Car cover pros needed
 

Got a question for all you experienced car cover owners.

I have an outdoor cover for my ride, and she's dirty. What's your best method for cleaning it?

Garden hose it and hang it out to dry or put it into the washer on gentle and hang it to dry. Do not put it into the dryer!

Hose/Scrub it on the car - off the car? With it being fitted, I wanted to see if someone had any tricks to doing it better/faster (outside of the obvious hose down and hang dry).

Guess it's just elbow grease like anything else, eh?

I guess you could take it to a dry cleaner and have them clean it for a nice chunk if you are too lazy to wash it ;)

I wash mine on the car, with soap and water, just like I was washing the car itself. Then I rinse it, hang it to dry and then wash the car. Seems to work pretty well, plus it amuses the neighbors.

Be aware that if you are washing the cover over a car that's not perfectly clean you will be rubbing in the dirt and dust into the clear coat creating swirls and marks. It may not be very noticable on a silver car, but on a dark color it will definitely show. Covers should only be placed on perfectly clean cars to avoid this, even when not planning to wash the cover on the car.

Z.

Z, Good point. I should have mentioned that you should never place a cover on a dirty car; freshly washed only. I wash the car again after the cover in case something pushes through the when the cover is being washed.

Just how clean must the car be?

I ask because I recently was forced to place the cover on the car after driving it twice post her wash. Wouldn't call it very dirty - not noticeably at least. A major windstorm came through and I was in a heavily tree'd area. I figured I would be better off with the cover on versus branches and pine needless lacing my ride.

The cover did a great job of protecting my car, but got pretty dirty from all the needles that ended up on it (hence when aiming to clean it - I put up this post).

Do I now need to thoroughly clean the inside of my cover to protect the paint from damage?

Depending on how dark your color is and how picky you are about the shape of your clear coat. I would asume you got the cover to protect the car, so I would answer your questions with 'as clean as possible' and 'yes'. The scenario you just described, especially if repeated, will do more damage to your clearcoat than just leaving the car uncovered.

Z.

The car is arctic silver - and yes, I got the cover to protect the car. If the cover will cause more damage then dirt/rain/etc alone, then I will keep her uncovered.

Difficulty here is that now that it has started raining - if I want to drive it around for a bit - the cover becomes useless until it stops raining... Cause it's dirty once you get onto the road. And there are trees everywhere, and the needles get into every single crack the car has to offer.

Is the damage caused in putting the cover on and off - or juts general movement by the cover?

I used to live in a very dusty climate and I would always carry around a CA Car Duster. Prior to installing the cover, I'd run the duster over the car.

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Did I ask you this already, but why do you need to put a car cover on in your neck of the woods? Isnt the climate temparate for year-round driving?

The cover is off. I'm going to play it safe 'till I get both the cover and car washed.

But of course - the forecast is for more wind....

I drive the cars year round, but I wash and cover them every time I use them, even in the garage (well, that's with the exception of the daily drivers, of course). I use very heavy all-weather covers. Though there are lighter, more compact covers available now, I'll continue to buy the older design as long as they're available. In addition to good all-weather protection, they adsorb minor impacts and prevent scratches. There's a lot of stuff going on in my garage. ;) Stay tuned for my upcoming garage makeover thread in a month or so...