Did you know many of the goofy dumbfounded nitwitted motorhome manufacturers made their interior ceiling material of CARPETING???? Yes, carpeting! On our Safari motorcoaches (as well as the Beaver and some other luxury rigs made in that era) the danged ceilings are carpeting.... CREAMY WHITE carpeting never the less!
Any roof leak, or campfire smoke, or cigarette smoke will discolor the creamy white carpeted surface. Of course, being overhead, it's very awkward to clean if you did happen to have the energy, tools, supplies and cleaning solution on hand.
Well, there are recipes abound on our vintage Safari groups with items like peroxide, bleach, vinegar, dishwasher soap, etc. None of them worked for me. Nor for my friends...
But I did stumble on something that DID work, but alas and alack, it's been discontined as of May 2015. From the Johnson Wax company, it's their blend of Fantastik with Scrubbing Bubbles and Oxy Power. It's the blue bottle with the white sprayer. (not the new stuff out there now) It looks like this:
The company canned reply to our queries is this:
We’re sorry to tell you that Oxy Power® Scrubbing Bubbles® Grease & Stain Remover with fantastik® was discontinued in May of this year. While the product had some great fans, there just wasn’t enough demand to continue producing it. We’re sorry if that’s disappointing news.
Perhaps looking in small mom and pop hardware stores, grocery shops or places where the inventory doesn't turn over too fast, you might still find some. Let me know if you do!
Last week I helped someone with a project-----
I have some friends who needed their entire motorhome ceiling scrubbed, and due to a long-ago back/neck injury, she was unable to do it herself. After too many years of looking at those stains, and nicotine smoke discoloration, we decided to tackle it and use up 2 bottles of the precious cleaner.
(this is an old stain, the leak has been fixed long ago)
Cold air coming out of the sheet metal lined chute on the roof air
leaves awful black streaks on the carpeted ceiling near the outlet vents.
Gathering our supplies, we went to work on a cold fall day.
We covered all the furniture, dash, and woodwork with drop cloths.... plastic or old sheets work well.
We used fresh white terry cloth rags and a spray bottle of hot water. First we spritzed the Fantastik onto the ceiling in small sections, about 2ft x 2 ft. I held a rag horizontally underneath with one hand as I spray to keep the mist from falling down to the floor below. Using that same now-damp rag, I scrub a little bit to work in the cleaning solution into the nap of the carpeting.
This is the hard part.... letting it SIT!
Seriously, leave it alone a while.
Let it work itself.
Take a break, 10-15 minutes.
Suddenly it's getting lighter! Now take a bottle of hot water, spritz onto the ceiling and it magically dissolves the bad stains! Using a stiff bristle brush, I would scrub back and forth a few times and you can see IMMEDIATE progress! It's like night and day as each section that is completed.
It sure gives a sense of satisfaction as you get each part done. We would have one part soaking while spritzing water and brushing the previous section.
We did take a break for some lunch, but it really only took us about 3 hours... amidst our giggling, laughing, goofing off. We also had to chase off the captain of the ship who kept coming out to inspect our progress!!!
This is that bad stain next to the light fixture from that first picture
Yup, this was the worst spot right over the driver's seat.
We were kinda proud of the job we did...
because the entire ceiling needed to be scrubbed.
(looking from back to the front)
We had a nice breezy wind so we were able to open the windows up and let the
air help to dry the carpeting... and give us fresh air to work with.
This is from the front to the rear, yes, all the stains are pretty much gone....
Why do manufacturers discontinue something when it's a good working product? I have tried their new green bottle stuff, and white bottle stuff, from Fantastik, but it does not work the same. Sigh.
Well, time to douse myself with some night time cold medicine and see if I can kick this thing that has me down. I wanted to get up to my dad's today, but no sense being sick and bringing my germs to a very ill man. Tomorrow is a Packer Game so I plan to stay right on this couch and soak up some chicken veggie soup and watch the Packers win....
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