How To Clean Carpet Ceiling (Mold and Stains on RV Ceiling)
There is carpet on the ceiling. To non-RV owners, this may come as a surprise. But some RV makers put carpet-like material on the ceiling of their RVs. Unfortunately, this material still gets dirty so you won’t be escaping any cleaning duties. If you buy an RV with this material on its ceiling.
The best way to clean this material is to treat it like cleaning any other carpet material. The only difference is, that you are cleaning upside down. If the material is dirty, simply vacuum it. If it has water stains, use a good carpet cleaner to remove those stains.
To learn more about this task, just continue to read our article. It explores this unique topic to give you some important information. Take a few minutes to see how this information can help you keep your RV clean.
How To Clean RV Ceiling Fabric
There are as many different opinions as there are cleaning methods. Every RV owner seems to have their way of doing this task. The key to cleaning the ceiling carpet is to identify how dirty it is and what the dirt is from.
If it is just dusty, then use your fabric attachment on your vacuum cleaner and vacuum the dust away. or you can use the upholstery attachment on your Bissel carpet cleaner and some ammonia as the cleanser.
The key is to not soak the carpet-like material. Some people have done that and found that they got a brownish stain on the material that would not come out. Water stains are almost impossible to remove and it will take some very hard work to remove them.
Water stains come from more than just over-cleaning the ceiling. They can come from a leak in your ceiling. A spray carpet cleaner may be the best option when you see those stains. Just remember not to over-apply the cleanser.
Cleaning Carpet Ceiling
When you go to remove those ‘stains’ from your ceiling, keep in mind that those ‘stains’ may actually be part of a built-in color pattern. Some owners have confused the two and did more work trying to remove that pattern than they would have had to.
When you see those brown stains it is possible that water soaked the luan on plywood above the carpet. Then the water brought some of the plywood colors with it. That color is telling you that you may have a serious leak in your roof somewhere. You should go up and see if you can find it.
If you want to, you can paint over this material and make it look perfect again. You just have to fix any leaks first and use a special stain coating to be able to cover the stain. Since the carpet is textured, you would have to thin the paint down some to get it into all the little indents and hills
RV Ceiling Cleaner
There are a lot of standard carpet cleaning products that you use on your floors that will work for your RV ceiling. Just pick the best one for the material on your RV’s ceiling and follow instructions.
The key to cleaning your ceiling is that gravity still applies. Be careful on how much liquid cleaner or water you put up there. It will drip down and cause a mess if you are not careful.
Some people have used ammonia with a power carpet cleaning machine, others have used the spray carpet cleaners you can get at your supermarket. For the brown water stains, one owner went to a pet stain cleaner that included an odor-killing ingredient.
There are other spot stain remover products you can use as well. The key is not to soak the carpet when you do your cleaning. The only difficult aspect of cleaning your RV ceiling is that you have to do it upside down. That makes it a little more labor-intensive than cleaning your floors.
How To Clean Vinyl RV Ceiling
This may be a little easier than cleaning ceiling carpet. You still have to work upside down but if the vinyl does not absorb any stains, those dirty marks should come right off.
The first step would be to prep your area. By that, we mean you should clear away any delicate items that can get damaged if any of the cleaners you use drips on them. The next step would be to remove any items like spider webs or dust, etc. You can do that with your vacuum cleaner.
The third step would be to pick the right cleaner. You will want one that is made for RV vinyl materials and you may already have it in your RV. Vinyl doe snot change just because it is on the ceiling.
If you are still unsure about cleaning vinyl, check your owner’s manual. It may have special cleaning instructions for you to follow. Or call the dealer to see what they say, that is if you are still under warranty. You do not want to risk any warranty issues by using the wrong cleansers.
How To Clean Mold on RV Ceiling
You can use bleach mixed with water but that is going to be risky. Bleach is very powerful and it can strip your ceiling of any color even if it is diluted. You can use this product if you think it is the best option but be careful when using it.
There are safer mold-killing products you can use and one is distilled white vinegar. Just put it in a spray bottle and spray the mold. Then wait a minute or two and wipe the mold away.
Or you can try a few drops, 10 to 15, of tea tree oil mixed with water. It helps kill the mold and keeps spiders away. 3% hydrogen peroxide is a good substitute for bleach. It does not need to have water added to it to make it a safe product to use.
Finally, grapefruit seed extract is supposed to be a deterrent and a killer of mold. 20 drops of this liquid in 2 cups of water should do the trick. You can always follow up any of these techniques with some baking soda to kill the odor left behind.
Just mix a 1/4 tsp with water in a spray bottle and spray the area you just cleaned. If the mold is really tough, use bleach or ammonia as a last-ditch effort.
How To Remove Water Stain From RV Ceiling
There are a lot of spot stain removers you can buy that will work. You just have to read the labels to see if they are strong enough to handle water stains. Woolite carpet stain remover has been mentioned as one good option.
Other owners just made generic comments so you are free to use any brand of stain remover that works. It would be best not to use bleach as if it drips or you put too much on, everything it touches will be ruined. Bleach can leave big holes in your ceiling carpet.
Be careful about using professionals or going to dealers. those two options can and will charge you an excessive amount of money. The dealers will try to fix any hidden damage they find but do you have the approx. $8000 it will cost to do this?
If you see water stains, you need to start a search for the leak as soon as possible. If you don’t you will just be wasting your time cleaning up the stains you already see. More will come to replace those you took away.
Yellow Stains on RV Ceiling
This issue has a lot of complaints making it to the internet through different RV discussion forums, and so on. The yellow stain is not an uncommon event and many RV owners are not happy about it taking place.
The source of this problem is the adhesive the RV makers use to adhere the ceiling components to each other. Too much glue and you get a lot of yellow stains. Just enough glue means that your builders were very careful about their work.
You won’t see stains for the latter situation. Unfortunately, there is only one real solution to this problem. You have to paint over it. One owner said it took 3 coats of paint to cover all the stains.
Some Final Words
Cleaning the carpet or vinyl on your RV’s ceiling is just like cleaning those items at home. The only difference is you are doing it upside down. Regular cleaners you use at home should work on the dirt and stains.
The key is to use just enough of the cleanser to avoid drips and soaking the material. This is not a difficult job to do, just time and labor-consuming.
