The Original Bag Lady canoe and kayak covers and Ultimate kayak covers are made to be used at highway speeds for transportation.

You can maximize the life of the cover by following a few simple tips when you're on the road.

1. Movement will abrade and wear the fabric. Be sure that your boat, rack, and tie down straps are all secure. If the boat can wiggle on the rack, a strap is vibrating or flapping against the cover, or the rack can move under the boat, that movement will wear through any fabric, including ours.

2. Sand, dirt, and grit trapped between the cover and your hull can scuff and scratch your boat, especially under your straps. Be sure that your boat is sand-and-grit-free before you put it in the cover for transport.

3. If you have an Original Bag Lady Canoe Cover, always transport your canoe with the enclosed "pocket" of the cover facing forward. If it's facing backward, it will catch the air, creating drag and stressing the seams.

4. If you have a kayak cover (either the Ultimate Cover or Original Bag Lady Cover) and carry your boat upright in saddles, J-bars, or a V-rack, use a waterproof cockpit cover underneath our cover if you expect to drive in rain or precipitation. Remember that our fabrics are not waterproof and will not stop water from getting into your cockpit.

5. If you have a Canoe Coat storage cover . . . STOP! The Canoe Coat is not intended nor designed for transportation!

Please see our Product Information and Instructions page for specific cover use, care, and maintenance information.

Unfortunately, no. The sun will most likely be the cause of your cover’s demise someday.

The primary purpose of our covers is to protect your boat from the damaging effects of UV and, to that end, they take the punches instead of your boat.

Premium polyester covers will show fading rather quickly, but can last for many, many years despite the loss of color saturation.

Our WeatherMax 3D covers resist fading for a much longer time period (and come with a 5 year warranty against UV damage from the fabric manufacturer), but will still fade eventually.

The Sunbrella Marine canvas that we use in our Canoe Coats, Ultimate Covers, and Full-Zip USCA C1 Covers is the most UV-resistant of our fabrics and has a 10 year warranty from the fabric manufacturer against UV damage that makes the fabric unserviceable.

To maximize the lifespan of your cover, we recommend applying a UV fabric protector like Ray and Rain Shield fabric protectant, Aerospace 303 Fabric Protectant, or ScotchGard Water and Sun Shield. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for application method and frequency.

Fading is an unavoidable result of using your cover to protect your boat. The good news is that the cover took the punches from the sun rather than your boat!

Once your cover has faded, there’s no way to bring back the original color. However, a faded cover can still offer many, many years of protection to your boat.

A key test to determine how much UV damage your cover has sustained is to look at the interior of the cover. If the interior is still the original color, you can be assured that your cover still has a lot of life left in it. When the interior has also begun to fade, the sunlight has damaged the full thickness of your cover and it’s time to think about a replacement.

To maximize the lifespan of your cover, we recommend applying a UV fabric protector like Ray and Rain Shield fabric protectant, Aerospace 303 Protectant, or ScotchGard Water and Sun Shield. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for application method and frequency.

This is a hard question to answer because it depends on so many factors.

A polyester cover that’s used for transportation but is stored indoors could last 20+ years; one that is stored outdoors in a region with heavy sun (like Florida, the desert, or high in the mountains) might only last a few years.

Most of our customers get 7 to 10 years from their polyester covers.

If you store your boat outdoors or live in a region with heavy sun, we recommend that you consider a marine-grade fabric for your cover. The Original Bag Lady Canoe Cover is available in WeatherMax 3D and the Ultimate kayak/surf ski/OC covers and Canoe Coat covers are available in Sunbrella Marine canvas for maximum life and protection.

To maximize the lifespan of your cover, no matter which material it’s made from, we recommend applying a UV fabric protector like Ray and Rain Shield fabric protectant, Aerospace 303 Protectant, or ScotchGard Water and Sun Shield. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for application method and frequency.

We are happy to sell you replacement parts for your cover. You can look under the "Parts and Repair" section of our online store or contact us at hello@redleafdesigns.com.

No, our covers won’t damage most composite, plastic, or wood and canvas canoes and kayaks as long as they’re installed properly.

The most common issue that we see is a customer who puts the cover on their boat and traps sand or gravel between the cover and the boat’s hull, then ties the boat down on their car with a strap. The sand or gravel gets trapped between the cover the the boat and is ground back and forth by the strap while they drive, causing scratches or abrasions. You can avoid this by making sure that your boat is clean before putting on the cover.

No, they are not. And for good reason!

Our covers are designed to breath, allowing water to escape and preventing mildew, mold, and rot from trapped moisture.

The premium polyester covers are fully breathable and offer very little water resistance. For most boats, which are designed to get wet, that’s not an issue.

If you have a more sensitive boat with oiled wood gunwales or, perhaps, a carefully restored wood and canvas canoe, the WeatherMax 3D covers will provide water resistance to shed most of the water that falls on it, while still being breathable and letting moisture escape.

Our Sunbrella Canoe Coats and Ultimate Covers are the most water resistant covers that we make while still offering good breathability.

When you order any custom-sewn item, you'll choose the production date for that item. For more information about our production date scheduling system, please see our Production Schedule page.

Depending on the time of year and our current order backlog, custom-sewn covers may take between 2 weeks and 3 months to ship.

If you have an urgent need, contact us before placing your order and we may be able to move your order up in the production schedule.

All of our products come with a 90-day warranty against defects in craftsmanship and materials. Should you have a problem within that time frame, please contact us so that we can determine if replacement, repair, or another option is the best solution.

Please note that our premium polyester fabric is expected to fade in the sun and that fading is not considered a defect in material. You can reduce the amount of fading in your polyester cover by treating it with a fabric UV-protectant like Ray and Rain Shield Fabric Treatment, 303 Aerospace Protectant, or ScotchGard Water and Sun Shield.

Our WeatherMax 3D covers come with a 5-year limited warranty against the fabric becoming unserviceable due to loss of strength or color from normal conditions of exposure. Should this occur, Safety Components (the manufacturer of WeatherMax 3D) will supply new fabric to replace the unservicable fabric. We would then remake your cover from the replacement WeatherMax 3D fabric at a discounted labor rate.

Our Sunbrella Marine canvas covers come with a 10 year warranty against the fabric becoming unserviceable due to loss of strength or color from normal conditions of exposure. Should this occur, Glenn Raven (the manufacturer of Sunbrella Marine) will supply new fabric to replace the unservicable fabric. We would then remake your cover from the replacement Sunbrella Marine fabric at a discounted labor rate.

Canoe covers are all made-to-order and considered custom products. Per our Refund Policy, they are not eligible for a return.

That said, we want our customers to be happy! If you’re not happy, please contact us at hello@redleafdesigns.com so that we can find a solution to your problem that works for everyone.

Oh, no! If your cover doesn’t fit, please contact us at hello@redleafdesigns.com and we’ll figure out the best way to make it right.

Fortunately, a poorly fit cover is a very rare occurrence and is usually the result of an order for a different boat than what you actually have. Regardless of the cause, we’ll gladly work with you to make your cover fit!

Because our covers are custom made-to-order, we do not usually accept exchanges for different colors or sizes.

That said, we want our customers to be happy! If you’re not happy, please contact us at hello@redleafdesigns.com so that we can find a solution to your problem that works for everyone.

Our prices may change due to sales demands, supply chain changes, marketing initiatives, sales, and other reasons. Unfortunately, we are unable to refund the price difference between the original price you paid and the current or sale price.

If you received an order confirmation email but haven’t gotten a shipping notification, it’s probably either in our production queue or in the process of being sewn. Drop us a line at hello@redleafdesigns.com and we’ll tell you exactly where it is in the production process and when you can expect it.

We will send you an emailed order confirmation when you place the order and a shipping confirmation with a tracking number when your order is sent.

You can always contact us at hello@redleafdesigns.com for an update on when your cover will be sewn and ready for shipping.

We can usually make changes to an order as long as you contact us before your order is on the cutting table. Once we have cut the pattern, changes to your order may not be possible. To request an order change, contact us right away at hello@redleafdesigns.com.

Depending on the time of year and our current cover backlog, your order will hit the cutting table between a day and a few weeks after being placed.

If you would like to cancel an order you’ve placed, please contact us right away at hello@redleafdesigns.com. Custom orders, including canoe and kayak covers, can only be cancelled before the pattern is cut. For a full explanation, please see our Refund Policy.

We encourage you to be confident in your purchase before you submit the order; when we refund your cancelled order, we have to pay transaction processing fees on both your purchase and your refund.

As long as we haven’t shipped your order and you will still be shipping to the same country, yes.

A change to your shipping address may change sales taxes or shipping costs, which we will then collect or refund.

We collect and pay Michigan Sales Tax (6%) for all orders placed in-person and all orders with a Michigan shipping address.

You may be responsible for paying sales or other taxes within your own state, province, region, or country. Please check your local tax laws.

We currently ship to Canada, Mexico, Australia, Great Britain, all European Union countries, New Zealand, and South Africa.

If you live somewhere else and would like one of our covers, please contact us at hello@redleafdesigns.com so that we can determine whether we're able to ship to your location.

If you live outside of the United States, your country may charge additional duties, taxes, or fees. You are responsible for paying all costs imposed by your country.

We ship to Canada per NAFTA as a USA-manufactured product under HTS code . As the customer, you will be responsible for any fees or duties collected by the Canadian Border Services Agency.

According to theCanadian Border Services Agency duty and taxes calculator, our Canadian customers will receive a 13% Canadian tax bill from Canadian Customs and pay nothing in duties. That is an estimate and, unfortunately, we can't tell you exactly what the final Canadian import fees will be.

Additionally, UPS sometimes charges the recipient "brokerage fees" that seem rather high. We recommend shipping to Canada via the United States Postal Service International Priority service. It's a little more expensive on the front end, but we haven't seen the Postal Service charge brokerage fees.