is in the white spirit which keeps the mould at bay, otherwise all this does is applies a wax coating, which probably also keeps the mould away!

You can google for recipes. For harder polishes add things like Carnauba wax to the mix.

 

[movan]

Is it not going to damage the van using white spirit or turpentine on the van's bodywork albeit the roof?

 

[scotjimland]

Polish with Simoniz , the traditional way.. hard work .. but worth it
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[bungy]

used to be used to polish the metal surfaces on planes...but that was done regulary so not sure about long term protection

I think it needs regular maintenance to keep it spick and span

 

[TheBig1]

Is it not going to damage the van using white spirit or turpentine on the van's bodywork albeit the roof?

white spirit or turpentine will dissolve the mastic the van is assembled with, but will evaporate quickly enough, leaving just a thin coat of wax

my preference for many years has been to use MER, which is a silicon resin. gives a glass like shine that dirt and water cant stick to

 

[funflair]

I think MER used to be in blue bottle got some MER in a black plastic bottle and it's terrible stuff to polish off, back to Autoglym.

 

[DBK]

You can buy ready made wax polishes for vehicles but they take an enormous amount of elbow grease to get a shine.

I am not convinced there is any shortcut to just getting up and washing then polishing the roof to remove not just mould but also bird droppings and, if you have one, cleaning the solar panel plus of course the roof lights.

 

[magicsurfbus]

As a point of trivia, if you mix beeswax 50:50 with tree resin you get prehistoric Araldite. It's how they secured stone spearheads and arrowheads to wooden shafts thousands of years ago, and it's very solid stuff.

Makes me wonder what might happen if you went a bit mad with the beeswax on the MH roof then parked under a pine tree somewhere hot.

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[WAG2CRU]

If you want to wax the roof, I would suggest Colonite 476, a detergent proof wax which lasts very well and gives a fab shine!
I use it on my cars especially for winter protection.
Colonite also make a product called Fleet wax which is used on aircraft but, I found it difficult to polish off.

 

[pappajohn]

Ok....curiosity got the better of me.

Why would someone check your van for KNIVES before boarding a ferry?

 

[chaser]

Ok....curiosity got the better of me.

Why would someone check your van for KNIVES before boarding a ferry?

Me too,

 

[movan]

Ok....curiosity got the better of me.

Why would someone check your van for KNIVES before boarding a ferry?

He was keeping them occupied, John, whilst his mates got in position by the exhaust pipe underneath..

 

[Judge Mental]

any tips for an alternative to shop bought back to black?

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[DBK]

any tips for an alternative to shop bought back to black?

Peanut butter has been recommended on here before.

 

[movan]

Someone told me simple Olive oil once for my car bumper, but it was ok.. made it shiny but didn't cover any marks.

 

[grasscutter]

Ok....curiosity got the better of me.

Why would someone check your van for KNIVES before boarding a ferry?

Did they also dip your tank to make sure you did not have more than 100ml of liquid on board.

 

[FJmike]

To me bees wax and white spirit sounds like a recipe to wreck your van, what happens when it runs down the sides?, maybe the white spirit will lift the graphics??.As others have said its far better to give your roof a coating of good quality wax (not just polish). For those that are worried about having a green roof ( algae), it doesn't in itself cause any harm BUT it will encourage black moss to grow which can be serious if left for too long. I clean motorhomes and caravans for a living (thats me in my avatar) so have seen some horrors where owners have used materials that are not suitable or damage the van so perhaps the best thing to remember is to use products for the purpose that it is sold.

 

[Mousy]

Mike, what would you recommend to wash the van and polish or wax it with (grp)?

Sorry for the hijac.

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[TheBig1]

Mike, what would you recommend to wash the van and polish or wax it with (grp)?

Sorry for the hijac.

for grp you cant go wrong with farecla. not cheap but excellent
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[Mousy]

for grp you cant go wrong with farecla. not cheap but excellent
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Thanks for that, perfect for Mr Mousy's christmas stocking! Lol.

 

[FJmike]

Mousy On all my valets I wash with Turtlewax WashNwax and in my opinion the best wax for GRP is Meguires Marine wax.The stuff that Thebig1 linked to is good but it needs a wax afterwards

 

[Judge Mental]

for grp you cant go wrong with farecla. not cheap but excellent
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but I like cheap!lol

 

[FJmike]

OOps didn't spot that it includes a wax with it

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[Judge Mental]

Mousy On all my valets I wash with Turtlewax WashNwax and in my opinion the best wax for GRP is Meguires Marine wax.The stuff that Thebig1 linked to is good but it needs a wax afterwards

I use the turtle wash and wax, and my gardener who does valeting in the winter months, says its pointless using the expensive polish I buy.....I tend to agree as result so good.

What about back to black on bumpers Mike?

 

[Mousy]

I used silky to clean some of the plastic trim on the motorhome, amazing stuff, made the locker edges white again too. Highly recommend.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035ACI7U/?tag=mhf04-21

 

[FJmike]

Ref: black bumpers - Sorry judge but the stuff I use is trade only so not much help
Ref: Silky - Damn good stuff but I wouldn't want to do a whole van with it

 

[Judge Mental]

Dam! That's what my gardner said! Thanks Mike

 

[Sundowners]

Greetings from not so sunny Spain ------------
He told me that, in orderto keep the roof of his van in good condition, he had melted a block of beeswax in a quantity of white spirit and applied it to his newly washed roof.
He reckoned it kept the roof free of the green stuff.-----.

I have used Finnigans Overwinter on the roof and feel that being so cheap/so easy to put on/so easy to clean off, why on earth would anyone want to spend hours waxing the roof?????-----it just does what it claims to do----keeps the roof (or wherever you want to put it) clear of green stuff all winter-----it's at least 12 months since I put it on and it could now do with re-doing.

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