It really all depends on how often the surface is exposed to the elements and how much wear-and-tear the surface gets. There is no specific rule as to how frequently you should waterproof your canvas. We had to drive 30 minutes to find an Ace that carried it, and even then we picked up the last bottle - so if you are trying to find it locally, call before you head over to the store. It’s a little hard to find, so I recommend Amazon, but we’ve also seen a bottle or two at Ace Hardware and Lowe’s. It’s recommended by Sunbrella for treating their fabrics. To waterproof our canvas, we broke out a bottle of this magic stuff - 303 High Tech Fabric Guard. When all the soap was rinsed off, we let the canvas dry in the sun for several hours before we waterproofed it. Make sure you rinse your canvas well, as any residue left on the tenting will affect your waterproofing. The bungees from our Gizmos wear the waterproofing off quickly, so we have to spot treat those areas frequently. Any high friction areas will lose water repellency sooner than others that don’t get touched. Be careful to thoroughly check areas where your canvas might have been rubbed or worn. If you start to notice some of the water soaking into the fibers then it is time to retreat that spot. If the water beads up and rolls off, then you are still water repellent. It’s also a great way to spot check the waterproofing on your canvas. To get rid of any soapy residue, we used the garden hose and rinsed everything down. For the tough spots, we used the 303 Multi Surface Cleaner. We took the scrub brush and sponge to the outside, using a fresh batch of the Woolite solution, to make sure all the dirt was gone. There was a significant amount of dirt on the outside of our canvas. We did the same thing on the outside, only we put a little more elbow grease into it. It worked fabulously on both the vinyl and the canvas, and it leaves no residue, which I love. The Multi Surface Cleaner is water based, pH neutral, and does not have any harmful caustics or acids. I used a generic brand white eraser sponge and a little bit of Multi Surface Cleaner, and those black marks wiped right off. She sent me a sample to try, and I was amazed. I had been in touch with a rep from 303 Products, and she suggested I use their Multi Surface Cleaner to try to remove those ugly black marks. Last year, I was fine with leaving them, but this year, I wanted to try to get those canvas panels clean. I’m guessing it was grease or something, and the Woolite did not get those out. It’s worth noting that we had several black marks along the bottom of the canvas from the moving parts of the camper. We didn’t really soak the canvas on the inside, because we didn’t have much dirt. Then we used plain, clean water and another sponge to rinse. We used a regular sponge to wash the canvas on the inside. We just needed a light cleaning to get rid of the dust and dirt on the canvas, however, so we used the Woolite and water. In fact, Mandy over at Campfire Travelers used it on her canvas with great success. I had never tried it myself, but I hear good things about it. I’ve also seen some amazing results from the Bass Pro Shops mildew cleaner. They’ve got a great stain chart here you can use for reference. Sunbrella recommends a mixture of dish soap, bleach, and water. If you’ve got mildew, you’ll want to use something much stronger. We didn’t have any mold or mildew on our canvas, so we were just going for a light cleaning to remove any dirt or residue on the surface of our camper. Then we added a capful of Woolite (we used the 2 line marking). We filled our 5 gallon bucket about halfway full of water. Woolite is pretty gentle, and I’d venture to say it will do a good job on any canvas, but if you are unsure, check your owner’s manual. If your canvas isn’t made of Sunbrella, you might want to research cleaning methods a little more. We did a lot of research and discovered that Woolite detergent was the mildest way to clean Sunbrella fabric. We wanted to make sure our canvas would keep us dry in inclement weather. And honestly, I didn’t want to be camping somewhere, have it rain, and be stuck in a leaky pop up. A little preventative maintenance can go a long way in extending the life of your canvas. It was pretty dirty, and we want to make sure to keep it in great shape for as long as we can. Thanks for stopping by! □Īlthough the canvas on our Santa Fe is in excellent condition, it still needed a bit of cleaning. You might learn something new! And if you are looking for information on how to clean and maintain the exterior and vinyl of your camper, you may find this post helpful. There are some new tips here, so if you’ve read this post before, it is worth a second read. I figured it was time to update a few things. Since I first wrote this post, I’ve learned quite a bit more about cleaning your pop up camper canvas.
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