A Brilliant (And Unscientific) Solution To Awning Stains

I just learned something awesome this past weekend. No, not the meaning of life; this is much, much better! Yes, I suppose the title gave it away. But lets pretend I wasn't the one who typed it or controls this blog and move on with the suspense, OK? Anyhow, to understand what it is that I discovered, I need to start at the very beginning. Not the beginning of time, just our second awning. We got it last year, due to a most unfortunate circumstance which I will have to relate to you at some other time. That is, if I remember. I tend to forget things-like where I'm going with this...

The first time the new awning was unfurled (yes, it was THAT majestic!) and I looked up at the unblemished beauty of the white, gray and blue vinyl, I had to brush back a tear. Would you believe an imaginary one? How about being a little impressed how there was not even one "oops" up there?

I determined right then and there that it would always look that way. Isn't nice to live in a make-believe world? Then reality took over and before I knew it we were camping in the rain in the spring under pine trees. And sometimes, that poor undeserving awning had to be retracted in the rain, without the proper white-glove treatment I had deemed it worthy of. And as a result of that, small coffeeish looking stains started appearing in various places on the awning. I don't know what the culprit was. Maybe a leaf? A bug? Does it matter?

While the integrity of the awning was not compromised (no idea what that mean, but what's a blog without a cliche?) I'd still sit under the awning an look up and ponder. Things like "how did that spot get on there?" or "why can't things ever stay nice?" or "please! someone help me my neck is stuck!"

I tried everything I could think of; Tedford's Awning Wash, Simple Green, Amour All Car Wash, and all were a disappointment. They just didn't work on those annoying stains.

Then, last weekend we came home from a weekend in the rain. Ummm, I mean we came home from a weekend of camping...in the rain. I went ahead and re-unfurled the awning, as it was not cleaned before we left the campground. Then, the search of "the" magical awning elixir started over.

My wife had some Spot Shot in the laundry area, so I gave that a whirl on a couple of the stains. I set to polishing my nails on the vinyl (don't ask) and had a miniscule amount of luck at reducing the effect of the stain. However, not needing my nails to be polished to a shimmering luster again, the quest continued. Upon reinvestigating the clothing cleaning chemicals, I spotted the Holy Grail of awnings cleaning!!



I picked it up, mixed a scoopful with a gallon or so of water, took the RV cleaning brush and coated the awning gently with the potion. Within seconds, the stains literally just disappeared! I was dumfounded! OK, maybe just dumb, but what a discovery!

And by the way, this particular version of the product states that it can be used on outdoor furniture, and awnings are outside, right?

So there you have it, a simple solution to a simple, but annoying problem. If only my explanations could be that simple, huh?