Determining the Right Covercraft Vehicle Cover for You

Why do I need a vehicle cover?

Car covers may seem like an extravagance, but there is nothing extravagant about protecting an investment. Covercraft custom-fit vehicle covers help to extend the life and maintain the value of your car, truck or SUV.

What are my options?

There are several factors to consider when deciding which Covercraft vehicle cover is right for you. Where and how often the cover will be used is a good basis for determining which cover best suits your needs. Some covers excel in UV protection and are perfect for vehicle owners who live in harsh sun environments. Other covers are designed to prevent dirt, dust and other contaminants from reaching your vehicle and still others offer a nice balance of protection from UV rays and inclement weather. The key difference among covers is the construction of the fabric. It is the fabrics that give these covers their unique protective properties.

Fabric Variations

There are two distinct variations in fabric style for you to consider in a Covercraft vehicle cover - woven or single-layer and non-woven or multi-layer. Both styles provide certain benefits to the user - your choice will depend on your particular need. The single-layer, woven fabric is lighter, easier to store and easier to use overall. Covercraft also offers three separate, single-layer styles designed specifically for intense sun environments, whereas the multi-layer covers have more general uses.

The multi-layer fabrics tend to be heavier and more cumbersome but have additional layers within the cover to better filter out dirt, dust and other contaminants. The non-woven fabrics are also more affordable, providing vehicle protection options for any budget.

Woven or Single-Layer Covers

And

WeatherShield HP and WeatherShield HD are Covercraft's high-performance covers. Both single-layer, woven cover styles provide excellent fade protection with the patented EPIC by Nextec finish - an environmentally friendly process that adds color to the fabric prior to weaving for premium fade resistance. Both covers also have excellent breathability and moisture resistance, and both stop dirt, dust, tree sap and bird droppings from reaching your vehicle.

The main difference between the two styles is the thickness of the fabric. The WeatherShield HD is 40 percent thicker than the HP. This means that the HD provides better UV protection for the exterior and interior of your vehicle. The extra thickness of the fabric does make the HD more cumbersome to use, requiring more storage space as well, but it is the preferred choice for intense sun environments.

The HP is lighter and thus easier to store when not in use. The thinner fabric of the HP also provides a softer "touch" on your vehicle's fine paint finish or clearcoat.

HP is also washable and dryable in home laundry units, whereas the HD requires commercial units to clean.

If you live in Arizona, New Mexico, on the equator...Sunbrella is the premium vehicle cover for intense sun environments. Sunbrella fabric is used in everything from marine covers and sail covers to deck awnings and Bimini tops.

The single-layer, woven fabric is designed to provide the best UV resistance of any Covercraft cover, protecting both the interior and exterior of your vehicle from the harmful effects of prolonged sun exposure.

Sunbrella is designed to resist both fading and the loss of strength in fabric related to excessive exposure to heat, moisture and UV rays. The acrylic fibers are not surface-dyed like most covers, but rather the pigment is built into the fibers during the manufacturing process. This ensures that the fabric will not fade over time like those inferior, surface-dyed models.

Sunbrella is treated for moisture resistance, and the fabric is breathable to allow moisture and heat trapped under the cover to easily escape. These covers are washable in commercial units.

Ultra'tect covers are similar to WeatherShield HP in the benefits they offer, but they are manufactured from a more cost-effective material to provide a high-performance cover at an affordable price.

The single-layer, woven WeatherMax SL fabric, developed by Safety Components Fabric Technologies (SCFTI), provides effective protection from the elements and is particularly good at preventing bird droppings and tree sap from reaching your vehicle surface.

WeatherMax 150-denier fabric is exceptionally strong when compared with similar 300-denier fabrics. The fabric is designed to stretch only minimally to prevent sagging and provide superior shape retention, ensuring that your custom-fit cover remains snug.

The cover material has a soft "touch" on fine paint finishes and good breathability, and it requires minimum room for storage when not in use.

Ultra'tect is also only one of two covers offered by Covercraft - along with the WeatherShield HP - that is washable in home laundry units.

Non-woven or Multi-layer Covers

The Technalon Evolution Block-It offers a blend of all-weather protection and affordability that has established it as Covercraft's most popular cover.

Non-woven Evolution fabric, manufactured by Kimberly-Clark, has four layers, including a strong outer layer, two inner filtration layers and a soft bottom layer.

The strong outer layer has the highest Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) rating of any Kimberly-Clark fabric, assuring your vehicle interior and exterior the best protection from harmful UV rays. The cover also provides for the best heat insulation of any Covercraft cover, reducing the temperature of your vehicle interior on hot days.

The two inner layers of the cover act as a filtration barrier, preventing dust, dirt and other contaminants from reaching your vehicle surface.

The soft bottom layer provides gentle protection for your vehicle's fine paint finishes.

Together, the thickness of Evolution's four layers offers the best dent, ding and scratch resistance of any Covercraft vehicle cover. Evolution covers are washable in commerical units.

The NOAH is a high-performance cover that excels in all-weather protection, providing the best resistance to dirt and moisture of any Covercraft non-woven cover.

Non-woven NOAH fabric has dual outer layers featuring sheath core technology, meaning that each fiber of the cover has a polypropylene inner core for strength and a polyethylene wrap for softness. The outer layers are also manufactured in a light gray color that will not attract heat and include UV inhibitors to protect the fabric from prolonged sun exposure.

The middle layer of NOAH contains a microporous film that is breathable, yet water- and dust-resistant. The microscopic pores of the film layer are small enough to keep out water droplets and contaminants but still allow moisture and heat trapped beneath the cover to easily escape.

The inner layer is made with a combination of polyethylene and nylon, resulting in an exceptionally strong fabric still soft enough to protect today's water-based paint finishes.

The four-layer design of the NOAH also helps to prevent dents and dings, and the cover offers excellent heat insulation for the interior of your vehicle. NOAH covers are washable in commercial units.

A more affordable, stripped-down version of the NOAH, the Deluxe Block-It 380 Series provides good all-weather protection and resistance to UV rays at a value price.

The non-woven 380 Series has three layers, including outer and inner layers of bi-component "spunbond" that provide protection from rain, dirt, dust and other contaminants. The construction of the fabric also produces a soft "touch" to protect your vehicle's fine paint finish.

The middle layer of the 380 Series is a thinner version of the film barrier contained in the NOAH cover. The barrier is designed to stop water from penetrating to the vehicle and to filter out dirt and dust, while it maintains breathability, allowing trapped heat and moisture to escape from under the cover. Deluxe Block-It 380 Series covers are washable in commercial units.

The Multibond Block-It 200 Series is billed as an outdoor cover and will provide a very basic amount of all-weather protection and resistance to UV rays, but it is best used as an indoor cover.

The three-layer cover is constructed from polypropylene and offers fair resistance to rain, snow, dirt and dust.

The non-woven, multi-layer fabric provides good protection from UV damage, holds out bird droppings and tree sap, and has excellent breathability. This allows trapped heat and moisture to easily escape from under the cover.

The 200 Series has good heat insulation to keep the temperature of your vehicle interior down on hot days, and the cover provides a soft "touch" to protect your fine paint finish. Multibond Block-It 200 Series covers are washable in commercial units.

Covercraft Styles At A Glance

	Multibond Block-It 200 Series	Deluxe Block-It 380 Series	Technalon Evolution Block-It	NOAH	WeatherShield HP	Ultra'tect	Sunbrella	WeatherShield HD
Outdoor Use	Good	Good	Better	Best	Best	Best for Intense Sun	Best for Intense Sun	Best for Intense Sun
All-Weather Protection	Fair	Good	Better	Best	Best	Better	Better	Best
Resists:
Rain	Fair	Better	Better	Best	Best	Better	Good	Best
Snow	Fair	Good	Better	Best	Best	Better	Poor	Best
Dirt/Dust	Fair	Good	Better	Best	Best	Better	Fair	Best
UV (Sun) Damage	Good	Good	Best	Better	Better	Better	Best	Better
Bird Droppings/Tree Sap	Good	Better	Best	Best	Best	Best	Better/Good	Best
Breathability	Best	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Best	Good
Heat Insulation	Good	Better	Best	Best	Good	Good	Good	Good
Soft Touch	Good	Better	Better	Better	Best	Better	Good	Better
Ding Protection	Minimal	Good	Best	Better	Minimal	Minimal	Better	Fair
Cost	$	$$	$$$	$$$$	$$$$$	$$$$	$$$$$$	$$$$$$