Folks,

I have a great 06 Cab S that spent the first 13 years in Texas and thus the OEM grey top is tired although functioning and protecting nicely. I've used RaggTop to clean/treat it and then tried the Porsche protectant. They both provided some nice protection but little visible "cleaning" in my option.

I've been reading about Renovo products from England to clean, protect and even recolor the tops. Has anyone used and/or had success (or failures) with these products? I'm particularly interested in success (or hopefully horror) stories on recoloring and/or darkening the top, if anyone has any. I found some entries in search but many go back 10+ years and products often change over time.

Thanks for taking the time to respond and hope everyone is safe and healthy out there.

 

I'll start off first by saying that I have no direct experience working with Renovo products. I do have a 997.2 cab ('09 with original black canvas top). I've been able to successfully use the Ragg Top products to address cleaning and maintenance for my top.

Just a few points perhaps to consider:

You've mentioned that you've cleaned and treated your gray fabric roof. Having treated it without it being clean to your satisfaction may present a problem if you decide to set out right away to re-clean and perhaps dye the roof. Reason being, is that if any of the Ragg Top fabric protectant remains embedded in the fabric, even after an additional cleaning (perhaps by the Renovo cleaner) the dye may not be absorbed evenly into the fabric of your roof.

According to the Renovo products website, the roof dye color options indicate that you would not have many colors to select from (Black, Dark Blue, Dark Green, Dark Red, or Dark Brown.) Based on that, the color change that you'd be making would be a very significant difference from the gray you currently have.

Perhaps you've come across the following thread on your search for information. (It's an older one.) It pertains to some bad experiences using the Renovo products and may be worth checking out...

https://www.renntech.org/topic/16620...y-hood-ruined/

Here's another point of reference - a YouTube video of a 911 cab owner who uses Renovo products with results that look pretty good. He has a black roof and uses the products to clean and then as a touch up to resolve some color variation issues...


One thought is to consider trying the Renovo soft top cleaner in an effort to address the concerns you've mentioned about your top not being completely clean. I've read numerous accounts that the cleaner does a good job and the use of that may sufficiently address the visual issues that your top currently has.

https://www.renovointernational.com/...op-cleaner.php

If that doesn't work, your best option may be to replace the roof.

 

Many thanks for the thoughtful and helpful reply, I may give their cleaner a try before going the dye route to see if that helps. I’ve got a quote to replace the top ($2K) but always looking for ways to extend the life of something, particularly when it’s otherwise working as designed. Thanks again and appreciate other folks thoughts, as well.

 

I've used Renovo on a BMW roof.

Imagine the roof as a large pair of denim jeans.

The cleaner is basically washing machine powder suspended in water.

The dye is neat black ink that will stain anything it touches.

The protector is a waterporrfer that makes it bead.

Since you want to crack the roof to take the tension off the fabric to work the ink into the weave, there's a high change of dripping it into the car. You'll also want latex gloves. apply it with a 2" paint brush.


I wrote this a few years back.
I did a Z3 roof. The instructions said "only do one panel of fabric at a time." First I did one half of the main roof area, then went around and did the other half.

Two hours later - large stripe down the centre of the roof...

You need to get some steps/a sturdy stool and ideally an assistant so that you can wet an entire panel of fabric at the same time.

I ended up buying another bottle then doing it again, three coats in total and it came out great.

Then I coated it with proofer to get the water to bead.

Note - don't wear your favourite white T Shirt. The temptation is to work really fast, and you will splash your clothes and your paint with black ink. The clothes will be ruined, and you will spend two hours picking dried ink off the paint. Ideally cover the paint near the roof and work with a rag in your back pocket to catch spills before they dry.

It's not a walk in the park - but it is do-able and it needs two people and two sets of something to stand on.