BeyondNice often receives calls from clients who have received their beautiful new cover and want to know what to put on the vinyl to protect it from the damaging sun and freezing weather. We also receive calls from clients who have an old cover that has failed from the vinyl getting ruined from the sun or other harsh climate conditions. Is there anything you can do to help protect the vinyl from these conditions, to keep it healthy so it does not crack? Well, the answer is yes!

Your vinyl skin can become damaged over time, and the general life of a hot tub cover is about 4-7 years. If your vinyl skin is wearing out prematurely from sun exposure or from freezing temperatures prematurely, then you would definitely want to take extra precautions to protect it. We have a couple of suggestions for you. The first thing you may want to consider is to purchase a “Spa Cap”. This is a kind of cover for the cover if I may say it that way. The Spa Cap can be placed over the cover and removed from the cover very easily. It is an inexpensive and easy way to make sure that your cover remains looking beautiful for all of those family gatherings and get-togethers.

Another option is to find a spray/wax protectant for the cover, maybe at a local or online marina. The vinyl is Marine GradevVinyl, so please make sure your protectant for the vinyl is something that you can use on this kind of vinyl. This usually will need to be applied every 6-8 weeks or so.

 

BeyondNice has clients that often want to apply other types of vinyl protectants, like Armor-All or another vinyl cleaner thinking this will help the vinyl look shiny and nice! Do not use Armor-All! BeyondNice hears complaints from clients who use any other product that is not meant for marine grade vinyl will have a cover that is literally deteriorating within days after use of a non-marine grade protectant. Products such as 303 Aerospace work well with marine grade vinyl.

 

When cleaning your cover, we recommend using a mild dish soap and warm water. This will help extend the life of the vinyl and keep it nice and clean as well!

 

Written by Ethel Elliott. +Ethel writes about all things backyard with a focus on replacement hot tub spa covers. You can also chat with Ethel on Twitter! Follow this author on Twitter