barca nova
Well-Known Member
not had the sprayhood on for 2 years and either the boat like me has got fatter or the hood has shrunk in dry storage. Even after soaking with a hose I cant gt a single popper to fasten!
Help!
Help!
does your sprayhood shrink in the dry?
- Thread starter barca nova
- Start date
geem
Well-Known Member
We found our sprayhood did exactly the same thing. It looked like a hungry dog once stretched over the frame. It's now a thing of the past since we built a hardtop
Boathook
Well-Known Member
My dodger seemed to 'shrink' over the winter but I also put it down to cleaning and treating it.
I suspect that if you can get a few poppers to fasten on one side the others will follow over a few days. Keeping the hood under tension will help a lot. You might have to buy some clamps to grip the material though.
I suspect that if you can get a few poppers to fasten on one side the others will follow over a few days. Keeping the hood under tension will help a lot. You might have to buy some clamps to grip the material though.
geem
Well-Known Member
It took a few years for ours to shrink, but when it did, there was nothing we could do to stretch it back to it's original size. We tried everything.
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
Having kept our boat in the Mediterranean for 20 years, mostly in Greece, we have replaced the sprayhood twice, winter cockpit cover twice, bimini once, all due to shrinkage. The winter covers probably saw a certain amount of rain but the others virtually none. Just hot sun.
Rappey
Well-Known Member
Seagulls crap on my centre consol cover. When it gets really bad i power wash it off. That shrinks it.
Refueler
Well-Known Member
I have exactly that with the cockpit awning over my mobo ... and with my motor sailer sprayhood.
I find I have to slacken the joints of the tubing to allow poppers / lift the dot to meet the hood .. then push the tubing back to required position and tighten.
Even if wet - its still a pain !
I find I have to slacken the joints of the tubing to allow poppers / lift the dot to meet the hood .. then push the tubing back to required position and tighten.
Even if wet - its still a pain !
Graham376
Well-Known Member
Our old sprayhood shrank over the years so removed the fasteners and sewed a new skirt on. Reused most of the old fasteners plus some new.
alahol2
Well-Known Member
It's a problem I've never had despite machine washing, re-proofing, re-sewing, re-windowing etc.
Maybe I've just been very, very lucky. Current sprayhood is probably 10+years old and still fits as well as it ever did.
The current sprayhood was made using the old one as a pattern, not measured on site.
UK use only.
Maybe I've just been very, very lucky. Current sprayhood is probably 10+years old and still fits as well as it ever did.
The current sprayhood was made using the old one as a pattern, not measured on site.
UK use only.
geem
Well-Known Member
Ours saw lots of tropical heat and sun. It was also dark blue, so maybe that is a factor
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
My sail maker suggested that going to Weathermax WM80 might give better shrink resistance. The most recent bimini and hood have been in that, promising but they have not yet had sufficient exposure to tell.
geem
Well-Known Member
We converted to a hardtop so not a problem for us now, but the bimini is now made from Stamoid. It comes in many colours and is vinyl coated so it doesn't show the dirt quite like acrylic canvas.
I think it’s more suitable for tropical environments more than the cold UK.
We always shied away from light colour acrylic canvas as its terrible for showing dirt and the lighter colours don't last as long (weired I know but seems to be correct). We are hoping the Stamoid stays cleaner and waterproof. The white fabric that we have is certainly far cooler beneath than are old navy blue sprayhood and bimini
jaybee63
Well-Known Member
Modern materials tend to stretch at first when new and then tighten after a few years.
Cleaning reguarly helps, never use water above 30 celcius as it would shrink most acrylic or similar canvas.
We fit adjustable end plugs to our frames which can be wound out or in to adjust the tension.
If canvas is removed for a period of time it has a natural recoil which will make it tight initially and it needs to be stretch fitted again.
Recommendations, clean the frame to get back a slippery surface, refit the canvas, wetting the canvas will help, even if the fittings are a real struggle, stretch as much as possible to try and get them back on, the canvas will then restretch and should become a iser friendly fit again after a few days and if you have adjustable frame fittings, these can be wound back in.
In the first year these are usually wound out to retension the canvas.
John Bland
www.tecsew.com
Cleaning reguarly helps, never use water above 30 celcius as it would shrink most acrylic or similar canvas.
We fit adjustable end plugs to our frames which can be wound out or in to adjust the tension.
If canvas is removed for a period of time it has a natural recoil which will make it tight initially and it needs to be stretch fitted again.
Recommendations, clean the frame to get back a slippery surface, refit the canvas, wetting the canvas will help, even if the fittings are a real struggle, stretch as much as possible to try and get them back on, the canvas will then restretch and should become a iser friendly fit again after a few days and if you have adjustable frame fittings, these can be wound back in.
In the first year these are usually wound out to retension the canvas.
John Bland
www.tecsew.com
