[leftoverture]

Ok, let me start by saying I know this truly is a first world problem. But... hoping we maybe have a botanist in our ranks. So, I live in Central Minnesota. I work in a small, rural town. When I park at work, I'm getting cottonwood-like seeds all over my ragtop. It's November 17th, there aren't even any leaves on the trees here any more and I'm still getting these. Even stranger, this is my fourth year with this car at the same work location, and I've never had this problem until this year!

It is a mature industrial park and I don't believe any new trees have been put in, though I suppose it's possible, but where the heck are these things coming from? And they stick pretty good and don't come off in the car wash, so I end up vacuuming them off before I wash the car. It's truly quite annoying.

Any ideas on where these come from and why this year but not the 3 prior years? Anything I can do to the top so they don't stick like they do? (I currently proof it with Ragg Top products)

[Dom147]

hmm, you could try posting in the regional forum. Adding pictures would definitely be appreciated too. Sorry I cant help much

[JMcLellan]

I know what annoying cottonwood seedy looking things you are talking about. There were a bunch of them on the golf course I was playing the other day in the Watertown area. As for keeping them off your convertible, I don't know what to say but I feel for you; those things are soooo sticky.

[Brobeav]

How about a lightweight car cover that you can easily stow and then put on at work (obviously a material that the seeds won’t stick to)?

[leftoverture]

Originally Posted by JMcLellan

I know what annoying cottonwood seedy looking things you are talking about. There were a bunch of them on the golf course I was playing the other day in the Watertown area. As for keeping them off your convertible, I don't know what to say but I feel for you; those things are soooo sticky.

Yes! I work in Delano, just a short hop from Watertown.

[jzeiler4]

Just stow the top while you are parked there, that will work.

[leftoverture]

Originally Posted by jzeiler4

Just stow the top while you are parked there, that will work.

Ha! And have all those nasty little seeds inside.

[msej449]

When I had a Lotus Elise, it came with a cover for when the top was stored away. Sort of a summer ‘insurance’ in case there was a rain shower. It was light plastic and worked pretty well, even in the rain, but I suspect it was more to keep dust, leaves and bird droppings etc out of the cabin in the summer. As you probably know, you can disable the interior motion sensor but immobilise the car, so flapping wouldn’t set the alarm off if you used something similar in the summer, and in the winter it fitted over the fabric top, it would help in situations such as you describe. I imagine that there’s something suitable on eBay or Amazon.