Green algae etc. on your soft top?

gramey

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Ok so I know I'm a traitor having moved to an Audi S4 cabriolet but if you have a soft top that needs a little TLC I have no hesitation in recommending the product below. The cabrio I bought had lived outside for 7 years and it clearly showed with the green algae/mould on the roof.

I'd tried cleaning it twice with Autoglym soft top cleaner with a modest but not acceptable result so looking for something that would get my roof how I wanted it I found this on Amazon. As it said in the reviews if you want the instructions you need to get them off their website as the bottle is all in German. That said it's no different to most of the others, give your roof a hoover and brush to remove any debris, wet it with a garden hose before spraying this on. I then gently agitated it with a Vilkan convertible roof brush which I also purchased through the aforementioned site. I then rinsed it thoroughly until no more product was showing in the water as it came off. Once dry I've then treated the roof with Fabsil to keep as much moisture out of the roof in future even though I keep my car in a garage.

If you've read this far sorry there are no before and after photos I just never thought to take any before ones and without them an after one is pointless. All I can say is I lik to think I'm fairly picky so I wouldn't recommend it if I wasn't happy with the results.

https://www.nigrin.com/produkte/74182/NIGRIN-Performance-Verdeck-Reiniger

:)
 

fabes

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Diluted Milton's worked well for me over the years, but if the industry is developing better solutions (pun intended) then recommendations are welcomed

An Audi though.......:shock:
 
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gramey

gramey

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Diluted Milton's worked well for me over the years, but if the industry is developing better solutions (pun intended) then recommendations are welcomed

An Audi though.......:shock:
Yeah I know an Audi, but it's a quick Audi. :)
 
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gramey

gramey

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My hat off to all you ingenious chaps, never having risked any of these things there are people saying they've use domestic limescale remover and all sorts as well as Miltons and white vinegar but I'm not adventurous enough to risk finding out the hard way if they were wrong. So sorry for the long waffling post but I thought it may help others like me, cautious. :)
 

Chrishazle

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Saw a post recently that recommended Wet and Forget for mould etc removal from a ragtop that lives outdoors - and their website even says it's suitable for ragtop use! Thinking of buying some for the garage roof, driveway (£30 for 5L that makes 30L) so may keep a bit for the 968 roof! Previous owner of my 968 cab used Fabsil for waterproofing, works fine, but if you need re-colouring and waterproofing after cleaning I used Renovo (cleaner, colourant and waterproofer) not long after I bough my 968 cab 6 1/2 years ago, have re-proofed it a couple of times (once with Fabsil) and only now does it need re-colouring - but she lives in a garage, very seldom out in the wet, very seldom roof up - plus I still have enough Renovo to do the roof again!

One small point - for re-colouring, mask everything off well as the colourant is thinner than water, gets everywhere, is easy to remove from paintwork when whet and a PITA once dry!!
 

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Yes if you want to smell like a fish and chip shop as you drive around.
Use it diluted and rinse when done. Smell isn't an issue.

As an aside it's the best thing we've ever found for killing Ivy too. Back of the house was covered in the stuff and 20litres later (neat) and with no reapplication it's still clear a year on.
We tried Roundup and may as well have used fertiliser for all the effect it had.
 

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As above Milton baby sterilising tablets , gets rid of green mould cheaply. Johnsons baby wash shampoo is good for gentle roof cleaning . Top it off with Fabsil applied with a brush for waterproofing . I find if you spray Fabsil on the roof , use a gloved hand (one of the disposable gloves with no white powder on ) to rub the liquid into the roof surface .
If it needs recolouring , Renovo is great , I paint it on with a brush and just leave a damp cloth handy for any drips, but I don't bother masking anything up anymore , it takes more time than painting the roof .
 

Chrishazle

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I found it was not just the drips with the Renovo colourant, it got into all the drainage channels etc., which I did not see until it was dry and a PITA to get off - I was still finding dry bits months later!!
 

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I found it was not just the drips with the Renovo colourant, it got into all the drainage channels etc., which I did not see until it was dry and a PITA to get off - I was still finding dry bits months later!!
Ive not had that problem , but I do try and not "over wet" the last inch near the edge so it doesn't have the chance to run .
 

Chrishazle

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Neither have I - recently! I did the 968 cab roof not long after I bought her 6 years ago, OK the roof now looks in need of re-colouring, but I'm pretty happy that the 3 stage (clean, re-colour, reproof) Renovo treatment has lasted this long - although I have Fabsil'd the roof a couple of times.
 
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gramey

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Having actually got it clean with the Nigrin I'm quite happy that the roof doesn't need recolouring but I'll bear in mind the nature of the colourant if it gets to the stage where it needs doing.
 

LostKiwi

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According to a guy I know who sells soft top roofs Renovo can cause problems with some roofs as its almost an emulsion type product which stiffens the roof and can cause further issues. He also says not to use protectants as they cause the water to rn off when the mohair is actually designed to wick the water away.
 

Chrishazle

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Wighty

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According to a guy I know who sells soft top roofs Renovo can cause problems with some roofs as its almost an emulsion type product which stiffens the roof and can cause further issues. He also says not to use protectants as they cause the water to rn off when the mohair is actually designed to wick the water away.
Merc actually sell reproofing sprays for their soft tops, and it's on the B service for soft tops to reproof them . So not sure on your buddies protectant advice ?
 
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