I bought myself a new to me used trailer. It’s an Essex that’s aluminium (white). It has black streaks on it and I want to take them off. I’ve done some research and a lot of people (boat or storage trailer) say to use this dollar store cleaner called LA Awesome, but other people commented that it took the wax or paint off.
I don’t want to do more damage, what is the best way to do it?
What kind of black streaks? Mold? Grease? Have you tried washing it with regular water and car soap and a brush?
Is it possible that the streaks were caused by the trailer coming into contact with another surface? I don’t know what gets out friction marks. For road tar and similar I use DeSolve. I soaked part of a cloth and wrapped it around a spoon. Then I used the pressure of the spoon to rub the tar. It came right off with no residual marks on my paint. The spoon lets you apply pressure without a sharp edge that can scratch. You can use it on all sorts of similar stains/marks. I bought it at the supermarket. Most hardware stores should carry it.
Depending on what it is that caused the marks maybe try Mr. Clean magic erasers? Anytime I use the magic erasers I’m amazed by the result!
My white aluminum trailer had been living outdoors in an ocean-air environment, it was covered in random black “stuff” (mold, grease, I have no idea). I used 2 products: Simple Green and also Bon Ami with a soft sponge. Got it all off with no damage! There are black-streak RV products, but I tried what I had first. Good luck!
Marine strength Spray Nine works great for those streaks!
Trailer Bright.
This fall I used the LA Awesome to clean a VERY bad case of black streaks off a painted 1998 steel gooseneck. The cleaner absolutely lives up to its name. The streaks, some having been there for years, came off in two spritzes from the spray bottle and one swipe of the sponge. I was both stunned and estatic. In no time at all that disgusting trailer was sparkling (and I mean that literally because it truly gleamed in the sunlight), and just yesterday I inspected the still clean paint to find it still sparkling and no damage whatsoever.
For the price you can not beat it. $1 for the spray bottle, $3 for the gallon container.
That said - I had used it on the bare aluminum trim of the trailer, and it did NOT remove the black streaks at all without a huge amount of elbow grease with an abrasive scrubbie. Even then there were traces left.
I had tried all the other stuff - Simple Green, etc - and none of the other branded cleaners could do in one swipe what this cleaner does to remove black streaks and trailer road dust that leaves a dull gray film on the trailer paint.
Edited to add: I had purchased the spray bottle ($1) first because I wasn’t sure if this product was bogus or not, but as soon as I saw how phenomenal it was, and SO EASY to use, I bought the gallon container ($3) the next day. The only place I could find it was at the Dollar General. It doesn’t appear to be carried at any other stores.
Black Streak Remover (yes, that’s what it’s called :lol: ) has worked wonders for this.
After a boat load of research and the help of  was SoftScrub lemon lemon scented --because I like how it smelled —and a yellow and green scrubby sponge. Always do a test area first. Anyway, I bought a 2004 Merhow that had sat out for 11 years --DH got it rewired, new tires, brakes, bearings, and fully checked out then it was my turn to make it pretty. I SoftScrubbed the black off it (it was only a two horse BP) then he gave me his Mother’s Aluminum Polish, and his Mother’s Canuba Wax, and his car clay. I must say it took a lot of time --the Soft Scrub was the easy part --then I did the aluminum --extremely time consuming, but does restore the aluminum to looking new --clayed the paint --you’ll have to look it up --it’s a step only the insane take to get a perfect wax on a vehicle or trailer --then waxed and buffed. My 15 year old trailer does look new --but I did a couple of other things too --new rims on the tires and spray painted the hitch and under carriage --I use tire black too. It really does look brand new. I redo the entire job about once a year --in between, I just wash it. Before and after
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Actually, Dawn dishwashing soap is shockingly effective on black streaks (better than the last bottle of black streak remover I bought, as a matter of fact!)
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