Is this Oxidation or a Stain?

[Nomadic Mike]

I can begin to rub some off with a wet finger, but most of it seems pretty stuck on. I have 3 or 4 similar areas around the rig and they are mostly after windows.

Most of the information I have read here in this forum pertains to RV's with gel-coat. I have full body paint with clear coat. I have called the manufacturer - Winnebago, and they say to treat it like a car and that I don't have to use special RV products.

I have not purchased any products yet, but I am leaning towards the MT300 DA, and using M105, M205 and then I'm not sure of a sealant/wax.

Someone I met you is doing restoration of an RV suggested using a clay bar. That seems a bit over the top considering the size of the RV, but maybe just on these areas in the pictures?

Thanks for the help.

[Nick Winn]

Re: Is this Oxidation or a Stain?

I can begin to rub some off with a wet finger, but most of it seems pretty stuck on. I have 3 or 4 similar areas around the rig and they are mostly after windows.

Most of the information I have read here in this forum pertains to RV's with gel-coat. I have full body paint with clear coat. I have called the manufacturer - Winnebago, and they say to treat it like a car and that I don't have to use special RV products.

I have not purchased any products yet, but I am leaning towards the MT300 DA, and using M105, M205 and then I'm not sure of a sealant/wax.

Someone I met you is doing restoration of an RV suggested using a clay bar. That seems a bit over the top considering the size of the RV, but maybe just on these areas in the pictures?

Thanks for the help.

Unfortunately whenever we are presented with a description or image of white, cloudy patches in automotive clear coat it usually is the beginning signs of the paint (clear coat paint) starting to fail, or "Clear Coat Failure." At this point surface care products like compounds and polishes will not work to restore the surface, and a paint shop is in order.

With that being said, it wouldn't hurt to see what you can do to these areas with a polish like M205 and a d/a polisher like our MT300. At times we can have success with removing part of this appearance. But again ultimately the defects presented do appear to be clear coat failure.

We would agree that since your RV is full body clear coat paint, we would recommend staying with our products for automotive paint in our retail, Mirror Glaze, and Detailer line. With that being said Meguiar's Marine/RV Line does have products which are OK and recommended for automotive paint. For example Meguiar's Flagship Premium Marine Wax is great for automotive paint, can be purchased in a large, 32 oz size packaging, and will likely be the easiest to find large size wax product locally through your favorite Marine/RV product distributor. But especially when it comes to compounds and polishes, you would not want to use a Marine/RV compound on automotive paint.

Clay is for removing bonded above surface contaminates, which typically we can only physically feel these contaminants, as opposed to visually seeing them. If the surface feels rough to the touch after washing & drying, unfortunately even though the vehicle has a lot of surface area, it still would be best to remove these contaminants, or they are going to interfere with every step of the way, especially when it comes to the ease of application and the durability of your wax protectant.

We hope this information was helpful.

[Nomadic Mike]

Re: Is this Oxidation or a Stain?

Wow, that is bad news. I rubbed on it some more with a wet microfiber and can see that it is the clear coat failing.

If I use a polish with a DA, won't that just rip open the bubbling clear coat and start the pealing process. I have some already peeling on the rear upper roof edge.

[Nick Winn]

Re: Is this Oxidation or a Stain?

Wow, that is bad news. I rubbed on it some more with a wet microfiber and can see that it is the clear coat failing.

If I use a polish with a DA, won't that just rip open the bubbling clear coat and start the pealing process. I have some already peeling on the rear upper roof edge.

When applying a compound or polish to an area with clear coat failure, product residue can get stuck in the pores where the clear coat is failing, which can be tough to remove, and you could make the failure more apparent in the bad areas, but you also can at times provide some enhancement to the paint, making the surface look more visually appealing. It is one of those cases where it is tough to say how the paint is going to react unless you try unfortunately. If you would like, perform a small test spot, and evaluate how the paint has reacted.