Ha Ha........ Result!
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Discussion

binlicker

Original Poster:

377 posts

179 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
I am a bit of a skinflint when it comes to parting with my hard earned coppers but a harsh winter, spent parked under a beech tree had taken it's toll on my Saabs convertible roof, making it obvious a £60- £70 dose of Renovo products would probably be required.

My roof was covered in what can only be described as lichen, raised rock hard spots of green and yellow stuff like you get on rocks, and no amount of scrubbing would shift them completely. I could get the crumbly top layer off with a bit of effort but that left a brown/ green stain underneath that I think is the hardest substance known to man!

Long story short, rather than throw far too much money at Renovo products I had a bit of a think about other ways to achieve the desired result and this is what I came up with.

500ml of white vinegar mixed 50/50 with some bug remover sprayed liberally all over the roof and left for about 15 minutes which I then scrubbed with a stiff brush and hosed off. I then washed the roof normally with a sponge and a bit of washing up liquid in warm water and rinsed again, this was mainly to get rid of the smell of vinegar! hurl

I then left the roof to dry for 24 hours. The next bit, in my humble opinion was a stroke of absolute genius (unless the roof crumbles so nothing in the next few days) hehe. I bought a 500ml bottle of the bumper shine that has the black colouring added, poured it into a tupperware box and about a square foot at a time stippled it onto my roof with one of those little washing up sponges with the scourer on one side, at first i was trying to rub it in with the sponge but eventually found rubbing it in by hand worked much better.

About an hour later after making sure I had blended all the edges in I had finished, I had a shiny but nice dark black roof, decided to call it a night and not make any judgement calls until it had dried.

Got up the following day, the roof was a deep dark black and had dried to a nice matt finish, but most important now looked like brand new with no sign of the toxic green algae. Gave it a wash today, no nasty black runs and the roof is now nicely waterproofed with the water beading and running off.

Same end result as using proper roof care products at a tenth of the cost. Wish I'd taken before and after pics, well chuffed.

Anyway, as you were.......

y2blade

56,246 posts

232 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
biggrin

V8mate

45,899 posts

206 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
A couple of sunny days...it'll be apple white by the weekend hehe

binlicker

Original Poster:

377 posts

179 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
V8mate said:
A couple of sunny days...it'll be apple white by the weekend hehe
Please don't tempt fate, I'm of the opinion that it has gone far too well, waiting for some kind of roof apocalypse to occur now.




y2blade

56,246 posts

232 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
binlicker said:
V8mate said:
A couple of sunny days...it'll be apple white by the weekend hehe
Please don't tempt fate, I'm of the opinion that it has gone far too well, waiting for some kind of roof apocalypse to occur now.
did you not think to lacquer over the top of it?

wink

binlicker

Original Poster:

377 posts

179 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
Nope, should I have? silly

V8mate

45,899 posts

206 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
Or smooth Hammerite. You wouldn't need the laquer then.

y2blade

56,246 posts

232 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
halfords satin black exhaust paint FTW biggrin

Don1

16,216 posts

225 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
V8mate said:
Or smooth Hammerite. You wouldn't need the laquer then.
Great idea! Then it will look like one of those all-metal folding roofs. You neighbours will be dead jealous.

binlicker

Original Poster:

377 posts

179 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
V8mate said:
Or smooth Hammerite. You wouldn't need the laquer then.
This is worryingly close to my first brainwave that may or may not have involved the use of a rattle can of matt black paint!

paperbag


ETA I didn't actually do this!

randlemarcus

13,629 posts

248 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
And unlike the plastic shine stuff for bumpers, its not very alkaline, and thus won't eat away at both the fibres of the fabric roof, and the internal membrane that actually stops the water.


oh.


Still, are there many second hand rooves on the bay?

Urban Sports

11,321 posts

220 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
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Pics of the finished product?

binlicker

Original Poster:

377 posts

179 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
It'll be reet! hehe

binlicker

Original Poster:

377 posts

179 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
Urban Sports said:
Pics of the finished product?
I'll try, I'm even more rubbish with computers than folding roofs.

Anyway, the alkali in the bumper shine will be completely nuetralised by acid rain. spin


Flintstone

8,644 posts

264 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
binlicker said:
...vinegar bodge...
Not wishing to sound like the prophet of doom but this reminds me of my foray into home made sun tan oil. Note I say 'tan' and not screen because this was when I was in my teens, when skin cancer wasn't a worry (it was different sun then).

A well travelled uncle told me the best stuff was a mixture of olive oil and vinegar. Not having access to anything as exotic as olive oil I used vegetable oil and headed off to Malta for a fortnight. Apart from being a bit sore on the first few days it worked really well to the point where my girlfriend's mum asked her why she was posing with "....that black man..." in the holiday photos.

The downside was that every time I laid down for a bit of a sunbathe people around me would develop an inexplicable craving for fish and chips biggrin

binlicker

Original Poster:

377 posts

179 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
Flintstone said:
Not wishing to sound like the prophet of doom but this reminds me of my foray into home made sun tan oil. Note I say 'tan' and not screen because this was when I was in my teens, when skin cancer wasn't a worry (it was different sun then).

A well travelled uncle told me the best stuff was a mixture of olive oil and vinegar. Not having access to anything as exotic as olive oil I used vegetable oil and headed off to Malta for a fortnight. Apart from being a bit sore on the first few days it worked really well to the point where my girlfriend's mum asked her why she was posing with "....that black man..." in the holiday photos.

The downside was that every time I laid down for a bit of a sunbathe people around me would develop an inexplicable craving for fish and chips biggrin
The vinegar wasn't done as a bodge, the stuff on the roof was essentially mildew, after the off the shelf mildew removers that all contain copious amounts of bleach and therefore really would have knackered my roof, white vinegar was the next best thing. Kim and Aggy said! wink

Did fking stink though.......thankfully doesn't now.




Monkeylegend

27,825 posts

248 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
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Black shoe polish worked very well on mine.

Flintstone

8,644 posts

264 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
'Bodge' isn't necessarily a bad thing, sometimes quite the opposite.

Are you hungry?

binlicker

Original Poster:

377 posts

179 months

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
Black shoe polish worked very well on mine.
This was also considered. All joking aside its worked really well, looks great and hasn't fallen to pieces...........YET!