Keep it clean, says aircraft cover guru Ron Kensey of Kennon Aircraft Covers , and repair any damage right away. For woven fabrics it is important to keep the cover clean, and make repairs as soon as they are needed. We make our cabin covers from Sunbrella that fits into that category.
Dirty covers absorb more water than they repel.
A cover that is coming apart at the seams will be further damaged by the wind in no time. Keep the cover off the ground and always store the cover in its storage bag. Your cover should exceed five years useful life if it is made right and cleaned and repaired properly. A lot depends on how the cover was built. For instance it makes sense for us to match the quality of thread to quality of fabric.