Cleaning your soft top

[BigR]

My GranCabrio is my first soft top of any car, so any advice on how best to clean it / what to clean it with / ...? As its fabric it doesn't seem quite right to plough on with my normal application of Meguiars that I would use over the rest of the bodywork - or is it???

 

[BennyD]

I've never really had to clean mine as it's always down. I did get it re-proofed last year and that seems to have done the trick.

 

[Chrisbassett]

Use a car-shampoo and a medium-hard brush, rinse thoroughly (it may take a while to get it completely rinsed) and leave to dry. Spray with a fabric roof sealer, I think I used meguiars, but I'm sure there's very little between that and Autoglym and the others out there. The black roof came up a dark black again, after looking a bit faded for a while.

I'm sure a professional would be a good idea, but don't know how much difference it makes over some hard labour...

 

[safrane]

I used autoglym soft top kit. I also covered the pait work with clingfilm as the waterproof dries like PVA Glue on paint and glass and the drips are a bugger to remove.

 

[BigR]

Useful tips, thanks all!

 

[Gazcw]

My GranCabrio is my first soft top of any car, so any advice on how best to clean it / what to clean it with / ...? As its fabric it doesn't seem quite right to plough on with my normal application of Meguiars that I would use over the rest of the bodywork - or is it???

Used Renovo cleaner and then Renovo ultraproofer on the wife's A4 cab last weekend. Brushed with a soft brush to remove dust etc. in the direction stated in handbook and then you paint on the cleaner, leave for upto an hour and then agitate with nail brush or sponge. The ultraproofer goes on when dry (if new you won't need this yet). Roof now looks new and water beads up and runs off. Picked it up from amazon as they stock it at a good price. Apparently there are cheap copies on auction sites. A Hoover also works well for dust and bits but you do get some looks hoovering a car roof!

 

[conaero]

Used Renovo cleaner and then Renovo ultraproofer on the wife's A4 cab last weekend. Brushed with a soft brush to remove dust etc. in the direction stated in handbook and then you paint on the cleaner, leave for upto an hour and then agitate with nail brush or sponge. The ultraproofer goes on when dry (if new you won't need this yet). Roof now looks new and water beads up and runs off. Picked it up from amazon as they stock it at a good price. Apparently there are cheap copies on auction sites. A Hoover also works well for dust and bits but you do get some looks hoovering a car roof!

Seconded.

 

[safrane]

I vacume the roof!