How to repair and protect hot tub covers from sun and winter?

Spa and hot tub covers are made of marine vinyl and will begin to desiccate (dry out) after one season of summer sun and winter weather. Conditioners will keep the vinyl from drying out, but only pigmented finish will act as a durable sunscreen and humectant. Cracks and tears need to be addressed promptly before the entire cover loses structural integrity or becomes cost-prohibitive to repair.

This picture from 2004 shows our anti-UV conditioning stain applied to Rebecca’s spa cover.

Twelve years later the cover was water-logged. Rebecca found a used cover and swapped the foam inserts. The vinyl on the used cover was years younger, but Rebecca’s, despite years of blistering Southern California sun and torrential rainstorms, was in better condition thanks to a one-time application of 3-4 coats of Rub ’n Restore®.

We guarantee that our finishes will double or triple the life of marine vinyl on hot tub covers. Colors containing white (titanium oxide) act as an especially potent sunscreen. Use a glaze (mix of equal parts color and Clear Prep+Finish™) as a primer or first coat. This will disperse better on weathered vinyl and ultimately cost less than using color alone. Here’s how to estimate quantity needed.

All this said, Rub ‘n Restore® cannot reverse damage, nor is it a void filler. The sun-rotted marine vinyl pictured above benefited from four coats of our anti-UV finish, but anything worse (like the images below) need a proper vinyl repair compound like our Soft Filler. Be sure to subpatch any holes first! 

Soft Filler, however, is cost prohibitive for large areas of degradation. Instead, you’re better off resurfacing the vinyl with a rubberized coating like Liquid Rubber® or FlexSeal®. Our colored finishes will recolor these coatings if they are not available in the desired shade. This may set you back US$150, but it’s still cheaper than replacement.  NOTE: Liquid Rubber® is water-based and can be diluted with water, making it more versatile and less noxious. We used their Polyurethane Sealant on both the hot tub cover pictured above and a sun-rotted yurt roof with great success, thanks in part to knowledgeable tech support from the company itself. It must be ordered online. FlexSeal® can be found in most hardware stores in either an aerosol spray or liquid. However, it is solvent-based and cannot be diluted and is therefore less versatile.

When you do spring for a new spa cover, be sure to protect it with Rub ‘n Restore® before the second summer comes ’round. You’ll only have to deal with eventual water-logging, not disintegrating vinyl.

We’ve even had customers use it on vinyl siding!

This videos demonstrates a repair and refinishing of a spa cover using a subpatch, Soft Filler, Flite Cleaner, Clear Prep+Finish™ and Espresso color.