Mohair hood cleaning

[Ken Nugent]

Hi All
Just looking to put the Z back on the road and the original hood requires cleaning. It has no green algae on it, its just dusty and has a rub mark from the plastic window. I have read allsorts of hints and tips of how to do it and what to use but they all seem to have a different opinion and some have down sides to them. From experience can anyone help with a product and a process.

Many thanks
Ken

 

[andyglym]

A variety of cleaners on the market that do the same thing.

1. Damp the roof down
2. Spray liberally on the roof (try not to get any on the paint as you'll need to wash it off).
3. Scrub with a course sponge, usually provided
4. Dry off with a shammy or similar and leave.

All sorts of snake oil out there like 'reproofers'. The roof is supposed to wick the water away, if you apply a 'reproofer' it won't let the water get to the rubber waterproof membrane, it'll dry and crack then you'll have a leak. The roof suppliers love this stuff as it keeps them in buisiness.

 

[petecossie]

The latest Car SOS have a MX5 as the subject and revived a soft top that was really grotty, it looked great when finished. They didn’t use a pressure washer at all, but used fairly ordinary products and elbow grease. Worth looking on catch up to see how they did it.
Good luck.

 

[Ianmc]

Agree less is more with this one. My car is used all year round and I just wash it with the sponge/car shampoo most weeks. Hood is original.

 

[black fingernail]

SWMBO's Z and my Saab both live mostly outside and are used daily throughout the year. Unfortunately both are subject to bombing raids by the local seagull squadrons.
This is hosed off as soon as possible, but green staining does develop.
The remedy I use, is to apply a strongish solution of Milton fluid, (the stuff for cleaning baby's bottles), leave it for a while to let it work, then use a nail brush to thoroughly clean it, rinse really well and let it dry for a couple of days. Then apply 2 coats of Fabsil Gold proofer, painted on neat with a 2" paint brush, with a day between coats.
After this treatment, the air raid results don't soak in as much and rinse off fairly easily.
I do this twice a year @ end of March and October, weather permitting, a week of dry weather is needed.
As andyglym says above, there is a lot of snake oil products out there, some end up looking like a vinyl roof, and some discolour it badly.

 

[bertiejaffa]

For waterproofing I use Halfords tent waterprrofer in a spray can - works brilliantly, the rain just beads off and it costs less than a £10 and you get 2 sessions out of the can - I usually use it every 3-4 months when I have cleaned the roof as described above