Faded UV strip

jackho

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Any tips on restoring faded blue UV strip. Its is otherwise in good condition. Tried Teflon spray etc.but to no avail.
 
UV strips are to some extent sacrificial; need replacement through the life of the sail in warmer climes anyway. If its bleached its done its job or was poor quality: age of sail?
 
Any tips on restoring faded blue UV strip. Its is otherwise in good condition. Tried Teflon spray etc.but to no avail.
Renovo BLUE Soft Top Reviver, 500ml Dyes Soft Top Convertible Canvas Car Roofs 5060013360053 | eBay
I have had great success using this on various fabric dodgers/sprayhood etc.
UV strip is in good condition on my boat after over 10 years of replacement but has faded from dark blue.
May try Renovo on a small area and hope it doesn't leach through onto sail?
Purely a vanity exercise.
 
Advice I had from a surveyor regarding webbing jackstays: "Replace when colour fades".
Failure of sacrificial UV covers for your sails are not usually as critical as jackstays, but will eventually cost you a lot more than a straightforward replacement cost.
I have seen a sail left on the furler that flogged in a gale so that the torn strips wove themselves together. The only way to get the sail down was to cut it off using a bosuns chair. A replacement sail is a lot more expensive than any benefit from hanging on to a faded sacrificial strip for a couple more years.
I have also seen a heavy weight sail that the owner thought was in good condition, until I tore it (with his permission) along a line of stitching like perforated paper. The effect of UV on sail cloth.
 
srm fading doesn't always equate to deteriation/disintegration?
I hope you are correct with your sacrificial strips. However, I will continue to apply the advice of the surveyor.
Certainly, the obviously faded marine fabrics I have looked at closely have felt stiff and brittle when flexed; clear signs of UV degredation. Its UV that causes the fading and is also having an efect on the cloth. However, this is only my observations. I am not a sailmaker, just an amateur who has made a couple of nylon sails, repaired quite a few more, done a bit of canvas work, and fitted sacrificial strips to my own sails..
 
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... just an amateur who has made a couple of nylon sails, repaired quite a few more, done a bit of canvas work, and fitted sacrificial strips to my own sails.

And you are probably dead on.

Assuming the cover is something like Sunbrella, the dye is VERY UV resistant, and so if it is faded, the fabric is toast. The sail is probably toast too, but not always. Try sticking a pencil through it (easier to patch than trying to tear it, though it does not tell you abou the stitching) somewhere low stress, and compare the effort with new sail cloth.
 
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