How to Paint a Camper Exterior

There’s a budget friendly type of paint that works great for painting the outside of a camper!

This post will give you a full tutorial on how to paint the exterior of a camper including how to clean and prepare before painting, how to remove decals or how to paint over decals on a camper, and how to paint clean lines for stripes or a two-toned finish on a camper.

Inexpensive paint that works to paint the outside of a pop up camper or RV

I bought a 1993 (or maybe it was a 1994?) pop up camper several years ago for a steal of a deal. Unfortunately, this cheap price came with a rotting roof! After rebuilding the entire frame of the roof, I updated the interior and it looked like new.

Well, at least from the inside. The outside showed its age with peeling 1990s colored decals and faded trim. This summer, I finally got around to giving the outside a facelift as well with green and white paint and stenciled trees.

before image of Green and white painted camper with tree stencils pop up camper remodel

First, here’s a look at all the projects I’ve done on our little pop-up camper:

How to Clean a RV Before Painting

Like anything I paint, I always make sure to clean the surface well. To clean the exterior of a RV before painting, use car wash soap mixed with water and a large scrub brush. Clean and then rinse the surface. If you have a power washer, this will also work well to clean the exterior.

Right before painting, I go over the surface with denatured alcohol (rubbing alcohol will also work fine) to remove any extra residue or oils. Just place some on a cloth and wipe over the surface. (If you have decals you need to remove first, go to the step below and wait to apply the alcohol until after they are removed.)

How to Remove RV Decals Before Painting

Now, if you have decals on your camper you have two choices before painting – remove them or paint right over them! If your camper is newer (made within the last 20 years), you might have good luck with removing the decals easily.

I would honestly try to remove them using the method below to see if it works easily before reverting to option #2, which is to paint over them.

use a heat gun to remove decals on a camper before painting

To remove the decals, I’ve found that using a heat gun and a spatula scraping tool works well (you might even have luck with a hair dryer on high heat as well!). Simply heat up the decal and then scrape it off with the scraper.

Then, use a fine grade steel wool dipped in mineral spirits to remove any excess gunk. Unfortunately, older campers can have some really caked on and/or gooey decal gunk that makes them very stuck on.

If the heat gun doesn’t work, you can try Goo Gone or WD-40 which some have also had success with to remove the sticky decals.

If none of this works for yours, I would suggest trying out option #2 (which is what I did because after 30 minutes of removing decals on approximately 1/8 of the camper, I was done, impatient, and ready to move along!

How to Paint Over Decals on a Camper

Chances are that if your RV decals won’t come off using the methods above, they are stuck on there for good and won’t magically start to peel off after being painted over. However, because decals are slightly raised and the edges can sometimes peel/flake away, you want to be sure to address this before painting.

how to remove decals before painting a camper

To get as smooth of a surface as possible, use 80 grit sandpaper (using an orbital-sander here would be optimal, but you could hand sand it as well) and sand along the edges of the decals. This will remove any fly-away decals and give a smoother transition between camper and decal when painting over them.

how to paint over decals on a camper

I took the extra step to apply some Peel-Stop primer that I had left over from another project. If you don’t want to purchase this, I think that simply applying regular primer over the decals as described in the next step should also be sufficient.

Priming a Camper Exterior Before Painting

I’m a pretty big fan of priming before painting. When I paint kitchen cabinets I always prime them and when I paint furniture pieces I often prime before painting. Clearly, I’m not going to stray from my own advice on this project.

When painting the exterior of a camper I would highly recommend one coat of primer before painting. Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Plus Primer is a budget-friendly primer that works well for most basic priming needs. It works on interior and exterior applications and can be used under both water-based and oil-based paints.

steps for painting the exterior of a camper

After I cleaned everything and let it dry, I applied a coat of primer to every surface I planned to paint.

Best Paint to Use on the Outside of a Camper

I’ve read differing advice on this topic, so I had to base my decision on the advice of my dad and my personal experience with a lot of different kinds of paint. My dad has painted many cars, trucks and machinery over the past few decades, and his recommendation was to use oil-based paint.

I rarely, rarely use oil-based paint, but the benefit of the strength of the finish for a moveable, exterior finish convinced me to use it. It applied and adhered really well.

Rustoleum Oil Based Paint to paint the exterior of a camper

Other options that I have heard work well besides oil-based paint:

  • automotive paint (made especially for this type of application, but much more expensive)
  • Alkyd enamel paint (water-based)
  • Two-Stage automotive paint (I used this on my ’65 Shasta camper)

If you want a water-based paint, I would lean towards using an alkyd enamel paint. I’ve read that this type of paint has worked well for campers for others.

Additionally, most brands of alkyd paint can be used in exterior applications. I actually LOVE this type of paint for many interior applications (including kitchen cabinets). This post will give you all the different brands of alkyd paint, the prices, and where they can be purchased.

If I opted for water-based instead of oil-based paint, this would have been the paint I would have used.

steps for painting the exterior of a camper

Many people recommend spraying the exterior of a camper. I have a sprayer and generally like spraying pieces, but I decided to hand paint my little pop-up camper. (We’ll see if I make this same decision when I paint my larger travel trailer!)

I used a brush to cut in the edges, and then I rolled the rest of the paint on the surface. Two coats was the perfect amount for my camper (especially since I primed to begin).

Line a painter's tray with foil for easy clean up

Since oil-based paint can only be cleaned up with paint thinner, I lined my paint tray with aluminum foil to make clean up way easier.

How to Paint Clean Lines on a RV Camper

To give the pop-up camper a little something extra, I decided to split the paint to give it a two-toned finish. After painting the entire camper in white, I added the green on the bottom.

Getting clean lines when using painter’s tape (especially on a rough, bumpy surface like my camper) can be pretty difficult. If you just use painter’s tape (even the best kind) some of the second color will bleed under the paint, and even more so when you’re painting on a rough surface. To help stop bleed through when painting lines, the trick it to follow these steps:

Put down the painter’s tape (this brand of painter’s tape is the best and the only I ever use).

steps for painting the exterior of a camper

Paint on the side of the tape you plan to put the new color (green), but first paint in the original color (white). (This seems counterintuitive, but this allows the original color to bleed under the tape, forming a clean seam at the tape line.)

steps for painting clean lines on exterior of a camper or RV

Once that paint is dry, paint the new, second color (green) along the tape edge and the rest of the area. This will usually take two coats of paint. It’s important to keep the tape in place until after the second coat has been applied.

painting a pop up camper white and green with a stripe using oil based paint

Remove the tape. Most of the paint seepage will be in the first color (white in my case). Because of this, the green paint had nowhere to creep into!

green and white painted pop up camper

You’ll also see these steps in the video at the bottom of this post.

Finishing Touches

Oil-based paint does not require a topcoat because the finish dries to a hard and durable finish. I decided to add a tree stencil to the back of both sides.

I cut the stencil using my Silhouette, but there are so many options for pre-cut stencils to purchase. If I had purchased them instead of making them, I would have bought this group of tree stencils.

Green and white painted camper with tree stencils pop up camper remodel

You can see I didn’t paint the top of the camper. I probably should have, but then didn’t get around to it before deciding to sell it to make room for the new to us hybrid camper we purchased.

You better believe that camper has brought on more waterproofing projects as well as interior update projects. All of these will be coming soon!

steps for painting the exterior of a camper

8 Comments

  1. Hi! Love this – thank you! I’m handy in all house zones, and have been a trailer camper for a long time. This is the first time I’m redoing a camper. I’ve got a 1999 Jayco pop up and am excited to paint it when the extensive exterior prep is finished – almost done, whew! Wondering for the oil based rustoleum paint, the green color you used, if a white base (or other base) can be tinted. I am wanting to do a lime green or turquoise color. Seems almost no places sell the oil based paint any more so wondering if you know anything about that? Thank you – Mehgan in Colorado

    1. Hi Mehgan! I’m pretty sure Rustoleum oil-based paint can’t be tinted. They can be mixed together, but you might end up with a huge mess and a color you still don’t like. I am pretty sure that Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams both have an oil-based paint for painting exterior of houses, and I would guess they custom tint to all their colors. Might be worth a stop at one of their stores if you have one nearby. I have heard of people using water based exterior house paint on their campers with good results. I have never tried it, but if I did, I would go for one of the highest grades of exterior paints that a company offers. If you prep well, my thought is that it should probably be okay. Let me know how it all turns out – I’d love to learn if you’re able to find a custom color or if you use water based exterior paint with success!

      1. Hi Jenny, my name is Kim. I do handyman work and my specialty is painting. I also love remodeling rv’s and trailers. I am in the process of redoing a 1984 Itasco Winnebago. I enjoyed this post and wanted to day thank you for explaining the way you change colors haLfway through using tape and the original paint color. This is the first time anyone has explained that where it made sense to me. I’ve heard a few versions , some with clear caulking , but they didn’t work like I was hoping. I’m excited to try this. I will be reading g more posts and I’ll send some pics when my rv project is finished. Talk soo,
        Kim Curtis
        Pahrump, NV

        1. Hi Kim! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Yes, that trick of using the base coat first works so much better than trying to just paint with the second color, especially if the surface is textured. Although I sometimes see tiny bits seep under the paint, it’s WAY less than without that trick. Let me know how it works for you, and please send some pics my way as you work through projects! I looked up that model and I definitely remember those – what a cool reno to take on.

    1. I’ve used oil-baaed paint on my aluminum pop up camper and it worked really well as a budget friendly option (I rolled and brushed but it can also be sprayed). I recently tried single stage automotive paint on the exterior of my ’65 Shasta (aluminum as well) and it was amazing to paint with (I sprayed it, and I think it really only works for spraying). Unfortunately, auto paint is way more expensive, so I think I’ll stick with oil-based for my projects. I’ve heard of people using exterior water-based paint on campers with success, but I personally haven’t tried it.

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