keeping cars and RV's clean (ish)

[bzribee]

SOMEWHERE, a few years ago, I saw a post about wrapping the inside of a vehicle with plastic wrap(?) and the outside with something else. I can't find the info anywhere. Anyone know where I should look, or how to keep (especially rented) vehicles moderately playa dust free? Of course, not opneing the vehicle is a first step...

[HughMungus]

Initial thoughts:

Can you afford a car cover?

SOMEWHERE, a few years ago, I saw a post about wrapping the inside of a vehicle with plastic wrap(?) and the outside with something else. I can't find the info anywhere. Anyone know where I should look, or how to keep (especially rented) vehicles moderately playa dust free? Of course, not opneing the vehicle is a first step...

[Janka]

We had a rent car last year, and we just didn't keep it dust free. We had told them (Hertz) beforehand that we are going camping in the desert, and asked about the necessity to wash the car before return, and they said no, that's not necessary, it's their job, and they wash and clean every car between custromers anyway. They did have a good laugh over the car's state when we got back, though. ;)

Car's a good place to store your extra clothes and stuff, too, so if you cover it you might want to plan it so that you can still access the stuff inside.

A fun, decorated car-cover might be great for its own sake, though... and great, more ideas to make before we get on the plane was exactly what I needed. I have about gazillion of them and haven't started work on one. :)

[Guest]

My first year, pulling up to the greeters, I told my wife "don't roll down the windows! don't open the doors!, AAaaagghh" Within minutes of driving off the blacktop there was no point in trying to keep the vehicle dust free, and at that point I didn't really care anymore. Every year since I just grin as I pull up to the greeters while I roll down every window and giggle.

You're gonna get dust INSIDE the car no matter what you do. Get your car to camp, get your stuff out of the car, and open the doors as infrequently as you can.

Cars can be cleaned pretty easy, rental or not. How many quarters are you willing to pump into the machine? IMO you could rent a car, as long as you don't get all crazy and messy with it, spend a little time cleaning it, and the company would never know that it was ever in BRC.

my2c

[AntiM]

A cover over the vehicle traps the dust and rubs away at the paint.

We open the jeep as little as possible, sure it gets dusty, but we do keep things in bags and coolers and that stuff stays less dusty. Less dusty is, of course, a relative term.

Favorite dedusting trick: Bring along a can of those premoistened car wipes. Wipe everything down (interior) right before exodus and after you've broken camp. Get in the car wearing your default clean clothes and remember to wipe your feet too. Rewipe the interior after hitting the blacktop or at your first fuel stop. It seems fussy and is no replacement for a thorough cleaning, but it certainly makes the ride home much more pleasant. Sitting in playa dust may be fun, but not when you've got asthma!

[Sharky]

Last year we taped over our vent intakes on our Jeep with blue painters masking tape and taped aluminum foil inside the window with the same tape. We opened the car only occassionaly and when the dust wasn't blowing....... When we made it back out to the pavement after exodus, we pulled over and pulled off the tape over the intake vent. No dust when we turned on the A/C or opened the interior vents! The foil kept the car cool and by minimizing our opening of the doors, we kept the interior pretty clean (relatively speaking!). If you use the masking tape, be certain it's the blue type used for painting, or you'll never be able to peel it off after a week in the sun! I opt to not use a car cover....with the winds on the Playa, a whipping car cover or tarp can sand the paint off of a car!
Be one with the dust, it's all part of it!

[safetythird]

I used an adhesive film in the interior of my RV last year and it worked GREAT! Covered everything, floor, chairs, couch, bed, etc. After unloading and doing some cleaning I simply just ripped up the film to expose my still clean carpet/furniture. Since the film is transparent you can get creative and put pictures down underneath it. Not too many, it still has to stick to the permanent surface.

Here's the thread from last year;
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... c&start=30
Here's what I used;
http://www.curtain-wall.com/carpet_barrier.htm

$40 for a 200' roll doesn't sound too bad. Completely did the inside of my 27' er with a few feet to spare. It's a little tricky to work with but not hard. A big flat space, like the bed of my RV, comes in real handy for rolling the film out prior to laying it down. I used blue painters tape for the edges and stuff I couldn't I couldn't get the film on.

I also used the blue painters tape to try to seal off as many openings as possible. Futile attempt. Dust will get in.

There's tons of good advice in that thread. I just might have to gather that stuff plus what I learned on playa and come up with some sort of RV FAQ. Maybe if I stumble across some motivation in the next month or so.

S3

[Bob A]

I took my mini van last year with all the back seats removed. Didn't actually clean it all when I got back. I changed the oil and filters and washed the outside a few times but haven't taken a vacuum to the inside. I did leave the doors open a few times on the playa, used the car for a storage area. IT has some dust in it; dashboard is a little white-ish. When I'm feeling like I need a playa fix I slap one of the front seats and fill the air with playa dust. I should clean it an vacuum the piles of dust from the back, but I just cant brig my self to it. Its not really that bad only I even notice it.

Bob A

[unjonharley]

Car smells like home.

[Janka]

A cover over the vehicle traps the dust and rubs away at the paint.

Ah. Good, one less thing to plan and make. :)

[HughMungus]

A cover over the vehicle traps the dust and rubs away at the paint.

Good point. I just re-thought that as I was reading this thread. Better to have a dirty car than a car with paint chipped off where the wind has flapped the cover against the car for a few days.

[XS]

If you really love your car, or if it's totally pristine and new. Leave it at home and rent a ride. Same thing with nice bikes. I saw a guy assemble a brand new bike, right out of the box, at the begining of the week. By the end of the week, the brand new bike was encrusted with playa dust, mud cake, and was already showing signs of corrosion. Leave it at home and get a thrasher playa bike.

Once exposed to playa dust, you'll never get your car or bike back to the original condition. I try to get my truck detailed and scrubbed up when I come home from the burn. When I pulled into the carwash last year, they thought my truck was white. When the truck emerged from the wash they were amazed that the truck is actually black.

As it was stated before, and will most likely be repeated, EMBRACE THE DUST! It will be one of your most treasured souvenirs of the burn.

[robotland]

If you're in and out of your car a lot you can also put up a "temporary bulkhead"- a blanket or tarp between the front and back seats or cargo area- A blanket over the dash, especially a LIGHT-colored one, eliminates time-consuming cleaning around dashboard components.
Although it's marketed as a camping-friendly vehicle, I discovered that the Element is damned difficult to get out of if you sleep in back...THERE IS NO INSIDE RELEASE ON THE BACK HATCH. You have to crawl over the seats, open the FRONT door, and then open the "suicide door" to get out. I'm making a hook-and-rope gadget that grabs the latch on the outside of the rear gate and runs up, over and down through the skylight so I can get out the back! Aside from some hard corners, exposed head-bashing door brackets and the rear-hatch thing, the Element's not a bad vehicle. LOTS of room in back, and the seats are light and easy to remove.

[unjonharley]

Ipicked up some dog blankets from ST. Vinnies. They are blankets that are slightly damaged but washed and set out for dogs. I put them on the van with a tarp over. Keeps the finish and cuts the hot sun. At a buck per you can cover the whole van cheap.

[sputnik]

As it was stated before, and will most likely be repeated, EMBRACE THE DUST! It will be one of your most treasured souvenirs of the burn.

I have to admit to not bringing back much in the way of dust and I miss it. I wish I had a pile to roll in and get the taste of the playa back.

[robotland]

It's amazing how strong olfactory and tactile memories can be! I've got a couple quarts of playa that I brought home from last year's burn, and just mixed up some playamud to test my graywater extractor...Smelled like being drunk in a geodesic dome!

[unjonharley]

It's amazing how strong olfactory and tactile memories can be! I've got a couple quarts of playa that I brought home from last year's burn, and just mixed up some playamud to test my graywater extractor...Smelled like being drunk in a geodesic dome!

~
don't you know not to take any thing from public lands? I'm going to tell. The home land boy will be seeing you. They might think you plane to pack Bush's ass with that mud. Oh! wait. you only took a couple quarts. You would need a couple five gallon buckets for that job.

[robotland]

Eeek! Thanks for THAT image....

I didn't realize that taking playa was like taking lava rocks from Hawaii....what's the native American counterpart to Pele?

[unjonharley]

Figure each camper takes a pound of dust. That would be 30,000 lb. We better get Tom Ridge out there. Maybe under cover in a French maids outfit with a feather duster. No one would recognize him. Don't the DPW wear that uniform during clean up?

[theCryptofishist]

what's the native American counterpart to Pele?

ITYM--what's the LOCAL native American counter part to Pele?

[robotland]

Nice catch.....

[robotland]

A Paiute Legend of the Stone Mother of Pyramid Lake
Long, long ago, all the people of this land were animals. The ruler of this land was the wolf, who was a wise and good ruler. His brother, the coyote, was very tricky and caused his brother the wolf a great deal of trouble. One day, the father of all the Indians came to this area and lived on a mountain near Stillwater, Nevada. He was special...a very great and good man...

Later, a woman who lived in a different part of this country heard about this man. This woman, who had a bear for a husband, thought about the Indian man all the time. She hoped that someday she might be able to see him because she had heard what a wise and good man he was. One day she and the bear had a fight.

She decided to leave the bear and come to the man whom she had heard so much about. Her experiences on the trip to see this wise and wonderful man were many. As she traveled, she left her footprints in the rocks along the shore of Mono Lake and one day she met a giant by Yerington, Nevada. This giant tried to eat her but she managed to kill him. The Indians believed his body turned to stone. After many days, she arrived at Stillwater Mountain.

When she first caught sight of the man ruler, she was filled with awe. He was so handsome, she hid from him at first. He saw her tracks and called to her. After awhile, she gathered enough courage to come out from hiding. He told her to sit down and eat some soup. It was the best she had ever eaten. She stayed by the fire that night. The next night she slept closer to him. On the ninth night they were married. They had many children. The first was a boy and he was a very mean person. The children could not seem to get along. They fought and argued all the time.

Then one day when they were very, very unruly, the father called them together to talk to them. He told them that he had the power to separate them with one word. They began fighting before he had finished talking.

The father became very angry. He said to them, ÒI am going to separate you and then I am going up to the sky to my home. When you die you will come up to me. All you will have to do is follow that path and you will reach my home. Someday I hope you will all come to your senses and live together in peace and stop this fighting.

He took the oldest boy and gave him one of the girls and sent him west. They became the Pitt River Indians. He sent another couple east and they became the Bannocks.

The remainder of the group he kept at home and they became the Northern Paiute. Then he went up to the mountain to his home in the sky.

The woman felt so bad that she began to weep bitterly. She missed her children so much, but remained with her children, the Paiutes. The Paiutes grew into a strong tribe and became the most powerful group in the country. But the Paiute mother still grieved for her lost children, especially the Pitt River Indians, who were so poor that she cried more and more each day.

One day, she decided to sit near a mountain where she could look towards the Pitt River Country. She sat there day after day and she cried and cried. Her tears fell so fast and so much that they formed a great lake beneath her. This body of water became Pyramid Lake. She sat there so long she turned to stone. There she may be found today. She is the stone mother of Pyramid Lake and she carries her burden basket at her side.

[dragonfly Jafe]

So, since Pyramid Lake is drying up, I guess this means that the Lady of this story is not unhappy anymore?

[robotland]

Remind me to peek in that basket on the way past, this year...That should tell the tale.

[bzribee]

Wow, these have been great posts and very helpful. I don't mind some dust but I did remember that series of posts I had read and now I have the link. Thank you! THat was what I was looking for. I forgot who posted that but please do consider creating an RV tips compilation.

At the 2003 burn I covered all my windows with something dark (I forget what) and did some kind of taping and mostly stayed out of the car. It wasn't bad--in fact it stayed amazingly cool the whole time. But the hints in the thread make me think I can do even better. THis is mostly for a rental--I want to return it in reasonably good condition. BTW, the car I took in 2003 just hit 230,000 miles. Works great, but I"m a bit concerned about a 17 hour drive each way--so hence the rental. Of course, 2 years ago it was over 200,000, so who knows...

bzribee

[Martiansky]

I was thinking about bringing a car cover but thanks to the comments from people who've been there and know and to the fact I'd like to keep the finish on my truck, I will leave it at home.
I might bring some of that sticky floor protector and wrap the floor with it before hand though.

[safetythird]

At the 2003 burn I covered all my windows with something dark (I forget what) and did some kind of taping and mostly stayed out of the car. It wasn't bad--in fact it stayed amazingly cool the whole time. But the hints in the thread make me think I can do even better.

I taped space blankets (mylar) to the big front windows of the RV. Made a BIG difference in tempature. A little tricky to try to manage a space blanket flapping in the breeze while you're standing on a ladder trying not to get burned by the hot window. I may take some cardboard cut to size and apply the mylar to that then I'll only have to tape the covers over the windows. Make sure you put the space blanket on the outside of the window and use the blue painters tape, it peels off easily with no gooey residue.

Directional orientation matters too. The way we were placed in our village the morning sun baked the back bedroom part of the RV rendering it useless for sleep. We slept on the fold out bed in the front where it stayed cool enough for a few winks.

S3

[Sharky]

We taped aluminum foil to the inside of the windows with the blue painters tape. Worked great and we didn't have to worry about the wind tearing it off. The foil is cheap, easy to fold to shape and recycles when you're finished. Good stuff.

[Captain Goddammit]

I do the aluminum-foil-on-the-inside-of-the-windows thing in my camper, it also gives you relief from the bright sun if you wanna nap during the day (A/C helps a LOT too...)
I think aluminum foil has an SPF rating of about one million...

[TheJudge]

Newbies always have a hard time dealing with the dust the first time out. Wrapping the entire vehicle in saran wrap will help, plus it will make the first year folks more more identifiable.

Just embrace the dust, dont open your doors if you can help it and don't spend any time worrying about the caustic, metal-eating dust.