Hi, I wonder if anyone would be kind enough to offer any thoughts on something I’ve been meaning to get round to for a loooong time!
My Mk4 soft top is starting to get green (mildew?) on the external fabric and I was wondering what the best way would be to remove or treat it is?
I’ve had the car since new (4 years) and haven’t done any prior treatments or cleaning of the roof (this could well be part of the problem…) as it generally seemed to happily look after itself.
Any help on cleaning and/or treatment would be much appreciated!
Peter
My model of MX-5 is: ND
I’m based near: Manchester
I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Soft top roof
Plenty of advice on the forum, just do a search as its s question that’s been asked many times.
Basically for mildew removal there are products out there but a favourite is a weak solution of Milton fluid and a scrubber, something like an old toothbrush to get to those hard to get areas. You’ll generally find it gathers around the seams or apron strip
ear base of the hood.
I use to use just an ordinary car shampoo an lightly scrub a mohair hood, baby shampoo is milder an can be used too. Just wipe it over with a wet microfiber cloth when washing the rest of the car to keep it looking clean.
Some say you don’t need to treat a mohair hood re waterproofing it’s naturally waterproof as the base material is rubberised but I occasionally treated mine with Fabsil.
All good advice. Would add that you need to remove all the dirt and mildew before applying any treatment. A pressure washer on a low setting and from about 1m should work. Even better is if you have a carpet cleaner with a flexible hose and brush, this works very well and you can actually see what is coming off the soft top.
As mick says re cleaning , baby shampoo and Milton mix worked in gently with a nail brush, but then all that gunk needs wet vaccing out ( repeat as necessary)
An addition to the above advice. If you decide to finish of with a water proofer (I recommend Fabsil Gold) then make sure that the cloth is completely dry before you apply it and carefully follow the instructions on the tin. You will be rewarded with wonderful beading and it will be much easier to keep clean. And on that point, in the future it may be prudent to vac the roof fabric prior to washing to help with the upkeep.
, baby shampoo and Milton mix worked in gently with a nail brush, but then all that gunk needs wet vaccing out ( repeat as necessary)
