Does any one know of a method or product to clean mildew and other stains from a white convertible top? This is the second top I've put on the car since '87 and it is about 8 years old. It is still in good shape other than some shrinkage and the stains, and I would like to keep it until the car is repainted.
AJAX worked well for me in the past clorox sink cleaner powder too....used a soft bristle brush and scrubbed.
What is the fabric? Don't start putting chemicals on it, without testing a small, inconspicuous area first!
Thanks for the info, guys. The top is some type of vinyl convertible top material, and was made by Crown AutoTop. I think Crown went our of business, or was bought out. Their tops were not that great, and the curtain they sent for a '59 Ford wasn't even close. They never could figure it out, so I made my own with a diamond shaped window. I sent Crown some pix of my homemade curtain, and they wanted me to make another and send it to them on my dime...yeah , right.
Simple Green mixed 50/50 and a soft scrub brush(the household ones with the handle built in work well).
You need a neutral ph emulsifying detergent. A company named James Varley & Sons is a cleaning chemical mfr out of St. Louis. They have the best one called Creme Cote. Funny name and it looks like pink hand soap but the product works well diluted, even on leather. Check local janitoral/sanitation suppliers. I have had occaision to use the product on some VERY expensive stuff that the rich people in Aspen screw up. I wash my cars including convertibles with it. Should cost $5 to $7 a quart. Let me know if you don't find any.
Simple Green is pretty handy stuff, but I believe it is a butyl degreaser, and may not be friendly to vinyl over time. I'll pull a MSDS at work tomorrow and check.
White Vinegar will kill the mold & mildew. It's a good water/clothes softener for laundry. It cleans windows and tile grout. And it's drinkable non toxic so you can put it on your salad too! I think it's about $1.50 a gallon at S&F so it's cheaper and safer to use than bleach. I use vinegar for damn near everything. Just remember. There's no such thing as cleaning. All you really do is put the dirt in solution and transport it to a different location. It's still and always be the same dirt.
I will try to find the Creme Cote at the local janitorial supply tomorrow. Will also try the white vinegar and other products mentioned, and I thank all of you. Seems like any and everything mildews quickly in the high humidity here in central Georgia, so all this info will help with other things too.
FWIW...vinegar is mildy acidic and works great, but, do you really want your ride to reek of vinegar? Man, I hate the smell of that stuff. Household bleach is 5% sodium hypoclorite, an oxidizer, that works too, but can be very damaging to some surfaces. The upside is that those products are very cheap. To kill mildew without bleaching, look for a quaternary ammonium chloride, or 4 quat. 4 quats are common in disinfecting cleaners, just look at the label. These products are effective at dilutions of 500 to 1, so they're also very inexpensive in the long run. Clean it first, then kill the mold and mildew.
When I worked at a resto shop, we had a '57 Ford convert. in that had been parked for years, the white top looked like a science project. They had me clean it with bleach diluted with water, and it got clean, fast. It looked like new when I was done with it. If all else fails (I'd try other methods first), dilute some bleach in a spray bottle and give it a few mists.
I can only speak from my experience with using SG on my convertible top. I drove the car from '86-'92 and then "parked" it until I traded it 2 weeks ago. It still had the same top from '86 on it and had no signs of deterioration to the vinyl from using SG to clean it.
I have used 409, soft scrub with bleach, white wall tire cleaner a scrub brush and a pressure washer. each one seems to do somthing different.
Raggtop with two G's. Comes either for cloth or vinyl tops. It is a two part system. First bottle cleans the second shines. Brad
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