Best soft top cleaners 2025
Soft-tops often get ignored during a detail, but a proper roof cleaner will keep your hood in good condition and protect it from leaking. We put eight specialist products to the test
Other than regular cleaning, it’s very easy to forget the roof when valeting a soft-top car. While there are multiple potions and polishes aimed at protecting your paintwork, very few companies offer something to keep your canvas clean and clear of contaminants.
If you don’t look after your soft-top, it won’t look after you, and if left exposed to the elements, gathering dirt and dust, it can wither, shrink, wear or leak. That’s why regular cleaning with a dedicated cleaner is important, and treatment with a protectant is valuable to preserve the roof as much as possible.
We put eight products designed specifically for soft-top cleaning to the test. Some are simple dirt-busting sprays and others are more involved, with two or three stages. Each claims to offer protection as well as cleaning capability. Last time we did this test, it looked quite different – four of the products have been discontinued (including the winner) and two replaced with new formulas. So which one comes out on top now?
How we tested
We used the roof of a 28-year-old MGF that had spent the summer out in the open and, knowing this test was coming up, we ensured we didn’t clean the hood for three months.
Used - available now
2023 Toyota
RAV4 Hybrid
19,611 milesAutomaticPetrol2.5L
Cash £25,200
2021 Toyota
Proace Verso
24,279 milesManualDiesel2.0L
Cash £25,300
2020 Mazda
MX-30
37,543 milesAutomaticElectric
Cash £10,300
2021 Land Rover
Range Rover Evoque
39,757 milesAutomaticDiesel2.0L
Cash £22,900We parked it variously in a dusty area, under trees and near an industrial estate for a few nights each in the fortnight leading up to the test. The roof was filthy, as proven by the thick layer of dust and grime we wiped off the rear window, and mildew nestling in its creases.
We used the sample products to clean a section of the roof each, assessing them for ease of use, effectiveness and how quickly we achieved a result. Value for money was an additional consideration.
Protex Convertible Soft-Top Care Kit
- Rating: 5.0 stars
- Price: around £22.99
- Contact: protexworld.co.uk
The British-made Protex Convertible Soft-Top Care Kit is a complete set, with a bottle of cleaner, a waterproofer, two paintbrushes and a scrubbing brush. It’s ready to use neat, but you must dampen the roof first.
Application is easy: you paint the cleaner on with a brush and then scrub it off with warm water and the scrubbing brush, before painting the waterproofer on afterwards. It was the second-most effective cleaner out of those on test, but the waterproofer left instant beading on the roof. The added protection offered by the two-stage application makes it our best all-rounder, especially considering the price.
Sonax Soft-Top Cleaner
- Rating: 4.5 stars
- Price: around £18
- Contact: sonax.co.uk
It may be our runner-up in this test, but the Sonax Soft-Top Cleaner is a brilliant product and would be a definite go-to choice if we were looking for good results in a hurry. It’s a simple spray-on and clean-off formula, but its capability at removing contaminants was the most impressive here, getting rid of mildew and tree sap almost instantly.
Sonax Soft-Top Cleaner can also be used for cleaning plastic rear windows if you wipe it off with a soft cloth. At £18 for a cleaner only, it’s far from the cheapest product here, but there was nothing else in this test that came close to its immediate and effective cleaning ability.
Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Fabric Cleaner
- Rating: 4.5 stars
- Price: around £14
- Contact: turtlewax.co.uk
The clever thing about Turtle Wax’s latest ‘Hybrid Solutions’ range is that each product has multiple applications across the car. The Fabric Cleaner can be used on interior fabrics and carpets, plus soft-tops, yet this doesn’t seem to affect its cleaning power, if the results we achieved are anything to go by. It returned similar cleaning results to the Sonax, but required a little more time and effort. But it’s also measurably cheaper, if value for money is key.
Angelwax Excelsior Soft-Top Cleaner
- Rating: 4.0 stars
- Price: around £10.95
- Contact: angelwax.co.uk
Angelwax’s Excelsior Soft-Top Cleaner offers great value for money and smells good. We found it to be an effective cleaner, albeit one that required a little more effort than our top three choices in this test.
There was no faulting the end result, though, while its ultra-violet-protecting qualities should help to preserve the colour of your convertible’s roof from fading as a result of sunshine, as well. We did find it quite greasy, though. It’s an effective option if you’re on a budget, however, and is simple to use.
Autoglym Convertible Soft Top Clean and Protect
- Rating: 4.0 stars
- Price: around £35.99
- Contact: autoglym.com
Like all Autoglym products we’ve experienced, the Soft Top Cleaner and Soft Top Protector in this pack (which also includes an applicator and a sponge) are effective, feel like they’re of a very high quality, and smell extremely fresh. But you do need to pre-mix both products, and dampen the roof first. The end result is great, but it takes a while, is more labour-intensive than rivals and, at £35.99, not cheap.
Fabsil Universal Cleaner and Protectant
- Rating: 3.5 stars
- Price: around £16.57
- Contact: fabsil.com
Fabsil Universal Cleaner is aimed at all outdoor canvas products, from tents and marquees to hot air balloons and boat sails, so when used on a car roof, a little goes a long way. As such, Fabsil is one of the best-value options on test here and you’ll get several years’ worth of cleans from one pack. It smells waxy and not especially pleasant, but it does a decent job of cleaning and protecting – although mixing it with five litres of water before each clean is a bit of a faff.
Renovo Soft Top Cleaner
- Rating: 3.0 stars
- Price: around £14.45
- Contact: renovointernational.com
As one of the most established names in soft-top care, Renovo has a reputation to uphold, but its Soft Top Cleaner is quite old-fashioned in its approach. It’s at its best on heavily soiled roofs, where its labour-intensive process is worth the effort – you have to wet the roof, apply it with a brush and leave it to soak in, before then scrubbing it clean and trying a second application, which we needed for our moderately dirty hood. It worked, but it took some effort.
ValetPro Drop Top Cleaner
- Rating: 2.5 stars
- Price: around £10
- Contact: valetpro.global
In principle, ValetPro Drop Top Cleaner is easy to use due to its spray-on, scrub-off formula, but tree sap and mildew needed lots of agitation to get any effective cleaning results. You also have to pre-dampen the roof. It’s the cheapest product, but by the time you’ve put the extra effort in to get the results, the saving doesn’t feel worth it.
Verdict
- Protex Convertible Soft-Top Care Kit
- Sonax Soft-Top Cleaner
- Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Fabric Cleaner
Protex delivered the best all-round result, while Sonax is perfect if you want a quick clean. Turtle Wax is effective and handy for other uses.
Did you know you can sell your car through Auto Express? We’ll help you get a great price and find a great deal on a new car, too.
