renovo or thompsons water sealent?

[laz11]

my soft top is is in good nick visually but i have a feeling it is loosing it's water resistant qualities so i am planning on using a product specifically for that. i have heard thomspons being mentioned and having looked on the web found their waterseal product but really not sure it is meant to be used on fabric? the other obvious one is renovo canvas ultra proofer which i have used before and can be a pain to apply as it runs quite a lot.

[spend]

I use Fabsil from local camping shops.. Occasionally clean and re-colour with Renovo stuff (every few years), but annual coating of waterproofer.

Too bloomin many variations of Thompsons.... take care!

[RichB]

Another vote for Fabsil - I've used it on the Griff since new 1999 and my S3 before that plus my wife's Alfa and it's does exactly what you'd expect. p.s. buy the can and paint it on with a brush, dont get the spray 'cos it goes everywhere

[5.0ltr]

Fabsil here as well but give the roof a good clean off first. (A topic all to itself)

[laz11]

brilliant just checked and theres a local camping shop that sells Fabsil...thanks for the resounding thumbs up!

[RichB]

5.0ltr said:

Fabsil here as well but give the roof a good clean off first. (A topic all to itself)

Go on then, what's the story for cleaning roof material? I've always just washed it with some car shampoo to get the dirt off and rinsed it then let it dry before Fabsil'ing it?

[5.0ltr]

I said that as I has seen a topic 'all to itself' once that went on and on somewhat.
But in brief get roof wet with hose. Pour some fairy type liquid on and then scrub vigourously with a nail/scrubbing brush, wash off with lots of water until it runs clean of muck/soap, leave to dry then Fabsil. I have used this process and it seemed to get rid of loads of rubbish.

[RichB]

Sounds like a job for the spring...

[JKY]

I found that the Nikwax is much better than Fabsil (fabsil seems to leave a white haze residue). UV treated too

Again, available at camping stores, Millets etc

http://www.nikwax.co.uk/en-us/products/productdeta...


Also to clean, go to your local pound shop and buy a bottle of Johnsons baby shampoo - best thing going to clean as it has very little salt or harmful chemicals but lathers up nicely to lift dirt and rises off without residue. Just get a good lather and use a soft brush to scrub.

Edited by JKY on Tuesday 15th December 17:22

[RichB]

Never seen a white haze on any of the three cars I've used it on over the years, you sure it's not the baby oil or whatever you're using beforehand?

[5.0ltr]

Knew I had something, cannot remember where I found this, or who to give credit too, hope they do not mind its use.

Mohair roof clean and reseal
This is good job for a sunny afternoon. If drying takes longer then it may be worth doing it over two days.
Mohair soft tops get ingrained dust deposits within the weave which cause the roof to appear faded. Normal washing tends to be gentle because anything else would harm the delicate waterproofing. Unfortunately this simply drives this dust deeper into the weave.
Vacuuming can be effective at removing loose dust. Directional clothes brushes are
superb for removing surface contaminants. If however you want a clean roof then you are going to have to remove the waterproofing as well. This isn’t a bad thing;
reproofing needs to be done periodically and it works better if the old silicon is
removed first.
Erect the roof so that all the components are tight. Using a mix of hot water and
washing up liquid scrub the roof in a circular motion using a nail brush. Don’t worry, the roof material is tough and won’t be harmed by this activity. When you are satisfied that the roof material is scrupulously clean you should use a hose pipe to drench the roof using a deluge of water whilst scrubbing with the nail brush. Only when you are unable to develop suds on the roof will you know that the soap has been removed. It is essential that all the soap is removed because soap will reduce the adhesion of silicon to mohair.
When complete leave to dry in sunlight. Remove sections and open fittings to allow
joining surfaces to dry. When completely dry you will need to reseal. This should
only be done with brush on liquid sealer. Thompson Waterseal or Fabsil liquid will
provide effective weather seal that should last for many years.
The method of application is important. This work should be carried out in dry
weather but not too hot. It may be worth masking off bodywork and windows
because these liquids are very runny and you will need to get into all the edges.
You’ll need two paint brushes one 3” and one 1”. Pour some sealer into a dish for
ease of loading the brush. Use the big brush for most of the work, the small brush for better control at the edges. The trick is to always have enough liquid on the brush so that it doesn’t run dry part way through a brush stroke. You should apply in straight lines making sure you overlap the previous line by at least 50% thereby effectively coating twice, be quick because the previous line should also still be wet. Swap brushes as required. It is worth giving extra attention to the joining edges and stitching, the joining areas suffer from wear & tear and the stitched areas are know leak points. Allow to dry completely then apply a second coat at 90 degrees to the first.
This effort should vastly improve the colour of the fabric and my experience shows
that the seal is still good after four years of all weather driving.

[JKY]

I use bady shampoo, not oil. Other forums advise to be careful with fairy etc due to the high salt content. Have used the Fabsil on other occasions without the shampoo first too - may just be that I got an old batch or something but it always left a slight white sheen to my Blue hood due to the silicon content. I am only being hyper critical though as it is a new looking hood. In reality it still works great, just that I found the Nikwax a tad better.
Only my personal experience though and have known people use Thompsons without any issues too.

Edited by JKY on Tuesday 15th December 17:42

[Simon.b]

I’ve been using thompsons once a year for many years. There are two types and one has on the back of the tin a statement to the effect that it can be used on fabrics. No haze or discolour, once dry, stinks for a bit though.

I don’t doubt Fabsil may be just as good, but I bet it’s way more expensive and I live a lot closer to B&Q.

Cheers,

Simon.

[RichB]

JKY said:

I use bady shampoo, not oil.

I was only joshing