Editing Soft top renovation (section)

==Cheap and cheerful==

My car has covered nearly 100k miles and had started to get a fine covering of green moss. It didn't
look dirty but it sure looked better after I changed it. It had not faded so I did not investigate
soft top dyeing products.

You will need:

* [http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/0101514 Pure soap flakes] from Wilkinson
* [http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/9528240 Dog brush] from Wilkinson
* [http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/0248038 A 2 inch wide paintbrush] from Wilkinson
* [http://www.blacks.co.uk/Fabsil-Universal-Protecto/product/099115.aspx?searchbreadcrumbs=fabsil Fabsil] from Blacks

Pure soap is the least likely to damage your hood, ordinary cloths detergent is probably fine too,
don't use wasking up liquid as this has loads of salt in it which will eventually rot the hood.

The dog brush is great as it is fairly coarse (like a firm tooth brush), reasonably big so it holds
the soap and has a handy strap that stops the brush slipping out of your hand when the soap really
starts to fly.

Some people rave about Thompsons Water seal, however this is a brickwork sealant and I was worried that this could
damage the hood so I chose to use Fabsil, which is a canvas tent sealer and seems a better fit. Water seal is
much cheaper.

Buy a big can of Fabsil for about 15 quid, this should be enough for four coatings.

===Directions===

Mix about an egg cup full of soap flakes with about four pints or warm water, I used a saucepan for this.
Lay the soft top on a flat surface (e.g. a garden table) and scrub it hard. If you have a moss/green slime problem
then you will see this coming off.

Hang up the soft top up (on a washing line) and spray it with a garden hose, keep spraying until the water is all
coming off clean.

leave the soft top hanging for a few hours, ideally in the sun, until its dry.

pour some Fabsil into a cereal bowl and paint it onto the outside of the soft top, make sure all the folds
and pleats are throughly soaked.

hang up the soft top again to dry.

You must let the hood dry completely, the tin says fabsil can take 6 hours to dry, however on a winters day in some
sunshine it only took about 2 hours for mine to dry.

refit to the car - the hood will have shrunk a bit but it will stretch back to how it was with a few uses.