Message Forums

I always use Fenwicks Black Streak Remover and have never had a problem getting rid of them, the key to cleaning a van succesfully is to clean from the bottom upwards and always clean the roof. You may wonder why clean from the bottom upwards? Well when you clean from the top, the dirt runs down the side of the van and sticks to it and also the cleaner will run down over the rubbers etc and cause streaks - the streaks are actually the cleanest part. If you clean from the bottom upwards, when you clean the top, the dirt will simply run down over the 'clean' part of the van and will easily rinse off, avoiding  the van going streaky.

Once cleaned. DO NOT polish, polish seals in any dirt left and the black streaks if you have them, making it very difficult to get rid of them next time unless you actually remove the polish, which washing the van is NOT going to do. If you must polish the van you have to make sure it is 100% clean first or you are just sealing the dirt in. A better option is to rinse with Fenwicks Bobby Dazzler which will leave the van looking shiny (as you all seem to want a shiny van) but it also leaves a protective coating on the paintwork, which will help to stop black marks, green algae etc from forming again. The best news is that the coating is completely removed the next time you clean with Fenwicks and you are back to the original paintwork again. At this point you simply repeat the whole process.

Paint manufacturers have spent thousands of pounds and a lot of time developing paints and laquers that keep the paintwork shiny so long as it is kept clean, you dont need to polish modern paintwork - most polishes are abrasive or have solvents in them and make the paintwork look shiny because they actually 'cut into' the paint and remove a very very thin layer.

Going back to black streaks, these are mostly caused by the rubbers on the van deteriorating which there is no cure for, but can be contolled by ensuring that they are kept clean, you need to clean the rubbers effectively, with a good cleaner like fenwicks, until no more black marks appear on your cloth, sponge or whatever you are using.

Hope you find the information useful

black streaks are caused imho by the dirty rain,i can clean the van fully including the roof and after a downpour it has black steaks.mine gets cleaned once a week,keeps me fit so i know its not dirty to start with and i do not like black steaks.the reason you have black streaks at each bottom corner is because this is where the rain running down each side of the window is concentrated and the dirt builds up into lines.these help,do not have them myself........as i said just my opinion.

streaker £30 one each side

Many thanks folk. I now have a short list of options and will try them out over this next year.

Phil

micheal

black streaks are caused imho by the dirty rain,i can clean the van fully including the roof and after a downpour it has black steaks.mine gets cleaned once a week,keeps me fit so i know its not dirty to start with and i do not like black steaks.the reason you have black streaks at each bottom corner is because this is where the rain running down each side of the window is concentrated and the dirt builds up into lines.these help,do not have them myself........as i said just my opinion

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i with you on this i dont clean mine as often as probably about every 6 weeks , and i never find it a hardship , and like you said Micheal it keeps you fit , some times i do the 2 cars as well ,

Quote: Originally posted by joecroft2 on 21/10/2011

---

the black streaks are caused by traffic fumes settling on the caravan roof , so when it rains it runs down the side of the windows or any openings and causes black streaks , any body who has a white patio table will see it turning black over time , i get hardly any black streaks because when i clean the caravan i also clean the roof ,

---

We used Fenwicks caravan cleaner and then bobby dazzler when we first washed our van. It had been stored and little used for some time. On first impressions we were not that pleased with the bobby dazzler - that was until we came to wash the van again ready for winter. It was spotless in minutes, no streaks or stubborn marks at all so the bobby dazzler had worked! We put winterising fluid on before covering.