PREP ALUMINUM FOR PAINT

This camper was dirty! If I wanted my paint job to last, I needed to thoroughly clean the surface. I tried soap and water, TSP and even muriatic acid, but they were completely ineffective against the camper’s decades of exposure. Sold as a cleaner for aluminum watercraft, JJV’s Best Aluminum Cleaner ($47 online) did an excellent job of preparing this old, anodized aluminum for paint. It really helps having two people for this process. We used a spray bottle to apply the full-strength cleaner, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then, with an industrial scrub brush, we worked the cleaner around as evenly as possible, spraying more where needed. Finally, using the fine spray setting on the nozzle, we rinsed it off with water.

Painting with a spray rig would have provided the smoothest finish, but that wasn’t an option in our workspace. So I went with the next best approach and selected paint and tools that would give a smooth, tough finish.