5 years is for living in a swamp w/ no care, rode hard & put away wet, & abusing the heck out of it.  5 years is what Sunbrella's old warranty is for marine fabric, new warranty varies 10 years to life.  The OG poptops were made w/ cotton canvas which is much more susceptible to mold & mildew than the new generation acrylic fabrics, so they outta last forever w/ decent care, but it ain't forever yet, so who knows!

I have seen 1-2 of these OEM westy 3 window poptops up close & it looks like acrylic fabric to moi, but I could be wrong-Ron or someone?

YMMV,

Mr. BZ-my og poptop going on 28 years  & still in great shape

On May 23, 2011, at 1:31 PM, Chris S wrote:

> If the original went nearly 25, I only have 5 years to get out of my fabulous German three-window masterpiece? :-)
> 
> The best advice I can give is to keep it dry before folding or dry very shortly thereafter, keep your pop-top seals in check, and if you do need to clean it for some odd reason, use a very mild soap solution with a good rinse/dry. 
> 
> Chris.
> 
> Wysłane z iPhone'a
> 
> Dnia May 23, 2011 o godz. 13:33 Tom Buese <tombuese@COMCAST.NET> napisał(a):
> 
>> It should be good to go for at least 5 years, possibly much longer as it is an acrylic fabric like Sunbrella?  For cleaning/maintaining/retreating later on use:
>> 
>> http://www.sunbrella.com/cleaning/marine-tops-covers.php
>> 
>> YMMV,
>> 
>> Mr. BZ-nono on the Scotchguard
>> 
>> 
>> On May 23, 2011, at 9:37 AM, ralph meyermann wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi.all I've purchased a new german canvas from bus depot is there a
>>> treatment to help it shed water or stay dry? I don't know if a scotch guard
>>> treatment will help or not? Thanks