Your Airstream Trailer is both a sturdily built and a beautiful looking vehicle.  They hold their value and your purchase investment extremely well if they are maintained externally and internally.

Cleaning your Airstream doesn’t have to be a long and grueling task; actually, it can be done quickly if you use the right products and technique.

EXTERIOR:

The skin of an Airstream is made of aluminum covered with a protective layer of clearcoat — or more precisely a product called Plasticoat developed for Airstream. This is not the same as the clearcoat used on cars, boats and other RV brands.

The Plasticoat finish applied to the outer skin of every Airstream trailer has been specifically formulated by Airstream to provide maximum protection for the shiny aluminum surface while enhancing its rich luster. Why Plasticoat and not automotive clearcoat. The reason is the high coefficient of expansion for aluminum.

Any metal will expand or stretch when heated and contract or shrink when cooled. The scientific measure of this stretching and shrinking is the metal’s coefficient of expansion. Aluminum has a high coefficient of expansion which means that there is a lot of surface movement as the trailer heats up in the summer sun and then cools in the evening.  (Source: Airstream)

This is why the Plasticoat ( it is a clearcoat, just a different version and formula so I will call it clear coat in this article) is what you need to take care of.

How long the Plasticoat on a vehicle lasts depends on the owner’s ability to take care of it. A clear coat that’s well taken care of and waxed every three months can last up to ten years. On average, however, any clear coat lasts up to two to three years before needing re-application if not cared for.

The clear coat does provide some level of protection against the environment, specifically when it comes to the sun and its UV rays. Coming in at only 2 – 4 millimeters thick (about as thin as a Post-It Note), clear coats are not very durable and it’s even possible to scratch it with your fingernail. Clear coats can offer protection when it is clean and waxed.

In addition, surface contaminants such as acid rain, bird droppings, bug splatter, smoke from cooking fires, and vehicle exhaust on the road are all acids that can cause clear coat finishes to look damaged and allow corrosion to form under the clear coat.  Everything you see that is on the windshield of your towing vehicle is on both the paint of that vehicle and your Airstream.

Source:  detailmatterllc.com

As in all things in life an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and keeping your tow vehicle and Airstream clean with proper washing habits, and protected with a high-quality wax, sealant or both will go a long, long way to protecting your vehicle’s clear coat.

How often should I wash my Airstream?

We recommend washing based on operating conditions. If you travel full-time or take your trailer out every week, you probably want to wash your trailer more often than someone who only goes out a couple times every season. If you store your trailer uncovered, you also may want to wash and wax more often than someone who stores their trailer in a covered or climate-controlled storage unit.

At minimum, we recommend a good scrub a couple times across the course of your camping season – after every trip if you can manage it. And we recommend waxing a minimum of twice a year to keep the aluminum protected for years to come.

And importantly, it’s always a good idea to try and time your exterior wash for a gray, cloudy day, as heat can affect the way the polish and /or reacts.

What kind of soap should I use to clean my Airstream travel trailer?

Airstream recommends washing your late-model travel trailer using a mild auto detergent safe for clear coated surfaces.

Do not use dish soap when washing either your tow vehicle or Airstream.  Dish soap contains a degreaser, that is why it cleans dishes so well.  However, that degreaser will remove your wax and start to eat into your clear coat.  Bugs Off Pads, using a mild soap, biodegradable if possible, will clean off all the contaminants from your vehicles surface and give you the same results as polishing your vehicle without needing to do the extra step of polishing and without harming your wax or clear coat.   That is why they were developed.

Airstreams’ favorite cleaner is Glare Ultra Wash. A few capfuls in a bucket of water and you have a rich soapy mixture that’s perfect for scrubbing the aluminum exterior of your Airstream travel trailer and it cleans extremely well with Bugs Off Pads.

As stated, wash and polish or wax your Airstream on a cloudy, gray day. Work in sections, washing top to bottom in one six-foot section at a time, all the way around. Start with a rinse or two, scrub with soapy water and preferably a Bugs Off Pad, as, after using them, there is usually no need to polish. Use caution if using ladders to reach the higher parts of the exterior and take care to not let the ladder scratch the aluminum or just attach a Bugs Off Pad to its holder and clean the Airstream safely from the ground.

Should I dry off my Airstream before I polish or wax it?        

Yes. Use soft, drying pads or microfiber towels to dry off the exterior before you apply polish or wax. This will prevent water spots. Many automotive stores sell multi-packs of these towels, and it’s a good idea to have 5-10 towels that you can cycle through while you dry the exterior.

After you have washed and dried the entire exterior, it’s time to polish and/or apply wax.  Contrary to what many drivers believe, polishing a vehicle and waxing a vehicle are not the same thing. Looking to minimize scratches to your vehicle’s paint or clear coat? What about oxidation, swirl marks, water spots and other minor blemishes that could be impacting its appearance and damaging its clear coat?

If this is what you’re looking to accomplish, then polish is what you’re going to need to get it done. Car polish helps accomplish this by removing a very, very thin layer of paint, which thereby works to help hide scratches and any other minor surface damage as they blend in more to the paint job.

Car polish is available in varying degrees of abrasiveness, which is how it works to remove that very thin layer of paint or clear coat (and scratches along with it).

However, don’t let the term “abrasive” fool you in this sense, as it still applies smoothly to your vehicle’s body so that it does just enough to hide blemishes but not nearly enough to erode your car’s paint job when used correctly. Abrasives vary by types of polish, and some polishes are even considered to be non-abrasive.

Think of waxing as an ideal complement to polishing. It’s best performed following a thorough cleaning and polishing to further hide surface blemishes and improve your vehicle’s overall exterior aesthetics, though car wax can be applied independently of polishing as well.

This process involves wiping polish or wax on the aluminum until a haze forms, then using a clean cloth to buff the haze until the surface shines.  Follow the same procedure with a protectant wax coating.  Unlike polish, it doesn’t remove a very, very thin layer of your vehicle’s paint job. Instead, it works to minimize surface scratches by filling them with a protective layer, essentially smoothing the vehicle’s surface over the paint job itself. Just think of it like this: Polish removes, wax smooths and protects.

Ideally, waxing is best performed anywhere from two to four times a year.

Source: torquedetail.com

There are several options for polish. Airstream loves Glare Professional Polish and Walbernize Super Seal. Many Airstreamers swear by the all-in-one cleaning-polishing power of Walbernize Super Seal.

Both Glare and Walbernize are applied under the same principles of most polishes and waxes: Simply apply a bit of polish to a clean microfiber cloth (or

directly to the exterior of your Airstream) and wipe in a horizontal motion with the grain of your Airstream’s aluminum exterior. As you work, a haze will develop. Once you’ve spread the polish or wax across one section of your Airstream, get a clean cloth and wipe in a horizontal motion. As the haze disappears, the exterior will begin to shine.

If your Airstream doesn’t have a clear coat, use Walbernize One-Step Cleaner Polish and Glaze.

By the way, there’s a bit of lore about the product called Walbernize. Airstream recommended it for a long time for their earlier clearcoat formulation (pre-1999) and now it has taken on a mythological standing. In reality, the current formulation of clearcoat is so tough and resistant to UV that any good car wash and wax will do.  {Source: airstreamlife.com)

If you are washing your Airstream with a Bugs Off Pad they are so effective at cleaning that you probably do not need to go through the chore of polishing.

We DO NOT recommend the use of a buffer except in the hands of a thoroughly experienced person (if not expertly used the buffer will leave a pattern on this aluminum surface. (Source: Airstream)

How to clean your Airstream’s wheels?

Don’t forget about the wheels when you’re washing your Airstream. Airstream recommends Glare Turbo Action Wheel Cleaner.  Spray it on then rinse it off.  Or, for chemical free wheel cleaning without BREATHING the vapors AND CHEM RUNOFF GETTING INTO the GROUNDWATER, use The Brake Dust Eraser which cleans as well using only the soap & water you are washing with.

Now that the outside of your Airstream is clean here are some tips for how to clean and, if needed, sanitize the inside.

Since you are camping in the great outdoors you mainly need to contend with dirt and dust on countertops and other surfaces.  Wipe your counters, refrigerator handles, bathroom surfaces, cabinets, etc. with soap and water.  If you are leery about using a sponge to do this, since they are a breeding ground for germs, you may use a spare, clean, Bugs Off Pad or one of their interior cleaning pads.  These do not scratch nor harm delicate surfaces but work extremely well with soap and water as germs and bacteria cannot grow on them.

Need to disinfect your surfaces?

Airstream states you may use sanitizing wipes but Consumer Reports states: Disinfecting wipes can help eliminate some germs, but they also contain EPA-registered pesticides.  It’s important to exercise some caution when using items labeled as “disinfecting,” particularly if you have children.

Used properly, these products are helpful in killing germs, and are even employed for infection control in certain healthcare settings. But it’s important to handle them appropriately.

Quaternary ammonium compounds—QACs or “quats” for short—and bleach are among the active ingredients that may be found in household cleaning products such as disinfecting wipes. They appear on labels with names such as alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, and other types of “benzyl ammonium chloride.”

What are the potential health harms of disinfectants? Bleach is well-known as a possible cause of asthma, and quats have also been found to have the potential to set off the condition.

Much of the evidence about human health effects comes from studies of adults who work with disinfectants, in addition to research in labs. According to a 2019 analysis of the EPA Pesticide Product Labeling System and other studies, published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), asthma occurs at higher rates in adults who use disinfectants and cleaners regularly for their jobs—such as janitors and healthcare workers—than in other workers.

Can you use hydrogen peroxide to clean the inside of your Airstream?

In theory, you can. Rutgers University says hydrogen peroxide is typically sold in concentrations of about 3 percent, which is effective at killing germs in the home. You can use it straight from the bottle, or you can dilute it to 0.5% concentration and leave it on surfaces for one minute before wiping it off.

Worth noting: Hydrogen peroxide can cause discoloration so maybe don’t use it on your white countertops.

Dr. Alexis Holm also notes that while hydrogen peroxide is germicidal and can kill a wide range of bacteria, yeasts, fungi, viruses, and spores, it may not be effective against some organisms.

Consider safer disinfecting products. In the 2019 AJIC article, Holm and her team found that disinfecting products that used hydrogen peroxide were linked with fewer negative health effects than those with bleach or quats. If you want to use a disinfecting product, consider looking for one whose active ingredient is hydrogen peroxide. It’s only ingredients are hydrogen and oxygen which we are breathing already, just not in those concentrations.

You may apply hydrogen peroxide if necessary with a sponge, towel, or preferably a Bugs Off Pad which will clean the surface while you are disinfecting.

Walls, floors, bathrooms:

If your Airstream’s interior features aluminum walls, use the same sanitizing products you use on countertops, and then follow with a shining polish like Pledge and a microfiber cloth to take away streaks. Work with the grain (front to back horizontally) and avoid up-and-down strokes which could scratch the surface.

If your Airstream RV includes ultra-suede fabric on the walls, baby wipes are a great way to keep them clean. Just be careful not to saturate the fabric and be sure to let it air dry.

Most liquid toilet cleaners are safe for RV toilets; but read the label to be sure.  Never flush wipes or cleaning pads or anything other than toilet paper approved for RV toilets.  Adding some extra water to your toilet helps cleaners make their way into your black water tank.

Wipe down or squeegee the walls of your Airstream shower to remove build-up. If water spots are present wipe a mild, safe acid such as vinegar or lemon juice on the surface.  Let it dwell on the surface for about 30 minutes then use a Bugs Off Pad to clean it off.

The great thing about Airstream flooring is that it is the same type of flooring you would find on a boat or yacht.  Sweep or vacuum, then if needed, just wash with soap and water.

SOURCES:  Airstream.com, Airstreamlife.com, Ronnie Dennis, Airstreamnutsandbolts.com, Don Meyns, bugsoffpads.com, chief information officer, Florida Car Cleaning Council