>Is there anything that should be done, or not, to sunbrella to maximize its life. Keith is obviously the expert on this, but I will say that making a reasonable effort to keep the fabric clean seems to enhance its longevity. We try to wash all our covers at least once a year. Keep in mind that we're in the PNW where it rains a lot, and our boat's location in the marina is minimally exposed to seagull poo. A boat back east where industrial fallout or soot might be heavier, or down south where it's sunny much of the time, or moored somewhere that gets heavily bombed by the gulls probably poses different challenges to prolonging the life of the covers. And perhaps we should be washing our covers more than once a year. But it does seem to help. We wash them in a large washing machine. I would think scrubbing them hard by hand with strong detergent might not be so good for the fabric, but I'm just speculating at this point. ______________________________ C. Marin Faure GB36-403 "La Perouse" Bellingham, Washington