Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 7
How To: Clean & Protect a Vinyl Top with Pinnacle Black Label Leather & Vinyl Coating
Pinnacle Black Label Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner and Leather & Vinyl Coating
Recently I had a 1937 Ford Woody here at Autogeek for a couple of projects.
1: How-to Video on the Scuff & Buff Wetsanding Technique
2: Review & How-To: GYEON Pure Ceramic Coating + GYEON Compound & Polish
Before starting on either of the two above project however, I needed to do a waterless wash to the Woody to get the outside clean. This is a garage-kept car that has recently been repainted and also recently had a brand new vinyl top installed over the roof. The car was dirty, from top to bottom so I did my normal SONAX Glass Cleaner Rinseless Wash and during the process I was able to FEEL how rough the vinyl top felt to the touch. My guess being that after the new vinyl top was installed, the car has seen a lot of action in the way of upgrading and mechanical restoration and in the process, it probably has not only loose dirt but dry spray plus who knows what else has landed and bonded to the top in the way of a dirt-film.
Here's how the top looked AFTER the rinseless wash. Looks pretty clean huh?
Step 1: Clean the vinyl top
Here's some Pinnacle Black Label Hide-Soft Cleaner plus two white microfiber towels. I like to use light colored towels for projects like this so I can see by the dirt on the towels, just how much dirt was on the top.
The Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner is a thin, water-like cleaner, so don't expect a thicker lotion-like product.
First I whetted one of the microfiber towels with the product.
Then proceeded to scrub the vinyl with the cleaner and the towel.
Here you can see I cleaned a section about 2' x 2' - basically what I could reach and scrub with force while standing on a work platform.
This is a surprising amount of dirt and grime to come off this one section considering I already did a rinseless wash to the top and entire car.
I guess this is what is meant by - Deep Cleaning - that and some dedicated Elbow Grease supplied by yours truly.
I continued working down the length of the driver's side of the top.
In this shot, you can easily tell the side I cleaned is a richer, even a tick darker than the passenger side, which I have not used the cleaner on yet.
Step 2: Massage the Pinnacle Black Label Leather & Vinyl Coating over and into the vinyl top.
For this I'm using the hand backing pad that comes with a SONAX Clay Disc, because it has Velcro on one side and a handy velcro strap on the other side. I've attached a 6.5" Lake Country white foam THINPRO polishing pad to the face of the hand backing pad.
NOTE: After applying to about half of the top I switched over to a Lake Country 6.5" BLACK foam THINPRO pad as I found the white foam polishing pad to be to stiff for this type of product application and massaging of the surface.
Spray, spray spray.... I dampened the face of the foam pad with product.
Then I sprayed the product directly onto the vinyl top.
Now comes the rubbing and massaging part.
I moved down the top from the back of the car to the front of the car.
I applied and worked-in a heavy or wet application of the product.
After taking a few side-by-side, before and after pictures I proceeded to rub down the passenger side.
I let the product soak in for about an hour while I left to eat my lunch and get caught up on my computer.
Step 3: Wipe off any excess using a clean, dry microfiber towel.
After lunch, I removed any excess to leave behind hind a crisp, rich looking vinyl top that will show-off better on this streetrod.
This looks and FEELS so much nicer than when this car first arrived.
Final Results
Here's the final look after doing all the vinyl detailing plus the wetsanding and ceramic coating procedures to this Woody Streetrod.
The Leather & Vinyl Coating is a favorite product of mine for maintaining both leather and vinyl interiors as well as all the plastic found in the engine compartment of most cars. After application and wiping off any excess it leaves a non-sticky, rich, dark looking finish that also feels great to the touch. Besides working great on car interiors, it appears to be just as suited for exterior vinyl surfaces also.
On Autogeek.com
Pinnacle Black Label Leather & Vinyl Coating
Pinnacle Black Label Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner

Pinnacle Black Label Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner and Leather & Vinyl Coating
Recently I had a 1937 Ford Woody here at Autogeek for a couple of projects.
1: How-to Video on the Scuff & Buff Wetsanding Technique
2: Review & How-To: GYEON Pure Ceramic Coating + GYEON Compound & Polish
Before starting on either of the two above project however, I needed to do a waterless wash to the Woody to get the outside clean. This is a garage-kept car that has recently been repainted and also recently had a brand new vinyl top installed over the roof. The car was dirty, from top to bottom so I did my normal SONAX Glass Cleaner Rinseless Wash and during the process I was able to FEEL how rough the vinyl top felt to the touch. My guess being that after the new vinyl top was installed, the car has seen a lot of action in the way of upgrading and mechanical restoration and in the process, it probably has not only loose dirt but dry spray plus who knows what else has landed and bonded to the top in the way of a dirt-film.
Here's how the top looked AFTER the rinseless wash. Looks pretty clean huh?
Step 1: Clean the vinyl top
Here's some Pinnacle Black Label Hide-Soft Cleaner plus two white microfiber towels. I like to use light colored towels for projects like this so I can see by the dirt on the towels, just how much dirt was on the top.
The Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner is a thin, water-like cleaner, so don't expect a thicker lotion-like product.
First I whetted one of the microfiber towels with the product.
Then proceeded to scrub the vinyl with the cleaner and the towel.
Here you can see I cleaned a section about 2' x 2' - basically what I could reach and scrub with force while standing on a work platform.
This is a surprising amount of dirt and grime to come off this one section considering I already did a rinseless wash to the top and entire car.
I guess this is what is meant by - Deep Cleaning - that and some dedicated Elbow Grease supplied by yours truly.
I continued working down the length of the driver's side of the top.
In this shot, you can easily tell the side I cleaned is a richer, even a tick darker than the passenger side, which I have not used the cleaner on yet.
Step 2: Massage the Pinnacle Black Label Leather & Vinyl Coating over and into the vinyl top.
For this I'm using the hand backing pad that comes with a SONAX Clay Disc, because it has Velcro on one side and a handy velcro strap on the other side. I've attached a 6.5" Lake Country white foam THINPRO polishing pad to the face of the hand backing pad.
NOTE: After applying to about half of the top I switched over to a Lake Country 6.5" BLACK foam THINPRO pad as I found the white foam polishing pad to be to stiff for this type of product application and massaging of the surface.
Spray, spray spray.... I dampened the face of the foam pad with product.
Then I sprayed the product directly onto the vinyl top.
Now comes the rubbing and massaging part.
I moved down the top from the back of the car to the front of the car.
I applied and worked-in a heavy or wet application of the product.
After taking a few side-by-side, before and after pictures I proceeded to rub down the passenger side.
I let the product soak in for about an hour while I left to eat my lunch and get caught up on my computer.
Step 3: Wipe off any excess using a clean, dry microfiber towel.
After lunch, I removed any excess to leave behind hind a crisp, rich looking vinyl top that will show-off better on this streetrod.
This looks and FEELS so much nicer than when this car first arrived.
Final Results
Here's the final look after doing all the vinyl detailing plus the wetsanding and ceramic coating procedures to this Woody Streetrod.
The Leather & Vinyl Coating is a favorite product of mine for maintaining both leather and vinyl interiors as well as all the plastic found in the engine compartment of most cars. After application and wiping off any excess it leaves a non-sticky, rich, dark looking finish that also feels great to the touch. Besides working great on car interiors, it appears to be just as suited for exterior vinyl surfaces also.
On Autogeek.com
Pinnacle Black Label Leather & Vinyl Coating
Pinnacle Black Label Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner
