The best BBQ covers in Australia: fabric, straps, cleaning and where to buy

Australian sun does more damage to a BBQ than cooking does. A cover costs the price of a couple of steaks and adds years to the burners, the igniter and the enamel. Here is which one to buy, then what the fabric labels mean, which straps hold in wind, how to clean a cover, and which shop sells what.

Not sure which size you need? Start with how to measure your BBQ for a cover, then come back for the pick.

Questions to ask before buying a BBQ cover in Australia

• Is the BBQ cool before you cover it? Weber’s manuals say don’t put a cover on, or anything flammable in the storage area under, a barbecue that’s in operation or hot (Weber manual).
• Near the sea or a pool? Weber’s warranty lapses for damage or rust caused by salt air or pool chemicals, and counts regular washing as normal maintenance for coastal homes (Weber manual). A cover helps with weather, but you still need to wash the BBQ.
• Does it fit your exact model? A generic cover is sold by burner count and shape, so measure the BBQ before you buy; how to measure for a cover walks through it.
• Waterproof or breathable? Breathable, with a water-shedding outer. A sealed cover traps the moisture already on the BBQ, which is how mould and rust start; see what the waterproof label means.
• Will wind lift it? On an exposed balcony or windy yard, get a cover with straps or ties; straps and wind below explains what holds.
• What if it fails early? Consumer guarantees apply automatically and last a reasonable time for the product, on top of any warranty the seller offers (ACCC).

Fitted or generic BBQ cover?

Fitted covers are made for one model and sit snug with the hood closed. Weber makes one for every Q, kettle and Genesis it sells, and they are what most Q owners should buy. Generic covers are sized by burner count and shape: two, four or six burner, hooded or flat. Bunnings’ Jumbuck covers are the common ones. They fit most trolley BBQs well enough and cost a third of a fitted cover.

Which BBQ cover to buy for your BBQ

Weber Q owners: the Q2000N/Q2600N+ premium cover for a Q on a stand, the Family Q+ cover for the cart model, the Baby Q cover for the small one, and the QN cart cover if your Q sits on the Weber cart. Kettle owners: the 57 cm kettle cover. Generic hooded four-burner trolleys: the BBQ Buddy Medium Hooded cover, 165 x 64 x 100 cm, if your BBQ measures inside that with the shelves up; wider BBQs need the six-burner size.

Weber Q, kettle, Genesis and Spirit covers are matched to each model in the Weber cover guide. Covers for four-burner and six-burner trolleys, built-in heads, kamados, pellet grills, BeefEater, Gasmate, Matador and Ziegler & Brown BBQs are matched by size in BBQ cover sizes. The rest of this page applies to any cover.

Waterproof BBQ covers: what the label means

Cover pages use five phrases: water resistant, weather resistant, waterproof, PVC-backed and PU-coated. They are not the same thing. This is the wording on the retailer pages we loaded on 4 October 2026.

Cover	Wording on the retailer page	What it means in practice
Jumbuck 4 burner hooded, $35.50	“Medium duty water resistant material”, “Sunshield-UVI maximum UV resistance”	Polyester with a backing that sheds rain. Soaks through in a long downpour. Two to three seasons in sun.
Matador XRepel 4 burner, $74.50	“Air ventilation system to reduce condensation”, “fortified seams”, “Xrepel fabric technology”	Vented. No waterproof claim at all; the vents are the point.
Weber Q2000N premium cover, $59.99	“All-weather fabric, water and UV resistant and breathable”	Weber’s deliberate balance: sheds rain, lets vapour out.
Pit Boss 850G Navigator cover, $79	“Heavy duty polyester construction with PVC backing”, “UV protected”	The clearest rain spec: a PVC layer behind the fabric.
Pit Boss 850 Pro cover, $110	“600D polyester and PVC reinforced lining”	Heavy yarn plus PVC. The strongest spec on a Bunnings page.
Ziggy Twin cover, $69.95 (Anaconda)	“Polyester-backed PVC, UV, weather and rot resistant”, “built-in vents”	PVC plus vents: the right recipe, out of stock when we checked.
Simple Houseware 147 cm, check price (Amazon)	“Waterproof”, “600D heavy duty”	Coated 600D. “Waterproof” is the fabric claim; seams are sewn.
Various cheap Amazon generics	“210D Oxford”, “420D PU”, “waterproof”, “anti-UV”	Light to medium fabric with a PU coat. 210D is thin.

Nothing in that table claims taped seams, a hydrostatic head figure or a waterproof rating, and no Australian standard covers BBQ covers, so judge the fabric, fit and warranty instead. A tent fly is waterproof because the seams are taped; a BBQ cover is a sewn bag with an open bottom, and water will find the stitching eventually.

Why breathable beats sealed. A BBQ gets wet under a cover whether or not rain gets through: you cover it while the hood is still sweating, you cover it after a storm, and dew forms under it every clear night. A sealed cover holds that moisture against the enamel and burner tubes, and mould on the fabric and rust at the seams follow. The covers that protect best shed rain outside and let vapour out: a PVC or PU backing plus vents or a breathable weave. Matador puts vents on the XRepel range, Ziegler & Brown on the Ziggy covers, and Weber describes its fabric as breathable.

Denier and backing. The D number is yarn weight: 600D is a heavy polyester that resists tearing and UV for years, 420D is medium, and 210D is the weight of a cheap tent floor. It says nothing about how water-tight the cover is. PVC backing (Jumbuck, Pit Boss) is heavier and stiffer; PU coating (most Amazon generics) is lighter. Both crack with age and sun, and the cover is finished when the backing flakes. Untreated polyester goes brittle in one Australian summer, so look for UV treatment too.

In the open, near the coast, or on anything over $800: a vented, strapped cover from the BBQ’s own brand. Under a roof: a water-resistant generic in the right size, replaced when the backing cracks.

BBQ covers with straps: what holds in wind

The cover that ends up over the neighbour’s fence is nearly always the wrong size, and the one that tears is the one that flaps. A cover two to five centimetres bigger than the BBQ in each direction sits still with any strap pulled in. Ten or fifteen too big is a sail, whatever the straps: they pull the hem in but can’t stop the top flapping, and it tears at the hood corners within a season. So don’t buy a size up “so the straps have something to grab”.

Fastening	Covers that list it	How it holds
Buckle straps, locking drawstrings	Pit Boss covers (locking drawstrings), some Amazon generics (buckle straps)	Best. A buckle doesn’t weaken with weather; a locking drawstring stays where you set it.
Fastening straps or strap ties	Weber Lumin (four straps that connect to the stand), Weber Spirit E-325 (fastening straps), BBQ Buddy (strap ties that fasten under the BBQ)	Good when the cover fits: straps tied to the frame hold the cover down, not just the hem.
Zipper	Pit Boss 850 Pro	Mainly for fit around a hopper or side table; a snug cover doesn’t catch wind.
Velcro straps	Jumbuck 4 burner hooded; Weber Q, Family Q and kettle covers	Grips well new, then collects grit and loses its bite. Fine under a roof.
Plain drawstring	Some kettle covers and Amazon generics	Loosens with every gust. Fine on a kettle cover that hangs straight down; weak on a tall trolley cover.
Nothing listed	Unbranded Bunnings covers, BeefEater covers	You supply the fastening yourself.

The fix that beats all of them is a bungee cord or a cam-buckle strap around the trolley at shelf height, over the top of the cover. It costs a few dollars at any hardware or camping store, works on a cover with no straps, and doesn’t wear out the way velcro does. Run it under the side shelves so it can’t ride up; use two cords on a six-burner.

Windproof is not a specification. No cover page we read uses the word except Amazon generics, where it means a drawstring. Check for listed straps, a drawstring or a buckle, and the right size.

How to clean a BBQ cover and stop mould

Most covers aren’t cleaned until the owner lifts one in spring and finds the inside black with mould. It’s a twenty-minute job. Almost every cover is polyester with a plastic backing, PVC on Jumbuck, Matador and Pit Boss covers and PU on most Amazon generics, and the backing is the fragile part that sheds water.

1. Take it off on a dry day, shake it and brush it dry. A soft brush over both sides knocks off loose mould before water smears it.
2. Hose both sides, on the lawn or draped back over the BBQ.
3. Wash with warm water, a squirt of dishwashing liquid and a soft brush, in sections. Mould sits in the seams on the inside; bird droppings land on top of the hood.
4. Treat stubborn mould with one part white vinegar to four parts water: spray, leave ten minutes, brush lightly, rinse. An oxygen-based laundry soaker made up as directed is the other option.
5. Rinse until the water runs clear, then dry it completely in the sun, inside out for an hour and then right way out. A cover put away damp grows mould in the cupboard.

What not to use: chlorine bleach, which attacks the backing and fades the fabric; a pressure washer or the washing machine, which drive water through the seams and can lift the backing off the weave; a stiff wire brush; and solvents or eucalyptus oil on sap, which dissolve the coating with the sap. Soak sap and baked-on bird droppings in warm soapy water first, then lift sap with a plastic scraper or an old credit card. Don’t pick at them dry; the fabric lifts with them.

Stopping it coming back. Mould needs moisture and no airflow. Cover the BBQ cold and dry, and if it rained, leave the hood up for an hour first. After heavy rain, take the cover off on the next dry day and let both the cover and the BBQ air. When you clean a mouldy cover, wipe down the BBQ’s hood, shelves and cabinet with the same soapy water and dry them too, or the clean cover is mouldy again within a week.

When to replace it. A cover is finished when the backing cracks and flakes off in sheets, the fabric has gone brittle and tears at the seams, or mould comes back a week after cleaning. We expect the medium-duty Jumbuck covers to last two to three seasons in full sun; a Weber or Matador cover should go longer. Measure the BBQ again before buying the next one, because the old one may have been the wrong size.

BBQ covers at BCF, Amazon, Bunnings and Anaconda

Shop	BBQ covers it sells	Worth knowing
BCF	Weber’s fitted covers (Q, kettle, Traveler, Lumin, Slate griddle, Smoque and Spirit), plus nomadiQ, pizza oven and Ozpig covers	Free Club BCF member prices; one-hour click and collect with store-level stock; no generic covers by burner count and no Genesis covers
Amazon Australia	Weber Q, kettle and Lumin covers, Genesis covers, and generics such as the BBQ Buddy and Simple Houseware covers	Genesis covers were on Amazon Australia only when we checked
Bunnings	Jumbuck and Matador covers from 2 to 6 burners, plus portable, kettle and built-in sizes; Weber covers in some stores only	Doesn’t pay us, so its covers aren’t picks; Marketplace covers ($7 to $16) are third-party, thinner and can’t be returned in store
Anaconda	Three Ziegler & Brown Ziggy covers and a gas bottle cover	The Ziggy covers were all out of stock online; no Weber

BCF is the shop for Weber’s fitted covers. It stocks the whole range consistently, which is why our Weber cover prices come from BCF. On 4 October 2026 it showed member prices on several: $54.99 for members against $59.99 for non-members on the Q2000N/Q2600N+ cover, $79.99 against $84.99 on the QN cart cover and $89.99 against $94.99 on the Family Q+ cover. Club BCF membership is free, so the lower price is the one to budget for, but BCF’s Weber pricing moves with promotions, so check the page on the day. Bunnings stocks Weber covers only in some stores and didn’t return any for “Weber cover” on its website on 4 October 2026.

Two BCF clearance covers worth knowing about: the Weber Premium Spirit II 300 series cover at $74, for a Spirit II or older Spirit 300 (in stock at Tweed Heads, none at Everton Park when we checked), and the $15 cover for the original Weber Traveler, which does not fit the Traveler Compact; the Compact has its own $49.99 cover. Every Weber cover page at BCF showed one-hour click and collect with store-level stock, so you can see whether your local store has the cover before you leave and hold it against the BBQ in the car park.

The one trap

Buying the cover for the BBQ you have in your head rather than the one in the yard. Two four-burners from different brands can be twenty centimetres apart in width, a Weber Q’s rounded hood defeats a square cover, and a built-in head needs a hood cover, not a trolley cover. Measure with the hood closed and the shelves up before you buy anything on this page.

All 15 BBQ covers we compared

Cover	Fits	Price	Where
Weber Baby Q premium cover	Baby Q1000N, Q1200N	$49.99 (9 Nov 2026)	BCF, Amazon Australia
Weber Q2000N/Q2600N+ premium cover	Q2000-series on a stand or table	$59.99 (9 Nov 2026)	BCF, Amazon Australia
Weber QN/QN+ BBQ and cart cover	Q2000-series on the Weber cart	$84.99	BCF, Amazon Australia
Weber Family Q+ premium cover	Family Q3100N+, Q3200N+	$94.99	BCF, Amazon Australia
Weber 57 cm kettle cover	57 cm Weber kettles	$39.99	BCF, Amazon Australia
Weber Lumin full length cover	Lumin on the Weber stand	$79.99 (9 Nov 2026)	BCF, Amazon Australia
Weber Spirit E-325 cover	Spirit 3-burner (E-325)	$119.99	BCF
BBQ Buddy Medium Hooded	Hooded 3 to 4 burners up to 165 x 64 x 100 cm	See Amazon	Amazon Australia
Simple Houseware 147 cm, 600D	Four-burners up to 147 cm wide	See Amazon	Amazon Australia
Ziggy Twin cover	Ziegler & Brown Ziggy Twin	$69.95	Anaconda, out of stock online when we checked
Jumbuck 4 burner hooded	Most hooded four-burners	$35.50 (4 Oct 2026)	Bunnings only
Jumbuck 6 burner hooded	Most hooded six-burners	$42.50	Bunnings only
Matador XRepel 4 burner hooded	Matador four-burners	$74.50 (4 Oct 2026)	Bunnings only
Pit Boss 850G Navigator cover	Pit Boss 850G Navigator	$79	Bunnings only
Pit Boss 850 Pro cover	Pit Boss 850 Pro	$110	Bunnings only

The competition

• Weber QN/QN+ cart cover ($84.99 at BCF): the right cover if your Q lives on the Weber cart; it’s a pick in the Weber cover guide. Here the stand-or-table cover is the pick because more Qs sit on a stand or bench.
• Weber Spirit E-325 cover ($119.99): breathable fabric, fastening straps and a three-year warranty, but it fits only the Spirit E-325; see the Weber cover guide.
• Weber Lumin full length cover ($79.99 at BCF): four straps to the stand, Weber’s most-strapped cover, but it fits only the Lumin electric BBQ.
• Jumbuck 4 and 6 burner hooded ($35.50 and $42.50): polyester with a PVC backing at a third of a fitted cover’s price, but sold only at Bunnings, which we no longer link.
• Matador XRepel 4 burner hooded ($74.50): vents, reinforced seams and straps, the better cover for a Matador; Bunnings only.
• Pit Boss 850G Navigator ($79) and 850 Pro ($110) covers: the clearest PVC specs on any page we read, with locking drawstrings and a zipper on the 850 Pro, but each fits one pellet grill and both are sold only at Bunnings; pellet grill covers are in BBQ cover sizes.
• Ziggy Twin cover ($69.95 at Anaconda): PVC plus vents, the right recipe, but it fits only the Ziggy and was out of stock online when we checked.
• Simple Houseware 147 cm (Amazon Australia): 600D fabric sold as waterproof, but the seams are sewn, it lists no vents, and at 147 cm wide it needs measuring against your BBQ first.
• Cheap Amazon generics (210D to 420D with a PU coat) and unbranded Bunnings covers: thin fabric that says waterproof, or no fastening listed at all.