Cleaning the canopy

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aerobat

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Hello gents !

I want to remove and clean my entire canopy before launch and ask you if you have some special hints beyond the obvious ways of cleaning it .

Its 4 years old so i hope to get some more seasons out of it , do you spray it with waterproofing spray after it or leave it alone and just clean with water / mild soap ?

Any idea are very welcome !

Best regards
 
The below is my suggestion based on what I have been doing for years.
Take it off and place it on a flat surface. Rinse both sides with plenty of water to remove/loosen up contaminants. Then apply either a canvas cleaner or a little washing up liquid and with a soft brush agitate the surfaces to remove any dirt. Rinse thoroughly to remove all traces of detergent and re attach when still a bit damp to get extra flexibility. Once fully dried, apply some waterproofing to the exterior. I always use Fabsil Gold with a soft brush. If you have any plastic windows like Perspex/Plexiglass or similar, avoid contact with the Fabsil as it may wrinkle or stain the windows. That’s it.

is.
 
I recently found attempts at gentle cleaning of my flybridge roof canvas not very satisfactory. To be honest I didn't get it 100% clean in previous years but I have more time available now.
By the way I leave the canvas in place on the boat in the winter to protect the upholstery, mfd, teak flooring etc from weather as much as possible.

So I recently took the flybridge roof canvas home and used the jet washer on it. Much green stuff removed even from areas that I thought were relatively clean .
Clearly there were years of muck trapped in the fabric. Even then it was easy to miss areas since when the navy blue canvas is wet the dirty and clean areas look the same .
Anyhow after some further touch up cleaning in situ on the boat I am content with the results for now. This canvas is at least a decade old so I had little to lose but the jet washer doesn't seem to have caused any damage.

The cockpit canvas with windows has eventually cleaned up okay with relatively gentle cleaning . Tough dirty/green areas responded well to localised use of a steam cleaner followed by rinsing with water.
 
While I have to confess having used a Karcher on the Flybridge tonneau, it is not recommended, as it can ruin the stitching. In fact it did on mine, so it needed stitching repairs.
 
IMHO that's doing you a favour.
While you have it available is the best time to just get the stitching done. If it can't tollerate the jetwasher (excusing an industrial unit at 5 inches) then it's time. Good stitching should be as strong at the fabric.
There are newer threads available that should outlast the fabric and most of us nowadays but it's very expensive in comparison. But my next order will be for some. I intend to move over to Tenara completely.
 
Spray it with Wet and Forget or (cheaper - diluted Bac 50) a week or two before removing it and cleaning it further if necessary. Then liberally brush it with Fabsil, let it dry and replace.
 
Boaty_Pete said:
IMHO that's doing you a favour.
While you have it available is the best time to just get the stitching done. If it can't tollerate the jetwasher (excusing an industrial unit at 5 inches) then it's time. Good stitching should be as strong at the fabric.
There are newer threads available that should outlast the fabric and most of us nowadays but it's very expensive in comparison. But my next order will be for some. I intend to move over to Tenara completely.
Click to expand...

Quite right. I had a five year old hood fail on the Viking's stitching and I cast around for quotes for a new one (I wanted a colour change). As I have some upholstery and canvas experience I got chatting with the various contractors and had one that appeared to know a lot about that particular hood. My strong belief is that they made it and I mentioned the stitching failure that I put down to the wrong thread being used. "Oh that's because we don't want them to last too long, or we don't get repeat business". The quote was £3.5k against other quotes from £1800 to £2.5k. If I don't get the Viking sold this year, I will make my own once over my heart op. I have restitched it myself, so it is a good, strong hood for a buyer's benefit.
 
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