Tony Yeung

Its been raning here alot in the bay area and when i did a little off roading a few weeks ago, i had alot of mud stains on my soft top. Well it was a clear day today and i tried to tackle the job. I first washed my top then used 303 cleaner on it. I sprayed my top with 303 and rubbed it in then i rinsed it off. Mud stains still there. I did it a second time and no luck. I washed it again and no luck. Any advise guys?





Thanks,
Tony Yeung

wanabe

got pics?
is it a red stain?
its gonna be tough to get out no matter what it is- but with a little more info we might be more able to give you some ideas.

Tony Yeung

Its more of a brown stain, ill take pics tomarrow, its dark out now.

wanabe

worst case would be oxalic acid in a water dilution of 10:1... but i want to see if i can tell what the stain is before making this extreme recommendation.
i should mention that it is possible that you have a stain that cant be fixed. but brown is better than red (in terms of being able to fix)!
in any case you should be able to make it look better if we cant cure it.

wanabe

i did forget to ask if you used a brush when you tried to clean it...
if your cleaning made it a little better but didnt cure it, it is possible that you got the stains off of the top of the vinyl "threads" but did not get down into the fabric. a brush would be the only tool able to do that.
looking forward to your pics

Tony Yeung

Pics are uploaded.

Wanabe, i didnt use a brush to clean it, i actually used a rag for the first time. Today i tried to go at it again and used a foam scrubber, the ones you use to wash your dishes but the soft side, not the abbrasive side on my top but no luck as well. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for you help,
Tony Yeung

MikeyC

Based on your pictures it looks like the dirt is still in the weave of the top. As already suggested I think a brush would clean this right up. Try an old toothbrush or go to your local auto parts store and get a detailing brush with nylon bristles (it will look a lot like a tooth brush). You could also try an upholstery brush, but for more stubborn dirt like this a smaller brush might be better.

Tony Yeung

^ill be right on it after the rain stops.

thetz99

See there is one of your problems. If you let it sit, the stain or whatever it is has time to set. Not knowing what actually splashed on it and still taking the cavalier attitude of I'll get to it whenever and then hoping someone can get it out...eh whatever

Picturepro

get a towel wet ... soaking wet... let it sit on the mark
get a old tooth brush, brush the spot feather it out

or you will have a black roof with a light grey circle

a single drop of simple green? or Orange cleaner on the soaking towel..

I've had some stubborn spots / bird poo / UFO droppings

soak > tooth brush > one spray of orange cleaner > feather it out

so far so good