Rattler
Thornton Melon's Kid
I had to swap out the cover on my Mombasa rooftop tent due to the zipper on it getting cranky after several years of (ab)use. Plus, the cover was getting pretty nasty-looking after 8 camping seasons and only getting a mild soap and water wash on occasion. I consulted a friend on mine who makes and repairs some high dollar boat tops, seats and such to see what may work best for the job.
As per Randy's recommendations, I cleaned the underside earlier in the day with dish soap and water. When using soaps on these types of things, make sure to rinse the soap off well.
My exciting Friday night was going to be spent with the old cover and some cleaning products to get it back in good shape. The outer top was going to take a much stronger effort. I gathered the recommended items needed for the job a few days before while at the local dept. store; a 7 pack of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers (get the heavy duty ones!) and a can of lighter fluid. I also found a couple of rags to use too. I also grabbed a bucket of warm water to rinse the Magic Erasers out in (I ended up changing the water several times).
I started with a spot that wasn't too bad to see how it was going to work. Not too bad of an effort, I just went over an area a couple times with a Magic Eraser. Where the straps rode against the cover, it had worn some pretty dirty marks. Not to mention there were a few other spots that were going to require a little more. This is where the lighter fluid came into play. I used a rag on small spots with a squirt of lighter fluid. Where the straps had left marks, I used some fluid on a Magic Eraser which seemed to really clean them off quickly. I just used a new eraser and some clean water after a while. I kept an eraser separate to use the lighter fluid on though.
I completed half that night so I could see a difference in the daylight the next day. Wow! It was working. You can see how I had done the bottom part of the cover in the photo.
I finished up the cover the next night. I then gave it a wash with just water the next day. It is now ready to get the zipper repaired and go into storage as a back up.
I hope this will help others get a clean cover if the RTT cover is getting dirty.
As per Randy's recommendations, I cleaned the underside earlier in the day with dish soap and water. When using soaps on these types of things, make sure to rinse the soap off well.
My exciting Friday night was going to be spent with the old cover and some cleaning products to get it back in good shape. The outer top was going to take a much stronger effort. I gathered the recommended items needed for the job a few days before while at the local dept. store; a 7 pack of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers (get the heavy duty ones!) and a can of lighter fluid. I also found a couple of rags to use too. I also grabbed a bucket of warm water to rinse the Magic Erasers out in (I ended up changing the water several times).
I started with a spot that wasn't too bad to see how it was going to work. Not too bad of an effort, I just went over an area a couple times with a Magic Eraser. Where the straps rode against the cover, it had worn some pretty dirty marks. Not to mention there were a few other spots that were going to require a little more. This is where the lighter fluid came into play. I used a rag on small spots with a squirt of lighter fluid. Where the straps had left marks, I used some fluid on a Magic Eraser which seemed to really clean them off quickly. I just used a new eraser and some clean water after a while. I kept an eraser separate to use the lighter fluid on though.
I completed half that night so I could see a difference in the daylight the next day. Wow! It was working. You can see how I had done the bottom part of the cover in the photo.
I finished up the cover the next night. I then gave it a wash with just water the next day. It is now ready to get the zipper repaired and go into storage as a back up.
I hope this will help others get a clean cover if the RTT cover is getting dirty.
