I just bought the new MX-5. How do I take care and protect the cloth convertible top?

Your dealer has an excellent line of products available to care for the top/contact your dealers parts dept for these

Your owner manual should detail how to care for your top, and what specific cleaner or water repellant to use if necessary.

My experience has been that with a cloth top you NEVER want to use any kind of chemical beyond a very mild soap, because it will react with or dissolve the factory waterproofing, and also will cause the fabric to fade and deteriorate.

The best way to care for a cloth top is to clean it first, before washing the rest of the car. Rinse well, then wash the top with a very small amount of car wash soap in the bucket using a sponge or soft brush in a gentle circular motion. Rise with plenty of water to be sure you have no soap residue left in the fabric.

When cleaning the backlight, use even greater care if it's vinyl, as it will scratch very easily. Mine was vinyl and I poured a clean bucket of mild soap solution on, rather than scrubbing on the soap. Rinse with lots of water, and blot the top and window dry with a towel before washing the rest of the car.

After washing the balance of the car, blot the top dry again, and use a masking-tape-style lint brush to remove the towel lint. Using this method will keep your top looking as new, should prolong the fabric life and help prevent leaking.

Check out 303 products, they have some of the best protectants for cloth tops, and plastics, their stuff is pricey, but well worth the money.

I have been using it on my jeep top, and it looks like new still, I definitally trust this stuff, they have several specialty produtcs, so find what looks best fo ryou.

Avoid ArmorAll, while it does provide protection, it is not as good as newer products.

The best method is to just take care of it. Always use the cover that came with the car so that it wears evenly, and don't drive it in winter weather without the plastic pop top.

DOn't fret. When I had a mazda miata from 2000-2005, I had to worry about the back window and back window zipper. I got messed up. We just enjoyed it and left the top town. What you should do is buy a car cover in case you have to leave it out one night. When I had my alleyway re-done, we used it every night, and it really helped!

Hey, you shouldn't buy a thing like that and then agonise about looking after it. ENJOY having it. If it gets dirty so what.

I had a colleague who had a soft top car and he used to worry about where he could park it safely. In case jealous people ripped the top!

Cobnvertibles are about freedom and enjoyment. NOT worry.

It is a Mazda? You can go a head and scotchguarded but not really necessary!