954chris

I decided to give my soft top a clean and some protection the other day using some less conventional products (ie not the expensive off the shelf kits) and am really pleased with the results, so thought i'd share them!

I started by vacuuming the hood to pick up any grit, course dust etc. Once that was completed I went on to clean the hood with a solution of Johnsons Baby Bath, a couple of caps to a bucket of warm water and a soft upholstery brush. Theory here is that if it's good enough to bath baby then it must be gentle enough on a vinyl hood (thats the Johnsons not the brush lol)

Once rinsed off and left to dry I moved on to the protection phase using a product called Fabsil which is basically a product designed for re-waterproofing tents, awnings, sails etc. i got a 5 litre can of it from Amazon for £25. The Fabsil is simply painted on to the hood using a quality 2" paintbrush, and it goes on really really well. There are no issues with patchiness and any drips on the glass or paintwork are simply wiped off with a paper towel. Once dry the roof looked really refreshed and definitely darker than it had been previously.

I found this really easy and quick to do and the hood now looks good, is fully UV protected and rain just sits on in beads now instead of soaking in. I've also done a friends Saab 9-3 mohair hood which actually took the Fabsil even better as you get a bit more of a soak in when applying it. Oh and I've still got more than 4 litres of Fabsil left so it's going to last for years

Gratuitous pic of the rain beading:

moeman79

I've heard good things about Fabsil. I have a new can sitting waiting to do 2 soft tops at the moment. Your results look excellent

richmc

Once bathed a baby in RaggTopp, then coated it in RainX, came up lovely.....................NURSE!

Andybill

fabsil is good stuff, works even better if you can keep the roof dry for 24 hours and then do another coat !