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Car Cover Guide - for those who love their cars...
To The CarCoverShop.co.uk Guide
How to select the correct car cover...
At this time of year, many people start to look into car covers, but realise it’s a complex world, full of amazing claims for some covers, and wildly varying prices.
Words like breathable, waterproof, showerproof, water resistant, custom made, tailored – what is the difference? And what do you really need?
Having advised customers worldwide since 2003, here’s our handy ‘cut, paste and keep’ guide…
www.CarCoverShop.co.uk
Definitions:
Breathable – lets moisture out through membrane in the fabric, preventing mould and algae growing.
Showerproof/water resistant – resists water or light rain, but not waterproof.
Waterproof – no matter how much rain, won’t let any through
Tailored = shaped, but not individually custom made for a specific car – ‘car shaped’.
Custom Made – made as a one-off for your car. Beware ‘custom made’ covers with mirror pockets which kind of fit – but are actually just ‘tailored’ covers with mirror pockets.
Fabrics:
Golf ball textured fabrics – often promised as waterproof, they are only water resistant. A downpour will see some filtered water batter its way through the fabric.
Shiny, coated, waterproof covers = spray coated nylon – keep a car dry from the outside but generate condensation from the inside, leading to sweating, rust and mould.
Cheap covers – less than £100. Suitable for cheap cars. Short life due to thin fabric and inadequate elastic and straps.
Waterproof covers with vents – these are useless, creating airflow around a tiny portion of the inside.
So Do I Need Custom Made?
Stretchy covers will hug the car anyway, so won’t move and rub. Strong elastic and underbody straps (not nylon cords) will keep it snug. Mirror pockets can be a pain to put on a car outside, and if your mirrors fold in, why bother with the extra cost of pockets? Fleece lining on non-stretch covers prevents marring anyway.
Indoor Covers:
Great to keep dust, spiders, animals and kids away from your paintwork, prevent scuffing and accidental damage. Stretch covers increasingly popular but beware cheap version use 130g/sm fabric, better ones (like ours) 180 g/sm. Bag quality varies too. But you can’t use a purely waterproof cover indoors nor outdoors on a cabriolet (for an extended period of time).
Car Ports, Open Barns:
An indoor cover won’t really work as blown rain and moisture will wet it, so you need a breathable, outdoor cover without going for totally waterproof. Our fleece-lined Protector4 works superbly here.
Outdoor Covers:
Total waterproofness is not vital except for priceless, older or leaky cars. Breathablity is a must have, fleece lining is good to have, mirror pockets are very optional. A well fitting off the shelf cover in a quality fabric is a better cover than a custom made one in poor fabric.
Our Recommendations:
Indoors - Ready Made - Soft Stretch
Recommended by AutoExpress only last week, from £99 and in 6 sizes and 4 colour options,. These are extremely popular. From only £99.
Buy Now
Indoors - Custom Made - Peachskin
Made from a lightweight, hi-tech breathable fabric which is even lightly shower resistant, in 12+ colours for hundreds of models of car, from £145. We think the best value genuine custom made covers available.
Buy Now
Outdoors - Breathable - Protector4
Our fleece-lined 4 layer Protector4 is breathable and water resistant, perfect for cabriolets and modern cars, in 7 sizes from £112. Perfect for most needs.
Buy Now
Outdoors - Waterproof & Breathable
The apogee of cover fabric. Keeps a car perfectly dry, hugs the bodywork as made from neoprene-like stretchy fabric. Good scuff resistance, strong straps and elastic. Use indoors and out. Loved by our customers !
Buy Now
Car Cover Shop
Operated by Morethanpolish Ltd
Unit 15, Station Road
Barnack
Stamford
PE9 3DW
England
Phone: +44 (0)1780 654088
To The CarCoverShop.co.uk Guide
How to select the correct car cover...
At this time of year, many people start to look into car covers, but realise it’s a complex world, full of amazing claims for some covers, and wildly varying prices.
Words like breathable, waterproof, showerproof, water resistant, custom made, tailored – what is the difference? And what do you really need?
Having advised customers worldwide since 2003, here’s our handy ‘cut, paste and keep’ guide…
www.CarCoverShop.co.uk
Definitions:
Breathable – lets moisture out through membrane in the fabric, preventing mould and algae growing.
Showerproof/water resistant – resists water or light rain, but not waterproof.
Waterproof – no matter how much rain, won’t let any through
Tailored = shaped, but not individually custom made for a specific car – ‘car shaped’.
Custom Made – made as a one-off for your car. Beware ‘custom made’ covers with mirror pockets which kind of fit – but are actually just ‘tailored’ covers with mirror pockets.
Fabrics:
Golf ball textured fabrics – often promised as waterproof, they are only water resistant. A downpour will see some filtered water batter its way through the fabric.
Shiny, coated, waterproof covers = spray coated nylon – keep a car dry from the outside but generate condensation from the inside, leading to sweating, rust and mould.
Cheap covers – less than £100. Suitable for cheap cars. Short life due to thin fabric and inadequate elastic and straps.
Waterproof covers with vents – these are useless, creating airflow around a tiny portion of the inside.
So Do I Need Custom Made?
Stretchy covers will hug the car anyway, so won’t move and rub. Strong elastic and underbody straps (not nylon cords) will keep it snug. Mirror pockets can be a pain to put on a car outside, and if your mirrors fold in, why bother with the extra cost of pockets? Fleece lining on non-stretch covers prevents marring anyway.
Indoor Covers:
Great to keep dust, spiders, animals and kids away from your paintwork, prevent scuffing and accidental damage. Stretch covers increasingly popular but beware cheap version use 130g/sm fabric, better ones (like ours) 180 g/sm. Bag quality varies too. But you can’t use a purely waterproof cover indoors nor outdoors on a cabriolet (for an extended period of time).
Car Ports, Open Barns:
An indoor cover won’t really work as blown rain and moisture will wet it, so you need a breathable, outdoor cover without going for totally waterproof. Our fleece-lined Protector4 works superbly here.
Outdoor Covers:
Total waterproofness is not vital except for priceless, older or leaky cars. Breathablity is a must have, fleece lining is good to have, mirror pockets are very optional. A well fitting off the shelf cover in a quality fabric is a better cover than a custom made one in poor fabric.
Our Recommendations:
Indoors - Ready Made - Soft Stretch
Recommended by AutoExpress only last week, from £99 and in 6 sizes and 4 colour options,. These are extremely popular. From only £99.
Buy Now
Indoors - Custom Made - Peachskin
Made from a lightweight, hi-tech breathable fabric which is even lightly shower resistant, in 12+ colours for hundreds of models of car, from £145. We think the best value genuine custom made covers available.
Buy Now
Outdoors - Breathable - Protector4
Our fleece-lined 4 layer Protector4 is breathable and water resistant, perfect for cabriolets and modern cars, in 7 sizes from £112. Perfect for most needs.
Buy Now
Outdoors - Waterproof & Breathable
The apogee of cover fabric. Keeps a car perfectly dry, hugs the bodywork as made from neoprene-like stretchy fabric. Good scuff resistance, strong straps and elastic. Use indoors and out. Loved by our customers !
Buy Now
Car Cover Shop
Operated by Morethanpolish Ltd
Unit 15, Station Road
Barnack
Stamford
PE9 3DW
England
Phone: +44 (0)1780 654088
