How To Clean Moss Off Convertible Roof

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Green algae etc. on your soft top?

Thread starter gramey
Start date Feb 12, 2018

Joined: Jul 23, 2016

Messages: 819

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Location: Ipswich, Suffolk

Your Mercedes: 2003 SL350

Ok so I know I'm a traitor having moved to an Audi S4 cabriolet but if you have a soft top that needs a little TLC I have no hesitation in recommending the product below. The cabrio I bought had lived outside for 7 years and it clearly showed with the green algae/mould on the roof.

I'd tried cleaning it twice with Autoglym soft top cleaner with a modest but not acceptable result so looking for something that would get my roof how I wanted it I found this on Amazon. As it said in the reviews if you want the instructions you need to get them off their website as the bottle is all in German. That said it's no different to most of the others, give your roof a hoover and brush to remove any debris, wet it with a garden hose before spraying this on. I then gently agitated it with a Vilkan convertible roof brush which I also purchased through the aforementioned site. I then rinsed it thoroughly until no more product was showing in the water as it came off. Once dry I've then treated the roof with Fabsil to keep as much moisture out of the roof in future even though I keep my car in a garage.

If you've read this far sorry there are no before and after photos I just never thought to take any before ones and without them an after one is pointless. All I can say is I lik to think I'm fairly picky so I wouldn't recommend it if I wasn't happy with the results.

https://www.nigrin.com/produkte/74182/NIGRIN-Performance-Verdeck-Reiniger

Joined: Nov 21, 2008

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Location: Stockport

Your Mercedes: 1995 W124 320TE, 1998 R129 SL500, 2016 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx

Joined: Nov 14, 2015

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Location: Southampton

Your Mercedes: E 350CGI Coupe

Diluted Milton's worked well for me over the years, but if the industry is developing better solutions (pun intended) then recommendations are welcomed

An Audi though....... :shock:

Joined: Nov 21, 2008

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Location: Stockport

Your Mercedes: 1995 W124 320TE, 1998 R129 SL500, 2016 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx

Joined: Aug 25, 2006

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Location: Midlands / Charente-Maritime

Your Mercedes: '93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240, 02 R230 SL500 (Malcolm Spec), 04 Smart Roadster Coupe

White vinegar works well too. 5 litres for under €3.

Joined: Nov 21, 2008

Messages: 2,715

Reaction score: 146

Location: Stockport

Your Mercedes: 1995 W124 320TE, 1998 R129 SL500, 2016 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx

White vinegar works well too. 5 litres for under €3.

Yes if you want to smell like a fish and chip shop as you drive around.

Joined: Nov 21, 2008

Messages: 2,715

Reaction score: 146

Location: Stockport

Your Mercedes: 1995 W124 320TE, 1998 R129 SL500, 2016 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx

White vinegar works well too. 5 litres for under €3.

On second thoughts, it's an Audi so good idea.

Joined: May 25, 2009

Messages: 4,147

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Location: Nr Ashford, Kent

Your Mercedes: S204 2008 C220CDI Elegance Estate Auto, 2008 R171 Facelift SLK280

Saw a post recently that recommended Wet and Forget for mould etc removal from a ragtop that lives outdoors - and their website even says it's suitable for ragtop use! Thinking of buying some for the garage roof, driveway (£30 for 5L that makes 30L) so may keep a bit for the 968 roof! Previous owner of my 968 cab used Fabsil for waterproofing, works fine, but if you need re-colouring and waterproofing after cleaning I used Renovo (cleaner, colourant and waterproofer) not long after I bough my 968 cab 6 1/2 years ago, have re-proofed it a couple of times (once with Fabsil) and only now does it need re-colouring - but she lives in a garage, very seldom out in the wet, very seldom roof up - plus I still have enough Renovo to do the roof again!

One small point - for re-colouring, mask everything off well as the colourant is thinner than water, gets everywhere, is easy to remove from paintwork when whet and a PITA once dry!!

Joined: Aug 25, 2006

Messages: 27,624

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Location: Midlands / Charente-Maritime

Your Mercedes: '93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240, 02 R230 SL500 (Malcolm Spec), 04 Smart Roadster Coupe

Yes if you want to smell like a fish and chip shop as you drive around.

Use it diluted and rinse when done. Smell isn't an issue.

As an aside it's the best thing we've ever found for killing Ivy too. Back of the house was covered in the stuff and 20litres later (neat) and with no reapplication it's still clear a year on.
We tried Roundup and may as well have used fertiliser for all the effect it had.

Joined: Aug 4, 2016

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Location: Sunny Essex

Your Mercedes: W211/E320cdi/2009 and CLK200k 2009

As above Milton baby sterilising tablets , gets rid of green mould cheaply. Johnsons baby wash shampoo is good for gentle roof cleaning . Top it off with Fabsil applied with a brush for waterproofing . I find if you spray Fabsil on the roof , use a gloved hand (one of the disposable gloves with no white powder on ) to rub the liquid into the roof surface .
If it needs recolouring , Renovo is great , I paint it on with a brush and just leave a damp cloth handy for any drips, but I don't bother masking anything up anymore , it takes more time than painting the roof .

Joined: May 25, 2009

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Location: Nr Ashford, Kent

Your Mercedes: S204 2008 C220CDI Elegance Estate Auto, 2008 R171 Facelift SLK280

I found it was not just the drips with the Renovo colourant, it got into all the drainage channels etc., which I did not see until it was dry and a PITA to get off - I was still finding dry bits months later!!

Joined: Aug 4, 2016

Messages: 11,277

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Location: Sunny Essex

Your Mercedes: W211/E320cdi/2009 and CLK200k 2009

I found it was not just the drips with the Renovo colourant, it got into all the drainage channels etc., which I did not see until it was dry and a PITA to get off - I was still finding dry bits months later!!

Ive not had that problem , but I do try and not "over wet" the last inch near the edge so it doesn't have the chance to run .

Joined: May 25, 2009

Messages: 4,147

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Location: Nr Ashford, Kent

Your Mercedes: S204 2008 C220CDI Elegance Estate Auto, 2008 R171 Facelift SLK280

Neither have I - recently! I did the 968 cab roof not long after I bought her 6 years ago, OK the roof now looks in need of re-colouring, but I'm pretty happy that the 3 stage (clean, re-colour, reproof) Renovo treatment has lasted this long - although I have Fabsil'd the roof a couple of times.

Joined: Jul 23, 2016

Messages: 819

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Location: Ipswich, Suffolk

Your Mercedes: 2003 SL350

Thread Starter
Thread starter
#17

Having actually got it clean with the Nigrin I'm quite happy that the roof doesn't need recolouring but I'll bear in mind the nature of the colourant if it gets to the stage where it needs doing.

Joined: Aug 25, 2006

Messages: 27,624

Reaction score: 17,240

Location: Midlands / Charente-Maritime

Your Mercedes: '93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240, 02 R230 SL500 (Malcolm Spec), 04 Smart Roadster Coupe

According to a guy I know who sells soft top roofs Renovo can cause problems with some roofs as its almost an emulsion type product which stiffens the roof and can cause further issues. He also says not to use protectants as they cause the water to rn off when the mohair is actually designed to wick the water away.

Joined: May 25, 2009

Messages: 4,147

Reaction score: 1,739

Location: Nr Ashford, Kent

Your Mercedes: S204 2008 C220CDI Elegance Estate Auto, 2008 R171 Facelift SLK280

Joined: Aug 4, 2016

Messages: 11,277

Reaction score: 8,774

Location: Sunny Essex

Your Mercedes: W211/E320cdi/2009 and CLK200k 2009

According to a guy I know who sells soft top roofs Renovo can cause problems with some roofs as its almost an emulsion type product which stiffens the roof and can cause further issues. He also says not to use protectants as they cause the water to rn off when the mohair is actually designed to wick the water away.

Merc actually sell reproofing sprays for their soft tops, and it's on the B service for soft tops to reproof them . So not sure on your buddies protectant advice ?

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