Soft top cleaning

[Mr2paul]

Hi all. One of the first jobs I will be doing as soon as we get a complete dry day is cleaning and proofing the soft top. Iv seen many kits and to be honest, I don't think they are needed and when considering 500ml is the rec amount I think £35 is far too much.
I propose to clean with a general shampoo and then proof with a standard outdoor waterproofer which is way cheaper than the " convertable roof " tagged products as they seem to add another zero to those !!!   Btw my proofer does mention softops but mainly its tents/ clothing etc so targets campers etc.
Any thoughts or advise welcome. Cheers.

[1979scotte]

Always used renovo when I could be bothered less than 13 quid on amazon

[Mr2paul]

Is that the waterproofer ? Iv seen that, my point was the 3 step kits with the "special" brush etc. 3x 500ml bottles for 1 cleanup. I can see youve got it covered. 👍

[Ardent]

Just for clarity, is your roof vinyl or more a canvas type material

I didn't think vinyl needed reproofing. Smartening up yes.

I have a canvas type roof and went with a nikwax product.  Posted on here somewhere.

[Joesson]

@Mr2paul
 As @Ardent rightly asks, is your roof vinyl if so that is likely the OE roof and does not need/ cannot be / reproofed.
The handbook advises cleaning with soap and water, I also use a soft brush for any stubborn detritus.
It will then need " smartening up ", for that I use Aerospace Protectant 303, a product for protection vinyl and plastic materials against deterioration.

[1979scotte]

Mohair or vinyl i still use renovo.
It comes in different colours to match the roof too.

[Joesson]

Mohair or vinyl i still use renovo.
It comes in different colours to match the roof too.

I had to check!!
Renovo offer products for fabric roofs, they also offer products for vinyl roofs.
Renovo products are reportedly good, but Aerospace Protectant 303 is out of this World😉

[Mr2paul]

It's a fabric roof of some kind, def not vinyl.

[Joesson]

It's a fabric roof of some kind, def not vinyl.

If that's the case you'll just have to make do with Renovo😉
As with all things I believe preparation is important so firstly I would make sure the roof material is clean as any protectant will not be absorbed into the dirty fabric.

[Mr Lazy]

I tidied up my roof a bit a couple of weeks ago. It is the standard OE roof, which looks like fabric with a vinyl coating, so not mohair and not the cheap vinyl that I think came with the mk1 MXengineinthewrongplace. I cleaned it with washing up liquid (didn't see the need for anything fancy) and a soft car wash brush from Halfrauds to give it a good scrub without scratching it to pieces. When I bought the car, I found a container of Autoglym vinyl and rubber care in the glovebox, so I thought I would use that to 'treat' it (even though it clearly hadn't been used on the roof previously). It came out really well, looking new with a bit of a sheen. If still looks good after several rain downpours.