The BMW / Merc/ Audi groups all use soft tops from the same maker and are designed with a porous fabric over a heavy butyl waterproof layer. The top layer isn't intended to be waterproof at all so using a proofer on the surface risks 'locking' moisture in under the proofing preventing full drying. Fortunately butyl is resistant to many solvents in proofing products but using something which degrades butyl could be an expensive error so may be worth checking what's in your product.
I've stuck to BMW products and crucially a forum tip to use a Vax to vacuum the fabric during cleaning which really shifts the muck, someone has suggested a soft brush and Milton fluid for the green bits before but I've not needed to try it.
I use Gtechniq W5 citrus all purpose cleaner that I water down by at least 50/50 as its a pretty strong product then I use
the Gtechniq smart fabric waterproofer, the vax sounds a good idea though as it will really pull a lot of muck out of the hood
Mildew/green nasty stuff is easily removed with Milton fluid.
I tried a similar product on mine a couple of weeks ago and the mildew has gone.
I mixed it at about 20:1, sprayed it on a damp roof on the affected areas, left it 10mins, agitated with a stiff short pile brush, hosed off and job done.
hi,
My roof also had some mould starting to grow around the edges, i put half a milton sterilising tablet, (what my daughter had leftover from her baby bottle cleaning kit ) into a plastic jug, and poured it onto the mould, while agitating it at the same time with a toothbrush, that was 5 weeks ago , and it's still nice and clear of mould..
cheers, Dave.
Used Autoglym years ago on my first z initially then went onto turtle wax...neither are as good as Meguirs,or gtecnic for cleaning and waterproofing, imo.
Autoglym soft top cleaner and protector. As posted in the beading thread, it leaves it looking nice and the beading after rain also looks cool.
Only problem with red is it shows every mark, so have to keep on top of it with regards to cleaning.
I have heard good things about auto finesse's soft top cleaning products. Only reason I'm using Autoglym is because I got it cheap and it also works well currently.