Cleaning sails

T

tyce

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 Jan 2004
Messages
1,554
Location
cumbria
Visit site
Right thats it, boat out and laid up for the winter so the jobs can now start.
First off is the sails, they were new this year and i would like to keep them looking that way but dont paticularly want to pay a sailmaker to launder them so what is a good solution that wont damage them that i could use.
Anyone know?
 
tyce said:
Right thats it, boat out and laid up for the winter so the jobs can now start.
First off is the sails, they were new this year and i would like to keep them looking that way but dont paticularly want to pay a sailmaker to launder them so what is a good solution that wont damage them that i could use.
Anyone know?
Click to expand...

If you have a suitable clean floor spread them out and wash using a suitable detergent and a soft bush ( broom) . Rinse and hang in a barn or similar with gentle heating to dry.

A professional laundry such as Tip Top ( Traditional methods but only deal via sail makers and chandlers) or Novosail ( who use modern high tech cleaning baths but do deal direct with customers) will be able to treat any heavily soiled areas and also use an anti-mould treatment.

There was an article in PBO a few years ago looking at Tiptop and Novosail but I cannot locate it
 
I think that cleaning may depend on the cloth involved. I have had a sail ruined by a sailmaker's over-enthusiastic cleaning, but that was an old dacron sail and modern cloths may be different. I once read that soap flakes were the safest thing to use and scrubbed the sail with Lux on the living-room floor. It did no harm to the sails. It didn't clean them either.
 
I fill rubber dinghy with water, add a little washing up liquid, take my shoes and socks off.....

Dry by hauling them up the mast(s), in suitable weather.
 
You don't say what size boat.

For smaller boats 22-23 ft the bath or local laundrette large machine will do a job - one sail at a time.

Drying: Up mast, laundrette dryer or, when I had a 22 footer, I used to hang the sail from the upstairs bathroom window frame across the garden to a fence post.

Now I have a larger 33 ft ketch I have decided not to launder the sails.
Over the lifetime of the sails the saving on laundry costs goes a long way towards the replacement cost of a sail.
 
What are you trying to clean off them?

Getting the salt off can help keeping them dry during the winter (salt is hydroscopic) and can done by hoisting them on a windless day and giving them a hose off. Or better, rinsing them off and going for a gentle sail when there's no risk of spray. (less boring)

Individual dirty patches can be sponged as you hoist them.

Any patches of mildew can be caught early with Dettol Mould and Mildew Killer, and then rinsed very well.

BUT: In an effort to be kind to your sails, you can do loads of damage and mainly by mechanical means - the fill in the cloth doesn't like being scrunched up so any use of washing machine, baths, dinghies etc, are bad news. Now, lots of sails on cruising boats are old enough to have no fill left, but yours are new this season - be careful.

An alternative for those with the room and facilities is to peg out a huge sheet (bigger in every dimension than your largest sail) of the cheap blue polytarp on a smooth lawn with just the right amount of slope. Use a long handled soft scrubbing brush with a bucket of hot water and Ecover washing powder. Let it soak for half an hour and rinse, turn over and repeat on the other side. Leave to drain and roll up.

Now the difficult part; you've got to find somewhere CLEAN to hang then up. Using a dusty old barn will usually result in them getting dirtier than they were to start with unless you use the large blue polytarp on the floor etc!

If in doubt, dry them on a windless autumn day and store them dirty!

Sailmakers love two things; mainsail stackpacks and the winter washing of sails. The two are good money spinners and are not unrelated; the stackpack with its zip in the trough along the top makes sure the mainsail is kept wet with rain water all summer in an airless confined space designed to breed mildew and then lo and behold, the solution is to get the same sailmaker to wash them in October / November when they are desperate for something to do. The same 'valeting' also shortens the sail's life so they also have something to do in the rest of the year. You have to admit, it has an element of brilliance about it.
 
Took our genoa for a new sacrificial strip a couple of months ago and asked about laundering. Answer was that it is the quickest way to knacker sails and they should just be given a fresh water washdown to get rid of the salt with maybe a hand rag and washing detergent to gently clean any small very dirty marks.
 
LadyInBed said:
You don't say what size boat.

For smaller boats 22-23 ft the bath or local laundrette large machine will do a job - one sail at a time.

Drying: Up mast, laundrette dryer or, when I had a 22 footer, I used to hang the sail from the upstairs bathroom window frame across the garden to a fence post.
Click to expand...

I have a 20ft boat and quite a large washing machine so this method appeals, but the potential for damage to the sails seems pretty major. My sails are very old, but I'd really like to avoid the need for immediate replacement...

What programme/temperature/spin speed have others used, and what kind of detergent?

I have also heard that machine washing old halyards and sheets can help to soften them up. Any advice on this?

Regards, Rob
 
g7elk said:
I have a 20ft boat and quite a large washing machine so this method appeals, but the potential for damage to the sails seems pretty major. My sails are very old, but I'd really like to avoid the need for immediate replacement...

What programme/temperature/spin speed have others used, and what kind of detergent?

I have also heard that machine washing old halyards and sheets can help to soften them up. Any advice on this?

Regards, Rob
Click to expand...

In the washing machineis good for all the bits of string. It probably wont soften those that have hardened due to the effects of weather and UV but its does make them all much nicer to handle.

In pillowcases stops them getting too tangled. All thrown in lose will take you until the end of next season to untangle.
A sock tied over any blocks that are spliced on stops them trashing the inside of the machine.
I use the ordinary detergent that all our clothes are washing in.
A fabric softener may not be a good idea. SWMBO wont use it on anything.

Soak any really dirty ones in detergent solution overnight before washing.


Sails should be washed flat... like the sail laundries do it ... not scrunched up in to a washing machine
 
A few decades ago now...

but when I worked for Musto and Hyde (yes...THAT long ago!), rust stains on sails in for valeting were removed with trichloroethylene.
 
I used Novosail in Southampton for mine last winter ... made a big difference - much cleaner than when they went there and no damage ... Genoa, yankee, staysail and main ... as I remember about £170/£180 ... ish! Very happy with the result.

(no connection etc)
 
One of those cheap blue polytarps on the lawn. Softish nylon deck brush and mild detergent (or bio washing powder) in warm water.
Rinse with hose pipe. Hang from your house eaves to dry.
 
NealB said:
A few decades ago now...

but when I worked for Musto and Hyde (yes...THAT long ago!), rust stains on sails in for valeting were removed with trichloroethylene.
Click to expand...

Rust stains removed with trichloroethylene :confused:

Its a good degreaser but very surprised it would have any effect on rust stains.

I must try it. I think I still have some
 
Thanks for all the replys i have been well and truly convinced to leave them well alone and give a light sponging off where required.

Must say Tim has hit the nail on the head with his description of the stack pack as that is exactly what mine does!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top