Best way of washing sails

[Peter]

Whats the best way of washing sails. going to try over the weekend to clean our sails, to remove general dirt, green stuff, blood, oil etc. They are general crusing sails with respect to fabric and construction. With respect to how to clean thought about using washing powder or washing up liquid, with vanish for the ingrained areas and using a hose and hand scrubbing as I thought a jet wash would possible be too agressive on the material.

any comments on sail cleaning would help

Peter

 

[Seajet]

I think a bath full of cold or at most luke warm water, and avoid bleach or anything powerful !

Hand scrubbing with a soft brush on persistent bits.

Washing machines are right out !

 

[Ceejay]

CWashing sails

I find the easiest way is to drop them off at my local sailmaker around the end of January and then collect them, on a date of my choosing, checked over, repaired as necessary and freshly laundered...................

 

[rob2]

We used to do ours outdoors on a volleyball court. Swept the court first to avoid grit, sloshed soapy water on and pushed around with a soft indoors broom, hosed off several times and hung on the wire netting fence to dry. There are commercial sail washers who use a similar method, but will also pour on dilute bleach as an extra step if needed. Individual stains will require separate attention, but harsh scrubbing is a no-no or you'll have flaccid sails afterwards as it removes the filling between the weave of the cloth.

Rob.

P.S. "Used to" because the owners won't let us on the court any more.

 

[Tranona]

Whats the best way of washing sails. going to try over the weekend to clean our sails, to remove general dirt, green stuff, blood, oil etc. They are general crusing sails with respect to fabric and construction. With respect to how to clean thought about using washing powder or washing up liquid, with vanish for the ingrained areas and using a hose and hand scrubbing as I thought a jet wash would possible be too agressive on the material.

any comments on sail cleaning would help

Peter

You can try that - you will need a large flat space and somewhere to hang them up to dry. At the end you may be disappointed with the result in relation to the hard work you have put in and wish you had sent them to the sailmakers to be cleaned and checked over - well worth it if the sails are any good.

 

[VicS]

I think a bath full of cold or at most luke warm water, and avoid bleach or anything powerful !

Hand scrubbing with a soft brush on persistent bits.

Washing machines are right out !

Its quite feasible with a the sails from a small boat to wash in the bath and dry in the garden but Iit will be quite a challenge if the sails are off his Salthouse 45

 

[mcanderson]

I did mine this year as for the previous two they had been to the sail loft and I thought I would give them a good look over my self and see how I got on.

I have 5 year old factory supplied cruising sails for a Beneteau 323 in good condition and I washed them using Star Brite Sail& Canvas Cleaner.

Prep - used a large flat clean concrete area and cleaned it.

Cleaning - Laid the sails out flat and rinsed with fresh water and then applied the recommended cleaner/water mix with a soft broom to the entire surface. Areas with a small amounts of mould (UV protection strip) I used a stronger concentrate and a stiffer brush. After this I washed the soloution off and rinsed the sails fully.

Drying - Hung the sails up in a hangar overnight and hey presto they were bone dry in the morning. Took them donw and folded them away.

Cost £10. Time 2hours. Result - looks the same as when they are returned from the sail loft. However, if they fall apart this year from poor washing then the cost will go up slightly!!