How to Clean a Grill Cover: A Step by Step Guide
Carly Vicknair - Senior Marketing Specialist, Coverstore
Carly is a Senior Marketing Specialist who brings product expertise and real customer insight to her writing on outdoor living and cover care.
Knowing how to clean a grill cover takes about twenty minutes and a bucket of soapy water, and it is the difference between a cover that lasts years and one that gets thrown out. Grill covers do a great job of keeping your grill clean, but sometimes they need a wash too. Follow these easy steps to clean your grill cover and make it look good as new.
How to Clean a Grill Cover
Video Summary
A walkthrough of washing a grill cover by hand, from removing it and hosing off loose dirt to scrubbing with soapy water, cleaning the inside, and drying it fully before it goes back on.
1. Gather Supplies
First, gather the correct supplies. You will need a bucket of water, mild dish soap, a sponge or soft bristle brush, a garden hose, and clean towels.
Avoid bleach, solvents, pressure washers, and stiff wire brushes. All four strip the protective coating or abrade the fabric, which is the same damage a washing machine does, just slower.
2. Remove the Cover
If the cover is not too dirty you can spot clean it while it is still on the grill. If it has a lot of dirt or grease stains, take it off for a deep clean.
Use the handles at the top of the cover to pull it off the grill, then shake it to remove any loose debris.
3. Hose Off the Cover
Lay the cover on the ground and use the hose to spray off any remaining dirt. Flip it over and repeat on the other side. A standard garden hose is plenty. A pressure washer will drive water through the fabric and damage the coating.
4. Scrub the Cover With Soapy Water
Mix a few drops of dish soap into the bucket of water. The ratio does not need to be exact, just enough soap to get some good bubbles going.
Take your sponge or soft bristle brush and start scrubbing with the soap mixture. If you have tough stains or mildew, let the soap sit on the cover for a few minutes to loosen them.
Once you have finished one side, hose off the soap and flip the cover over to scrub the other.
5. Clean the Inside of the Cover
Grease from your grill can transfer to the inside of the cover and make it sticky. If that has happened, turn the cover inside out and scrub with the same soapy water. Hose it off and repeat as needed.
6. Dry the Cover Completely
A small cover can be draped over a fence or hung up to dry. Larger cart or island grill covers should be laid on clean towels and left to dry in the sun. Flip the cover after 30 to 60 minutes so the other side can dry.
Never use a dryer, and do not put the cover back on while any part of it is damp. Sealing moisture against the grill is how mildew starts, which puts you right back where you began.
While the cover dries, take the time to clean the grill. Removing grease from the outside of your grill keeps the inside of the cover clean for longer. Follow our instructions on how to clean and protect your grill. We recommend the Golden Kit BBQ kit, which includes all the tools you need.
7. Re-Cover Your Grill
Once the cover is completely dry inside and out, put it back on your grill.
Can You Wash a Grill Cover in the Washing Machine?
No. Never put a grill cover in a washing machine or a dryer, whatever it is made from and whichever brand it came from. This is the question we are asked most often, so it is worth explaining rather than just stating.
A washing machine drum agitates hard enough to stress seams and pull stitching apart on a panel that large. Machine detergents are harsher than dish soap and strip the water resistant finish and UV coating off the fabric, which is the whole reason the cover works. A wet cover also becomes extremely heavy, and a full size cart or island cover can unbalance the drum. Vinyl covers are worse again, since heat from a wash cycle or a dryer will warp, stiffen, and crack them.
Once that coating is gone it does not come back. A cover that has been through a wash cycle may look clean and still soak through in the first rain. Hand washing with mild dish soap, described step by step below, is the only method we recommend, and it is what the care instructions on every Coverstore cover say.
The same answer applies to a Weber grill cover, a Blackstone griddle cover, a BBQ cover, and any vinyl or polyester cover from any manufacturer. No grill cover we know of is machine washable.
Removing Mold and Mildew
Mold and mildew show up as black or green speckling, usually on the inside of the cover where moisture was trapped. Soap and water plus a few minutes of soaking removes most of it. For stubborn patches, scrub in sections and rinse thoroughly rather than reaching for something stronger.
Skip the bleach. It breaks down the water resistant finish and can discolor the fabric permanently, and the mildew will return anyway if the underlying cause is not fixed. That cause is almost always moisture with nowhere to go, so check that your cover has a vent, that the grill is dry before covering, and that the cover itself is fully dry after washing.
Green Algae Is Not the Same as Mildew
If what you are looking at is green and slightly slimy rather than black and speckled, that is algae rather than mildew. Algae grows on covers that sit in shade and stay damp, often on the north facing side or under a tree, and it needs light and moisture rather than trapped air.
Removing green algae from a bbq cover uses the same soap and water method, with a longer soak and a second pass, since algae grips more than mildew does. The fix that matters is the cause: move the grill into more sun if you can, and make sure the cover is not sitting damp for weeks at a time.
If the mold is on the grill rather than the cover, that is a different job. Our guide on cleaning your grill covers it.
Cleaning by Cover Material
How to Clean a Polyester Cover
Mild dish soap, a soft brush, and a rinse. Polyester handles scrubbing well, so this is the most forgiving material to clean. Let it dry fully in the sun.
How to Clean a Vinyl Grill Cover
Cleaning a vinyl grill cover calls for a lighter touch. Use a sponge rather than a brush, since vinyl scuffs, and keep it out of prolonged direct heat while drying, because heat is what makes vinyl stiffen and crack. Wipe rather than scrub on any printed or coated surface.
How to Clean a Griddle or Flat Top Cover
Griddle covers pick up more grease than most, since the cooking surface sits closer to the fabric. Clean the inside every time, not just the outside, and check for grease build up around the corners where the cover folds.
Cleaning Specific Brands of Cover
The method does not change much between brands, but a few details do.
How to Clean a Weber Grill Cover
Weber covers are usually a coated polyester or a vinyl blend depending on the range, so treat them as coated fabric: mild dish soap, a soft brush or sponge, and a hose. No machine washing, no bleach, and no pressure washer. Pay attention to the fastening straps, which collect grit that then abrades the fabric every time you take the cover on and off.
How to Clean a Blackstone Griddle Cover
Blackstone and other flat top covers sit closer to a greasy cooking surface than a lid style grill cover does, so the inside needs cleaning as often as the outside. Turn the cover inside out and scrub the whole panel rather than spot cleaning, and check the corners where grease collects as the cover folds. Everything else follows the same seven steps.
How Often to Clean Your Grill Cover
Twice a year suits most people, once at the start of grilling season and once before the cover goes through winter. Add a wash any time you see mildew speckling, sticky grease on the inside, or a build up of pollen and dust.
Spot cleaning as you go reduces how often a deep clean is needed. Bird droppings and tree sap in particular are much easier to remove the same week than the following season.
How to Put a Grill Cover On Properly
Knowing how to put a bbq cover on correctly matters as much as the wash, because a badly fitted cover collects water and undoes the work.
- Make sure the grill is completely cool and dry. Never cover a warm grill.
- Line the cover up front to back before pulling it down, so the vent sits where it was designed to sit.
- Lower it using the handles rather than dragging it over the lid, which is what wears the corners through.
- Fasten the buckle straps, then cinch the drawcord or elastic hem so no slack is left flapping.
- Check the top for dips where water could pool, and smooth them out.
Grill Cover Maintenance Between Washes
Washing is one part of cover maintenance. Three other things decide whether a cover reaches its warranty or falls short of it.
Restoring Water Resistance
Repeated washing gradually wears down the factory water repellent finish, and you will notice it when rain starts soaking in rather than beading off. A fabric safe water repellent spray made for outdoor canvas and polyester will restore most of that performance. Apply it to a clean, fully dry cover and let it cure before the cover goes back on. It will not rebuild a UV coating that has already been stripped by machine washing, which is why hand washing matters in the first place.
Repairing Small Tears Early
A small tear becomes a large one fast, because wind works at the opening every time it gusts. Patch pinholes and short splits as soon as you see them with an outdoor fabric repair patch or tape rated for the material. Check the seams and the corners over the lid handles first, since that is where wear shows up soonest. If a seam has failed rather than the fabric, check whether it is within warranty before patching it.
Storing the Cover Off Season
If the cover comes off for a season, store it clean and bone dry in its storage bag, somewhere out of direct sun. Putting a damp cover into a bag is the fastest way to find mildew waiting for you next spring. Fold rather than scrunch, so the creases do not set in the same place year after year.
Cover Cleaning Tips
- Never put your cover in the washing machine or dryer.
- Clean your grill after using it and before covering it.
- Let the grill and the cover dry completely before putting the cover back on.
- Skip bleach, solvents, pressure washers, and wire brushes.
- Store the cover in its bag when it is off the grill for an extended period.
With these simple steps you will be on your way to a clean cover in no time at all.
Grill Cover Cleaning FAQs
Can you put a grill cover in the washing machine?
No. The agitation stresses the seams, machine detergent strips the water resistant finish and UV coating, and a soaked full size cover can unbalance the drum. Hand wash with mild dish soap and a soft brush instead.
Are grill covers machine washable?
No grill cover we know of is machine washable, in any material or brand. Hand washing is the only method that preserves the protective coating the cover depends on.
Can I wash a Weber grill cover in the washing machine?
No, and the brand makes no difference. Weber, Blackstone, Char-Broil, and Coverstore covers all rely on a coated fabric that machine washing destroys. Hand wash it.
Can you put a grill cover in the dryer?
No. Dryer heat warps and cracks vinyl and damages the coating on polyester. Air dry flat on clean towels in the sun, flipping the cover after 30 to 60 minutes.
What is the best way to clean a grill cover?
Shake off loose debris, hose it down, scrub both sides with mild dish soap and a soft brush, turn it inside out to clean off any grease, rinse, then dry it completely before putting it back on.
How do you wash a grill cover by hand?
Knowing how to wash a grill cover by hand is simple. Lay it flat, hose off loose dirt, then scrub both sides with a few drops of mild dish soap in a bucket of warm water using a sponge or soft bristle brush. Turn it inside out for any grease, rinse thoroughly so no soap dries into the fabric, and let it dry completely before it goes back on.
How do you clean a vinyl grill cover?
Same soap and water method, but use a sponge instead of a brush, since vinyl scuffs more easily, and keep it out of prolonged direct heat while drying, since heat is what makes vinyl stiffen and crack.
Can you use bleach on a grill cover?
No. Bleach breaks down the water resistant finish and can permanently discolor the fabric. Mild dish soap and a few minutes of soaking handles mold and mildew without the damage.
How do you remove green algae from a bbq cover?
Same soap and water method as mildew, but soak longer and expect a second pass, since algae grips harder. Then deal with the cause, which is shade plus damp. Moving the grill somewhere sunnier or making sure the cover dries out between rains stops it coming back.
Can you re-waterproof a grill cover?
You can restore most of the water repellency with a fabric safe repellent spray made for outdoor polyester and canvas, applied to a clean, fully dry cover. It will not rebuild a UV coating that has already been stripped, which is another reason to hand wash rather than machine wash.
How often should I clean my grill cover?
Twice a year works for most people, at the start of grilling season and before winter, plus any time you spot mildew, sticky grease inside, or heavy pollen.
Time for a New Cover?
If washing is not bringing it back, shop replacement grill covers by brand, model, or your own measurements.
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