Help, my sails have turned yellow

[Even Chance]

Im a broken man, I tried washing my sails yesterday in the bath, and I thought I'd be clever and add a wee bit of bleach into the solution. BIG mistake, no make that a MEGA EFF OFF mistake.
The sails have come out bright yellow, and the boat is a 1938 classic clinker dinghy.
The sail material is Dacron.
What can I do to get em white again?
I tried Aerial stain remover in the washing machine, but it did nothing.
Any other ideas?

Can Dacron be dyed brown?? (last ditch attempt tho...)

I really hope someone can help me please, Im desperate.

Thanks.

 

[exfinnsailor]

From Google

Synthetics such as polyester are often damaged irreparably by their exposure to bleach. Polyester often acquires an unpleasantly yellowed appearance which cannot be remedied.

Dacron is Polyester Based Material

Polyester is probably the most difficult fabric to dye, along with acrylic. The fibers are basically plastic, so they are nonporous, and the color really needs to be added to them in the factory as the fibers are spun from the chemicals they use. You can still try it, and you may be able to get a little of the dye to set, but you probably won't be able to get a deep color on it.

Problem would be what colour to try and turn them.

I was thinking of the Red Colour that you see on the old boats but their sails are made of cotton which is why they can stain them.

..

 

[VicS]

Dacron is Duponts name for polyester fabric. ( Terylene is ICI's polyester fabric)

Another familiar form is the PET or PETE that drinks bottles etc are made of

Not only has the bleach made your sails yellow it may well have seriously affected the strength of the fabric! So apart from the difficulty in dyeing them it probably is not worth the bother.

 

[Even Chance]

Och keich. Disna look very good then.
The sails look strong enough to me. Theyve been through the hot (90 degC) wash twice now too, but still yellow.
The yanks make a product called "yellow away" that they say does the job.

I have some dacron offcuts from when I made the sails that I can try dying tan and see what happens. If not, I have to make some new sails for her. Luckily, its only the wee jib thats affected, and it was only made cos I was bored anyway. See photo:-


Iona sail trial by Even Chance, on Flickr

 

[charles_reed]

Im a broken man, I tried washing my sails yesterday in the bath, and I thought I'd be clever and add a wee bit of bleach into the solution. BIG mistake, no make that a MEGA EFF OFF mistake.
The sails have come out bright yellow, and the boat is a 1938 classic clinker dinghy.
The sail material is Dacron.
What can I do to get em white again?
I tried Aerial stain remover in the washing machine, but it did nothing.
Any other ideas?

Can Dacron be dyed brown?? (last ditch attempt tho...)

I really hope someone can help me please, Im desperate.

Thanks.

New sails I'm afraid.

Not only with the colour be off but they'll quickly disintegrate in uv.

 

[Even Chance]

Great, that means I'll get another 10 years out of it up here then!
Whats UV???

Im either going to have to make a new jib, or just forget the whole bowsprit/jib idea. I do have enough Dacron left to make another jib for her if needed.
It sails just fine with just the main and mizzen. It needs the mizzen for balance though. Keeps her head up into the wind nicely.

 

[satsuma]

Im a broken man, I tried washing my sails yesterday in the bath, and I thought I'd be clever and add a wee bit of bleach into the solution. BIG mistake, no make that a MEGA EFF OFF mistake.
The sails have come out bright yellow, and the boat is a 1938 classic clinker dinghy.
The sail material is Dacron.
What can I do to get em white again?
I tried Aerial stain remover in the washing machine, but it did nothing.
Any other ideas?

Can Dacron be dyed brown?? (last ditch attempt tho...)

I really hope someone can help me please, Im desperate.

Thanks.

Oxalic acid is the only product I have found that actually cleans sails. Bleach and detergents can breakdown the adhesives and even the fabric!
A quick internet search should find a supplier (builders merchant), then give them a good soak in that, before rinsing with clean water. Also removes blood and rust stains!

 

[Even Chance]

If only I knew this yesterday!
I have oxalic acid for cleaning wood......erse!

 

[sailorman]

Och keich. Disna look very good then.
The sails look strong enough to me. Theyve been through the hot (90 degC) wash twice now too, but still yellow.
The yanks make a product called "yellow away" that they say does the job.

I have some dacron offcuts from when I made the sails that I can try dying tan and see what happens. If not, I have to make some new sails for her. Luckily, its only the wee jib thats affected, and it was only made cos I was bored anyway. See photo:-


Iona sail trial by Even Chance, on Flickr

So you put the sails in a washing machine @ 90 deg
TWICE

 

[MontyMariner]

the boat is a 1938 classic clinker dinghy.

Dye them Brown or Rust colour - easy!

 

[Even Chance]

Aye, the jib is the only sail Im having the wee problem with. Its been through the 90 deg wash cycle twice without any problem at all. I put a bit of the same material into 100 deg boiling water first and it did nothing to it!!

I will try the dye next on another wee test piece.
What have I got to lose anyway? The main is cut out of an old genoa I had lying around, and the mizzen and jib are made form an old dinghy main that I got for free.
I wouldnt be trying these sort of things with sails that actually cost me money-nae fear!

 

[wilkinsonsails]

Terylene or Dacron sail cloth is dyed at high temps.
Years ago we used to dye our edging tapes in a pressure cooker,it was the only way to get it to fix.
You may be successful with the washing machine ,it's not very good for whole sails though

Cindy

 

[Even Chance]

Thanks very much for the input Cindy, its very much appreciated.

I tried some scraps of the sailcloth last night with some wood stain, and it sucked into the cloth very well indeed.
Im going to buy some Dylon terracotta brown dye at lunchtime and see if it works tonight on some other scraps. If it does take, then I will dye the jib first and see how it looks.

Fingers crossed for me folks......

Thanks.

 

[Nigel_Ward]

Im a broken man, I tried washing my sails yesterday in the bath, and I thought I'd be clever and add a wee bit of bleach into the solution. BIG mistake, no make that a MEGA EFF OFF mistake.
The sails have come out bright yellow, and the boat is a 1938 classic clinker dinghy.
The sail material is Dacron.
What can I do to get em white again?
I tried Aerial stain remover in the washing machine, but it did nothing.
Any other ideas?

Can Dacron be dyed brown?? (last ditch attempt tho...)

I really hope someone can help me please, Im desperate.

Thanks.

I did exactly the same thing 10 years ago. I put the main in bleach for 1 hour to get rid of mildew. Later put the jib in overnight. Came out like nicotine stains.

Got rid of the yellow with this (for mixed wash accidents!):
http://www.dr-beckmann.co.uk/products/laundry-products/colour-run-remover-for-whites/

I made up a solution and soaked the sail, yellow went almost immediately. Dr Beckmann's magic!

The only problem was the adhesive tape used to hold seams prior to sewing still was a bit yellow.