So, you just received and installed your brand-new tonneau cover from RealTruck®. Your truck’s a bit dirty, but you don’t have time to spend hours hand-washing—you might as well cruise through the automated car wash. Plus, a quick coat of spray wax is probably good for the canvas tarp, right?
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Not so fast. While not advertised too often, tonneau covers aren’t just an install-it-and-forget-about-it type of modification. Most require specific maintenance and care procedures, ensuring a long-lasting finish and even lengthier service life. But what exactly do these processes look like? And what steps should you take to protect your investment?
Stay tuned for the answers to all of these questions and more. In this guide, the experts at RealTruck® tackle cleaning, maintaining, and prolonging the life of your tonneau cover, including the recommended steps, products, and the general dos and don'ts of aftercare.
Tonneau covers come in several constructions, though we’re limiting this discussion to soft versus hard bed cover options. Each requires different cleaning methods and products to ensure a long lifespan and a clean, like-new finish every wash.
First, let’s talk about soft tonneau covers. Soft tonneau covers refer to any truck bed cover with a vinyl or canvas tarp, including soft folding and soft roll-up. For the sake of this article, we’ll also include hard tonneau covers with vinyl and canvas overlays, like the BAK Revolver X4ts Tonneau Cover. Soft truck bed covers are far more sensitive to chemicals, cleaners, waxes, and detergents. They’re also more delicate—rogue automated car wash brushes can cause irreparable damage, which typically isn’t covered under manufacturer warranties.
Alternatively, hard tonneau covers comprise any truck bed cover with rigid construction, including one-piece, hard folding, and most retractable options. These rigid tonneau covers typically feature robust fiberglass, polymer, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), or aluminum constructions with durable, automotive-grade finishes, making them far more secure and durable than their soft counterparts. In most cases, no precautions must be taken when cleaning a hard tonneau cover. Just follow manufacturer guidelines, and don’t use any product you wouldn’t use on your truck’s paint.
Who doesn't love an automatic car wash? Fast, convenient, and affordable, automated washes are perfect for truck owners who need more time and patience to wash their pickups by hand. However, you should reconsider if your truck is sporting a tonneau cover. In this section, we’ll discuss which automated car washes we’d recommend and which to avoid.
Stay far away from car washes with spinning brushes. Aside from the obvious risk of scratching and swirling your truck's paint, there are a couple of reasons to avoid these types of automated car washes.
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First is the possibility of damaging your tonneau cover via abrasion. Second, the side brushes can shift your tonneau cover's side rails over time, eventually bending or dislodging the clamps that hold it in place. At the very least, you’ll need to reinstall the side rail—at worst, irreparable damage to the cover can occur. Though several tonneau cover owners may scoff at these claims, these issues are typically more cumulative than immediate.
A touch-free car wash is your best bet if you must take a tonneau cover through a car wash. By employing sensors to gauge your vehicle's size and contours, a touch-free car wash lives up to its name, cleaning your vehicle with pressurized water and detergents. Brushes don't come into play here, which is good news for your tonneau cover. However, be sure to decline the spray wax option, as these chemicals can wreak havoc on canvas, vinyl, and rubber surfaces.
Ultimately, we’ll always recommend hand washing for maximum safety, and most professionals agree. Washing your truck by hand helps to avoid paint damage caused by abrasives lodged in automatic brushes.
Though hand-washing your tonneau cover is the safest bet, here are a couple of things to remember.
First, know your material. Soft tonneau covers come in canvas and vinyl constructions, and both feature nooks, crannies, and stitches where dirt likes to hide. In both cases, we recommend investing in a soft-bristled brush for thorough cleaning, ensuring the soft tarp returns to its like-new finish every wash. Avoid stiff bristles, as these may be too abrasive for glossy black vinyl.
Second, know your chemicals. While featuring properties that benefit paint, automotive waxes and detergents may damage your soft tonneau cover. Harsh chemicals and waxes can dry out vinyl and discolor canvas, leading to cracks, rips, tears, and excessive fading. If you need to question whether a chemical is safe for your tonneau cover, we’d recommend consulting the product’s manual. If all else fails, you can always use a diluted, PH-neutral soap, like conventional dish soap.
Also, avoid polishes and shines as these products may have similar effects as waxes and harsh chemicals.
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