Caring For Your Convertible Top Is Easy And The Payoffs Are Huge

Convertible tops have come a long way since the 1960s. Today’s tops are made of nicer materials like rich-appearing cloth, are usually lined inside so none of the top frame is showing, and they’re generally a lot more durable. Still, caring for your convertible top so it lasts longer and looks better is a subject that is still a mystery to many.

Whether your convertible is a tiny sports car, a V-8 muscle car or something more luxurious, there’s nothing like a top-down cruise with the sun setting or rising. Caring for your top will give it a decade or more of life. (Photo by Jim Campisano)

Purchasing a traditional, soft-top convertible is usually an expensive proposition, adding thousands of dollars to the sticker price — and that is the same whether the car is new or used.

The vinyl and cloth tops are designed to last between 15 and 20 years.

Proper care for your convertible top will not only ensure longevity (replacing a top is not an inexpensive proposition), but it will help you keep it looking and performing like new for years to come.

Virtually every ’60s convertible top out of Detroit was vinyl. These are easy to clean, but white obviously gets dirtier faster than black or other dark colors.

Once upon a time, all new cars were convertibles. Today, that number has dwindled to 0.6 percent of new car production in the United States. Still, there are millions of drop tops on the road today, from classics from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, to Mustangs and Camaros of the new millennium.

Yes, they’re typically heavier than their closed-top counterparts, but they create a certain magic on a beautiful day, when you put the top down and become a part of the scenery. Whether you’re doing 35 mph or 100, it is somehow better with the top down.

Types Of Tops

So, if you’ve got a traditional convertible (one with a soft, folding roof), you generally have one of two types of top: Vinyl (extremely popular on early cars, but still in use today, or canvas. Believe it or not, one company supplies the materials for almost all new convertibles worldwide. That is Haartz Corporation, which has been manufacturing topping since the early 1900s and interior materials since the 1990s.

Corvettes have had all kinds of tops since 1953, from vinyl to canvas to a retractable hardtop on the 2020-up mid-engine models. Canvas looks so classy on 2019-earlier models and the cool thing is it is easy to convert an early car to a canvas top.

If you are buying a replacement top, it too, is the go-to company. It offers its topping materials in traditional vinyl, Twillfast canvas and Stayfast canvas for OE and now aftermarket applications (acrylic square weave facing, rubber inner-layer, and cotton backing).

Let’s talk about the different materials. Vinyl is the one that first comes to mind. According to Phil Hollenbeck, Director of Sales Automotive Exteriors for Haartz, vinyl is very durable. It’s made with PVC, an impervious membrane, so it’s also very difficult to stain, and no special protectants are needed for it. Plastic is its own natural repellent.

“We do use vinyl and produce a lot of vinyl for aftermarket convertible tops,” said Hollenbeck. “We also produce what’s called StayFast, which is cloth, and we produce TwillFast, which is also cloth. If you have a cloth top, you do the cleaning one way; if you have a vinyl top, the cleaning is done another way.”

When it comes to canvas tops there are three layers. The top layer is solution dyed acrylic fabric. Then there is a rubber layer in between that and another layer of cloth. These tops leave the factory with a layer of water repellent chemical on them. It is mainly to keep the top clean as it’s the rubber layer in between the two fabrics that make the top waterproof.

The cloth top on this 2022 Mustang GT should last 20 years if the car is garage kept and well maintained. (Photo by Jim Campisano)

The only top care products Haartz recommends are Wolfsteins’ Raggtopp Fabric and Vinyl Cleaner and Fabric Protectant. Haartz has run tests on the Wolfsteins products to ensure they are safe for its cloth tops.

“Even if you never clean or re-apply water repellant, it will still remain waterproof for the life of the top, which honestly is 15 or 20 years, but we recommend you clean it with the cleaner and then reapply the water repellent,” said Hollenbeck. “The water repellent helps keep it cleaner longer. You can kind of think of it like car wax. It does wear off over time, so you want to clean the top and re-apply it. It helps keep things from sticking to the top — pollen, things like that — and it will help keep things from staining it.”

How often should you apply protectant? That depends on whether your car is stored outside or in, driven often or hardly ever, etc. Hollenbeck’s test is to re-apply it when you wash and wax your car, or when water no longer beads up on it.

Convertible Top No-Nos

The biggest no-no, per Hollenbeck, is trying to clean the top with a product or chemical that has not been proven 100 percent safe for your top, including carpet cleaners, or using non-approved protectants, which can eat through the rubber inner liner on a clutch top. Bad things can happen, and you don’t want to replace it prematurely.

“People have wrecked tops by applying things that they shouldn’t apply on them,” Hollenbeck said.”People will try paint thinner to get tree sap out, and that just eats right through everything. I had a customer put a product on a cloth top and it ate through the rubber inner layer, and when it rained, it rained in their car.”

Running your convertible through a mechanical car wash is also not a great idea. You don’t know how much pressure is being put on your top mechanism. Hollenbeck worries more about the framework of the top getting damaged than the vinyl/cloth top itself.

“I know people who have done it, but I tell them not to,” said Hollenbeck. “If you’re going to drive a convertible, maintain it properly by washing it by hand.”

The most popular remaining true ragtops are the Mustang and anything from Jeep.

Then there are the coin-operated, DIY car washes. Hollenbeck said you don’t want to blast your top with high-pressure water. You wouldn’t use a pressure washer on your paint, so you shouldn’t use it on your top, either.

“Some of those wands can be pretty high pressure,” said Hollenbeck. “And again, you really should be cleaning the top with the proper chemicals. I don’t know what’s coming out of those things at the car wash.”

Can You Dye A Top?

Unfortunately, there is no real way to touch up or dye old convertible tops to fix a stain or stains, or bring back the original vibrant look. Hollenbeck said that you can try, but the top is acrylic and it won’t penetrate the material. Dye will just sit on the surface; it won’t soak in.

“It might look good for a while, but you put the top up and down and it will come off where those creases and folds are. It’s going to come off in those areas for sure,” according to Hollenbeck.

This Mustang takes on an entirely different look with the top up vs. down. The beauty of today's tops, besides the aesthetics, is they offer far more protection from the elements than those on vintage cars from previous century.

Ultimately, it is up to the car owner to protect their investment. Just the labor for installing a new top can be $1,000 or more. This is not a task your typical enthusiast will do in his garage.

But if you do right by your ragtop, it will last years and give you thousands of hours of durable service.