Step 3: Fabratection
1. Move the car indoors and then vacuum the roof down, being sure to use its soft brush attachment, removing any final dust or residue. Then, run over it with a household lint roller which you can get from any supermarket store. This will pick up any remaining errant fibres, lint or hairs from the brushes.
2. It’s now time to apply our Fabratection fabric protectant. This is a water-based protectant that uses the latest nanotechnology to coat fabrics and help them resist water and staining. Unlike many other older fabric protectant formulas, this one uses ingredients that are biodegradable and environmentally friendly. It also gives great UV protection, which makes it ideal for protecting fabric convertible tops.
We reccomend you wear some nitrile gloves, as the product can get a bit sticky on your hands if it dries on them between the coats. It’s also important that the day is both dry and warm for Fabratection to work its best. Doing it on a cold and wet day wont give you a good result.
3. Holding a Square Bear low pile microfibre pad above the roof, lightly mist 4 to 5 sprays of Fabratection into it and then mist a couple of sprays onto the roof area you will be doing as well. Gently work it in, with very little pressure on a small section in an east-west, and then north-south overlapping motion.
4. Do a couple of passes in each direction, to ensure you get good coverage over all the material. Work a little extra into the seams and stitching to ensure it really gets into those areas.
5. Apply a little extra product to the applicator if there are any dry patches for this first application. But, be careful to not use too much Fabratection and oversaturate the material. Keep applying to the roof in a section at a time till completed. On a bigger roof we split it into 6 parts - a smaller roof will have 4.
6. Dampen a Dirty Deeds microfibre cloth in fresh water, fold it and wipe down any glass, paint or other areas you accidently got product residue onto. Try to not touch the fabric you have just treated. After the first coat is completed, you need to wait 20 minutes before applying a 2nd coat the same as the first.
It’s a good idea to have a bucket full of fresh water handy to rinse both the applicator and cloth out in between applications. Otherwise the Fabratection can begin to cure in these and make them unusable later as they will repel liquids.
7. Follow it up once more another 20 mins later with a third, and final coat. On the final section, turn the bottle upside down when spraying it into the applicator. This is so the trigger won’t get blocked afterwards. Give the edges a final wipe down with the wet cloth and then follow it with a dry microfibre cloth. Rinse out the Square Bear applicator and wet Dirty Deeds microfibre cloth before putting them in the washing machine with our Microfibre Wash.
Don’t disturb the roof for 5 to 6 hours, or allow it to get wet for 48 to 72 hours, so it can totally cure. Once cured, Fabratection makes the surface nicely hydrophobic. More importantly, the roof is now UV protected, a lot easier to clean and more resistant to staining from the many wonderful outdoor elements.
