Best way to clean my screen netting

[Irish Rover]

I'm not really sure what this stuff is called. It's a close woven nylon net type screen on the outsides of my salon windows. I can see out reasonably well but it blocks the view from outside. They keeps the large salon shaded and cool in the summer. Anyway it's gone a bit grubby and grey and I'd like to clean it as best I can. I'll be taking them off tomorrow when I lift the boat. Can anyone suggest a good way to clean them - ideally something I can use to soak them for a few days while I'm doing other things.

 

[Minerva]

Industrial washing machine / Laundromat?

 

[Irish Rover]

Industrial washing machine / Laundromat?

I'm a bit worried they'll fall apart or at a minimum get ripped. I'd rather hand washing but what should I add to the water?

 

[Boathook]

I would try some ordinary washing machine liquid detergent, a small amount, hand wash / soak, rinse and see what happens. Could try some bleach for a few minutes and rinse well afterwards.

 

[Minerva]

Scrub with normal detergent, then rinse, then soak in oxalic acid for a bit?

 

[footsoldier]

The deposit is presumably air-borne pollutants over time. I had the same issue with a couple of sets of vertical venetian blinds. I immersed them in a bath of water mixed with 'Vanish' laundry stain-removal additive - I am sure your local equivalent will be similar - for a couple of days. No attempt at the mechanics of a 'washing' operation, and then I simply rinsed them with a water spray. They returned to an almost-new appearance and are still in pristine condition three years later.

 

[Irish Rover]

Scrub with normal detergent, then rinse, then soak in oxalic acid for a bit?

Are you sure oxalic acid won't damage the nylon?

 

[harvey38]

Put them in a pillow case or duvet cover to protect them, put them on a low temperature wash in the washing machine with a detergent of your choice. Then put them in again on a rinse cycle to ensure all the detergent has been removed and air dry, not tumble dry.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Its called Shade Netting, or was called that in the Middle East. I sourced it for the patio and other stuff. Searching on shade netting will throw up all sorts of rough garden netting, but it will also include fine netting for applications such as yours.

Just wash in a gentle wash, normal washing powder. No need for anything aggressive I would have thought.

It looks dusty, maybe a good vacuum would work wonders before washing.