[donv]

One thing to avoid is the idea of "sliding" the cover on. If there is any grit anywhere, you're begging for scratches. When I take the cover on/off, I do more of a "roll" motion, much like when a lady removes her stockings in the old movies.

OK, some might view this as a bit of a purist move, but you're doing the cover to protect the finish - so why not go the whole way? The difference in time is negligible (and may even be faster as there's no futzing with alignment... see below).

So, to share the technique: To remove the cover, I effectively turn the cover inside out, starting at the rear bumper and then go around to do the front. For each, I pull the cover off by starting at the elastic hem and lifting it the hem up over the part of the cover which remains on the bumper so it the hem never slides across the paint, just cover material.

By now, the two sides are effectively folded up in half with the fold right around the bottom of the mirrors, so it is easy to pull the cover off of them. This leaves the cover lying all on top of the car from the front to back in a neat strip. Starting at the back, I roll the cover up like a window shade (but loosely) from the rear up over the roof and end at the front. This leaves a neat package to put inside the storage bag.

Applying the cover is effectively just the reverse, rolling it out from the front towards the rear, applying it over the front bumper, side mirrors and then the rear bumper.

Using this technique means the cover never flops around, never slides on the paint and is always oriented in the same direction for easy application.