What should I wash my fabric soft top with?

[EuroCLK320]

Any suggestions as to the best way to keep my fabric soft top spic and span please.

It's black and I have just had it christened by a passing gull with very large bowels! :mrgreen: so any help on the best way to remove that would also be appreciated.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

normal wash wax stuff should be okay.....but for the birds gesture....warm water on a cloth should break it up. and toothpaste......

toothpaste gets the wax off plastic bits too if you get any on. i would suggest you use an old toothbrush and dont push on too hard....works a treat.

 

[kkmfo]

You can get specialist shampoos to use. Use one, rinse the hood very well, let it dry completely and then spray a special fabric hood protector on which assists waterproofing - best to wait for a nice dry mild day (preferably windy) to do this operation. It only needs doing once a year - bird poo excepted.
I use stuff from Porsche dealers because it was highly recommended. But you can get them from MB dealers and I suspect it is exactly the same stuff in a different bottle.

Clearly it worked for you Slinky but I wouldn't go rubbing toothpaste into my hood!!
Bird poo should come off easily enough with water/shampoo and a softish brush.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

toothpaste obviously needs washing off as you do it....but you will be suprised how good it works.....it is designed to clean one of the hardest known materials.


but i did say use water on the bird stuff first......its just engrained stuff that may need a bit of extra help...and to be honest the toothbrush itself should get it up if it is soaked in water first.

i assume that the waterproof coating given to these hoods will lose its abilty to repel water over time and then your hood will leak like a sieve!

 

[EuroCLK320]

Thanks for that. ;-)

 

[AAPete]

A good way to clean it if it is under warrantee is to tell them the heated rear windscreen is not working, mine was broke and the only way to fix was a new roof! £2.5 K plus labour!

 

[SLIGOGOLFER]

A soft top specialist, repairs/refits, ect. Told me recently the best way to keep my roof clean, especially around the stitching, was to use a domestic steam cleaner followed by a gentle scrub with warm soapy water and softish nail brush or similar, followed by a really good hose down with clean water.
Hope this helps.

 

[squealinneil]

You have to be careful about the detergent you use. Don't use washing up liquid or it'll strip all of the natual oils out of the cloth. Washing up liq. is designed to remove grease & will, over time, destroy any soft top.

 

[pascal]

Do not use normal wash/wax on your soft top. Besides having wax, it is too severe.

you can dry-clean with a soft brush (brush from front to back, always in the same direction)

Rinse down with clean water regularly.

Use very mild soapy water (or MB soft top cleaner), only if heavily soiled. If you use too severe a cleaner, the seams will leak (AND WILL have to be re-sealed)

Use soft top waterproofing spray on a dry, clean roof. it helps preserve it as well as protect against water penatration.

Euro, always wash off bird deposits immediatly. It is acidic.

 

[peterchurch]

I bought the autoglym soft top cleaner/protector lat week.

then I did the following

1) vacumed the roof of using the brush attachment

2) used a preasure washer to soak the roof

3) Applied the top cleaner, allowed it to soak in for a few minutes then gave the roof a scrub with a damp sponge (brings up all the suds) let that stand for a few minutes then used the pressure washer to wash the suds off...

takes about 40 minutes all in and the roof is nice and clean

then when it had dried I applied the protector

I am not too please with the protector as It only seemed last for two days worth of rain first day millions of tiny rain bubbles on the roof the next day it was back to normal

I have found a product called renovo that also does a hood dye as well I will get some of that and try that next month

 

[pascal]

Peter
Maybe that is because you used a power washer on it. MB says power washers are a no-nos for soft tops.
The Mb waterproofing is applied after cleaning. It is sprayed on when the soft top is completely dry also.

My blue top looks fine at the moment, except for the bottom at the back (a little green). Id say it was seldom used. Just enough to keep it pliable.

 

[peterchurch]

I doubt that you could get the roof cleaner out of the roof without a preasure washer it took about 10 minutes of blasting round the roof to get it out

The roof was looking very sad before I started but was back to its normal self by the end of it
As this was the first time the roof had been washed I may need to have put more waterproofing coats on...
As for not using preasure washers, I can only think that it is one of their stupid get out clauses, as the dealer in bath has a ****** powerful knock you off your feet twin barrel type, and ashton gate uses a car wash of all things !!!

I agree that you should not point any washer at the seals or upwards at the diagonal flap that is on the side of the roof though...

Out of in interest do you check for water under your carpets at all?

 

[pascal]

No I never. Will do today. Which one do you suggest.

Is your roof leaking, or has it leaked in the past?

I suppose a couple of coat of that spray waterproofing will do no harm, even if the roof seems perfect to me.

Pascal

 

[peterchurch]

No I never. Will do today. Which one do you suggest.

Is your roof leaking, or has it leaked in the past?

I suppose a couple of coat of that spray waterproofing will do no harm, even if the roof seems perfect to me.

Pascal

The carpets are layed on a thick bed of foam so you can be swimming in water and not know it last year when I had the hard top on i had a lot of water in the passenger well I never figured out where it came from but the roof was very tight and never dripped water ...

I bought the autoglym stuff for the roof but I am tempted to get the renovo stuff instead... they also have a black roof dye to stop the fading

 

[CoventGardenCabrio]

I use the Autoglym hood cleaner to get rid of stains (without a pressure washer!) and am happy with it. It works well on stains such as bird poo if you follow the instructions on the bottle. After rinsing I use an old t-shirt to soak up most of the water - don't use a chamois leather as it will probably leave some residue.

For normal cleaning (i.e. no stains but just general dust and grubbiness), I use a clothes brush which works really well.

 

[peterchurch]

I use the Autoglym hood cleaner to get rid of stains (without a pressure washer!) and am happy with it. It works well on stains such as bird poo if you follow the instructions on the bottle. After rinsing I use an old t-shirt to soak up most of the water - don't use a chamois leather as it will probably leave some residue.

For normal cleaning (i.e. no stains but just general dust and grubbiness), I use a clothes brush which works really well.

I might have over egged the amount of cleaner I used, but as I said I was not unhappy with how clean the roof was just the lack of waterproofing that the waterproofer gave me

 

[mark.s]

two companies that you should look out for, to keep your soft top in tip top condition are. 1. Renovo (soft top reviver product) www.renovointernational.com
2. Hindsight tel: 0131 3462488 www.hindsight.uk.com (restores the screens to new.

Hope this helps

 

[kkmfo]

Renovo

The carpets are layed on a thick bed of foam so you can be swimming in water and not know it last year when I had the hard top on i had a lot of water in the passenger well I never figured out where it came from but the roof was very tight and never dripped water ...

I bought the autoglym stuff for the roof but I am tempted to get the renovo stuff instead... they also have a black roof dye to stop the fading

Peter, if you do use Renovo let us know the results!

 

[pascal]

Peter my friend........ I'm LOST

I might have over egged the amount of cleaner I used, but as I said I was not unhappy with how clean the roof was just the lack of waterproofing that the waterproofer gave me

Is your roof leaking or not?

 

[peterchurch]

Sorry no the roof is not leaking but All my other Cabrios have had a finish on the roof that leaves tiny droplets of water on the roof rather than just soaking the fabric. The autoglym stuff started to give the correct result but then fell back to a damp soggy look its a finish thing rather than the roof letting in water. But there is a serparate issue with leaks