The Complete Guide to Cleaning a Jeep Soft Top: Best Practices

Who doesn’t want to take care of their Jeep? But when it comes to cleaning a jeep soft top, people get into trouble. The bird dropping, sun UV, extreme environmental elements, resin, sap, and mildew can make the soft top of your jeep dirty.

There are a few ways to clean a Jeep soft top, but the best way is to use a commercial cleaner. You can buy a cleaner at an auto parts store or online. Additionally, you can also make your own cleaner by mixing dish soap with water. To clean the top, spray the cleaner on it and scrub it with a sponge. Be sure to rinse it off afterward.

In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the process of cleaning your Jeep soft top step-by-step. So whether you’re just looking to give your soft top a good cleaning or you’re preparing for winter, this guide has you covered!

What Can You Use For Cleaning Your Jeep Soft Top?

No mandatory rule says you need to use this or don’t need to use that. But, when cleaning the jeep soft top, you should be extra careful about the cleaning elements you choose.

Experts recommend avoiding using harmful cleaning chemicals that cause adverse effects on the soft top of your jeep.

You can somehow use the basic cleaning products, but using a specialized cleaning kit is better. The specialized cleaning kit helps you easily clean the soft top of your Jeep Wrangler.

In addition, the protective layer of the specialized cleaning kit will make the jeep soft top more durable. Now, let’s quickly look at the things you can use to clean your Jeep Wrangler soft top.

Water
Water hose
Bucket
Car Cleaning kit
Micro-fiber cloths/gloves
Zipper lubricant
Sponges
Regular car washes material.
Soft bristle brush

Once you have the above components in your collection, you will find a lot of ease while cleaning.

What Is The Best Way To Clean A Jeep Wrangler Soft Top?

The best way to clean a jeep wrangler soft top is to clean it in a way, so there’s no additional damage. Furthermore, while choosing the cleaning kit, make sure you choose the right one. Follow our step-by-step cleaning guide below.

Step 1: Rinse the Soft Top

In this step, you should rinse the soft top of your Jeep Wrangler entirely. Make sure the water pressure is decent enough to wash away all the additional dust from the soft top.

Moreover, using the water hose directly from your water pump will be much better. Besides, don’t forget to close all your Jeep windows to prevent water from entering the car.

Thoroughly rinse the vehicle until you see the additional dirt and dust wash away.

Step 2: Apply the commercial Cleaner on the Soft Top

Once you are done rinsing the soft top of your Jeep Wrangler properly, it’s time to use the cleaning kit. Here, you have to use the commercial cleaner. What you have to do is to take a sponge and put some cleaning liquid on it.

Furthermore, you also have to make sure you don’t take too much cleaning products at a time. After putting the vinyl cleaner on the sponge, it’s time to scrub the Jeep soft top except for the windows and body parts.

Step 3: Rinse The Soft Top Again

After applying the vinyl cleaner, you must rinse your jeep to wash away the cleaner. The method will be the same as in step one. Again, make sure there’s enough water pressure. Otherwise, there is a chance of staining.

While rinsing the soft top, you may notice the white foam coming off the soft top of your jeep. Continue the rinsing process until the white foam comes off. You have to wait a few minutes to see the soft top dry.

Step 4: Apply the protectant

In this step, you need to apply another competent form of the cleaning kit: a protectant. Before that, make sure you park your jeep under the shade. Sometimes, due to extreme sunlight, the protectant may not function properly.

You must do almost the same thing with the protectant and the cleaner. In this case, you shouldn’t apply the protectant to the windows. Instead, take a microfiber cloth and put some protection fluid on it.

After this, you need to scrub the roof of your jeep with a piece of fiber cloth. Make sure you do it properly and add some more protectant if it goes away because of scrubbing.

After applying the protectant on the roof, you must use it on the vinyl around the windows.

Step 5: Apply Window Cleaner

Now, it’s time to clean the windows of your Jeep Wrangler with the help of the window cleaner. Like in the previous step, you need to use the micro-fiber cloth in this case too.

Put some cleaner on the microfibre cloth and then buff it into the window in a circular motion. Do it properly until the strain goes away from the windows. Make sure you do good scrubbing.

Step 5: Apply Zipper Cleaner and Lubricant

This is the last step; you must use the zipper cleaner and lubricant. Due to dirt and dust, the zipper on the back window of your jeep may become hard. So, using zipper cleaner and lubricant will help you smoothly operate the zipper.

There is a bush on the top of the zipper cleaner. So, while brushing the zipper, the lubricant comes down through the brush. Furthermore, don’t forget to clean the extra lubricant with a dry cloth. That’s all.

How Do You Get Green Algae Off Your Jeep Wrangler Soft Top?

Covering some parts of your jeep’s soft top with algae is not uncommon. If there’s excess rain or your jeep stays undercover for a long time, you will see green algae on the soft top.

To get green algae off your jeep wrangler, rinse the soft top properly with good water flow. After rinsing, you can use a soft bristle brush to remove the green algae.

However, the green algae doesn’t wash away, so you need to apply cleaner or car soap to your Jeep Wrangler soft top. You can also find algae destroyer products on the market. If necessary, buy it.

How Do You Protect A Soft Top In The Winter?

Protecting a soft top in the winter may become challenging if you don’t know the right ways. The snow, ice, and extreme fog can cause problems for the soft top.

It is always better to cover the soft top with a water-resistant, breathable cover. Furthermore, if there is extreme snow or ice, you can use soft bristle brushes to remove them. Finally, don’t forget to rinse your Jeep regularly.

However, make sure you don’t brush the soft top excessively. We mention that stiff brushes can damage the fabric or vinyl on a large scale. In addition, you shouldn’t park your Jeep in an open space.

FAQs.

No matter how well we can get to know something, there are always some questions. Regarding cleaning a jeep soft top, there’s no exception. As a result, we have found some of the most frequently asked questions and have tried to answer them below.

Can A Jeep Soft Top Go Through A Carwash?

According to an expert in this field, cleaning your jeep soft top is not recommended through a carwash. Why? Because the brushes used in the carwash process are not cleaned regularly, they cause stains on the Jeep soft top.

In addition, chemical cleaners are another reason why a jeep soft top can’t go through a car wash.

How Can I Make My Jeep Soft Top Look New?

For this, you must be careful about cleaning the soft Jeep top. Furthermore, make sure you use the best and most appropriate cleaning products to make your jeep soft top look new. Regular maintenance? No doubt.

How Often Should I Clean My Jeep Soft Top?

If you are not good at time management, it is better to clean your jeep soft top once a month. But, experts recommend cleaning the Jeep soft top at least 2-3 times a month. Moreover, it depends on the type of area you live in.

How Long Does the Jeep Soft Top Take to Dry?

It depends on the type of weather. If the weather is sunny, it usually doesn’t take more than 10-12 minutes to dry. On the other hand, if the weather is cloudy or overcast, it may take around 30 minutes to dry.

Conclusion

There should be no compromise when cleaning a jeep soft top. No matter how careful you are, there’s no alternative way to maintain the soft top without regular cleaning. Moreover, traditional jeep cleaning isn’t suitable for the soft top. Solution? We have presented the above.

In addition, you should also be careful enough in choosing the right cleaning product for the jeep soft top. Furthermore, correctly applying them is also something you can’t avoid.

In most cases, you can clean the soft top of your jeep on your own. Unfortunately, you don’t hire a professional cleaner, which will save you money. So why so late? If you have to clean the Jeep soft top, clean it immediately.

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