Cleaning a convertable top

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Larry A

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What is the best stuff to use to clean a dirty white convertable top?
 
Ragtopp and 303 make kits with all thats needed, you just need to know the type of roof (vinyl or fabric)
 
Going to do my wife's this weekend with Raggtop cleaner.
Have used it before with great results.
 
Larry A said:
What is the best stuff to use to clean a dirty white convertible top?
Click to expand...

Hi Larry,

I'm going to guess that when you ask about cleaning a dirty white convertible top you mean what can you use to restore a *bright* white appearance like the top had when it was new?

White convertible tops, both vinyl and cloth are the hardest to make look new, (bright white), because any embedded dirt or staining that penetrates into the material is hard to "fully" remove and stands out like a sore thumb if the material around the staining does restore to a bright white color.

I have not used the 303 product line yet for any color of convertible top but that is on the to do list, I have used the RaggTopp brand and the Meguiar's Marine Line Canvas cleaner and protectant and both RaggTopp and Meguiar's product have worked great.

The key to getting a dirty top clean, no matter what the color, is to follow a few steps in order and use quality product and tools.

For a canvas top the first thing you want to do is vacuum the exterior surface really well and the reason for this is to remove any loose dirt or dust "off" the surface. If you don't remove loose dirt and dust and instead just get the top wet with water or a liquid cleaner, what happens is the liquid, (water or a cleaner), will liquefy the dirt and dust and draw it deeper into the fabric weave of the cloth. Can you flush the dirt out? Sure, but why not suck it off the surface with a vacuum in the first place?

After that you want to get the top wet with water so you don't introduce straight chemical cleaners direct to the fabric, getting the top wet first will buffer or lessen the aggressiveness of any cleaning agents introduced to the top material and this is just a precautionary step to work safely. After you get the top wet, use a strong spray of water to loosen and remove any dirt that vacuuming did not remove.

Now spray on your cleaner and work the cleaner into and over the top material using some type of brush that offers gentle scrubbing power. I personally find a Boar's Hair Brush like the one we show in our video or even the one we sell for safely washing wheels to be ideal.

You can use whatever brush you like but the key is to avoid any brushes with stiff bristles because stiff bristles are too aggressive and will cause the fibers that make-up a canvas top to fray or loosen away from the weave and this will give your top a fuzzy appearance. Once you do this, the damage is not easily undone.

After you work the cleaner rinse the top thoroughly until you no longer see the cleaning agents foaming or sudsing as you spray the top with water.

At this point if you can no longer see any dirt or staining the stop and dry the top and then inspect again after the top has dried.

RaggTopp recommends waiting till the top is dry and then inspect to see if a second application is needed, this is because any remaining stains and dirt might not show up until the top is dry. If the top still needs cleaning the repeat the cleaning step.

For mold and mildew is a living organism, it's actually a type of tiny fungi or biological growth that lives wherever it can find food and moisture, when the fungi dies it leaves behind spores that will spring to life anytime moisture is restored. In order to remove mold and mildew you need to remove the fungus, the staining and the spores. Mold usually imparts a grayish or even black looking staining, which is both on the surface embedded into the material itself. This is why completely removing 100% all of the blackish staining can be somewhat difficult.

I know people have used Bleach, Comet with Bleach, Westley's Bleche White, and an array of different product sold just for removing mold and mildew, if the top you're working on has this kind of staining then you'll have to do some research and then make your own decision as to which products to use to safely remove the mold and mildew stains.

NOTE: I'm not recommending any bleach type products in this reply as they may cause damage to the top or even your clothes or your interior, I'm just pointing out for reference what others have used.


One option is the DP Cleanse-All Exterior Cleaner in our Detailer's Pride Line, this is a powerful but safe all purpose cleaner and I keep a couple bottles in the studio at all times to clean just about anything. Before a video shoot I even use it on the white tiles of the black and white tile floor to make sure they are bright white on video.


All these tiles were wiped down by hand before the video was shot to remove tire tracks from pulling the car in and positioning it as well as remove normal dirt build-up from foot traffic.

Black2010Camaro014.jpg

​



After you get the top clean, the next step is important, you want the top to be bone-dry, as in drier than dirt in the desert for 40 years kind of dry, then apply the protectant.

After you apply the first coating, most manufactures strongly recommend you let the first coating completely dry before adding a 2nd or 3rd application.

So cleaning a convertible top and then sealing the top with a protectant will usually require a day or two due to the time needed to insure a dry surface in-between steps.

You can speed the process up placing a a fan in your garage to blow air over the top or if it's warm an sunny outside then exposing the top to the sun, just be careful that it's not winding with a lot of dust in the air or your top will get dirty and when you apply the protectant you will seal the dirt inside.

In a perfect world you will be able to leave the car under some type of cover, like a garage or carport or shop while it's drying to avoid airborne dirt and dust landing on the top and then being sealed in.

I actually go over all most all of the above here,



Show Car Garage Video: How To Clean and Protect a Cloth Convertible Top







:)
 
Thanks for the write up Mike.
I think it will help many of us to stay on track.
Good job, take the rest of the day off :dblthumb2:
 
If you have a cloth top treat it exactly the same as you would with carpet. A quick once over with a vac. Pretreat stains and gently blot them out. Use a carpet shampoo or APC to clean. Once clean and dry apply your a canvas top sealer. For this I use a product called Aqua-tite. It lasts much longer than 303 and is cheaper.
 
Larry A said:
The top is vinyl!
Click to expand...

I'm actually pretty good at replying to posts where little details are left out and asking for clarification before typing out detailed answers, just look at how many times someone has come to the forum, asked questions about their "PC" and I ask them if it's a "New" PC as in the 7424XP version or a First Generation PC and then they clarify and that helps everyone to recommend a smaller pad size if they have the first generation because the first generations don't have the ability to rotate pads as well as the newer XP model.

But in this case I didn't ask for clarifcation... my mistake.

Well thank you for adding that little tidbit of information to your original post, disregard everything written on how to clean and protect a canvas top Larry...

Vinyl tops are easier to work on because you don't have to be as careful due to the "Fiber Factor". You still want to use quality chemicals and don't get too aggressive of a brush to agitate stains but vinyl tops are a lot more forgiving.

Any of our Vinyl Top Kits should work well to clean and protect a neglected vinyl top,


Check them out here...

Vinyl Convertible Top Products


:props:
 
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