refurbishing a sprayhood

[smeaks]

Over the winter I plan to remove the sprayhood and give the stitching some tlc. It was white but is now a motley grey spotty colour and post stiching will need a bath. What is the best method of cleaning and reproofing? Is there any proven chemicals to use?

 

[RupertW]

I used increasing amounts of bleach and long soaks until it was pretty much back to a decent white colour. Alas it got ripped apart by a wave on my second sail of the season, so I got a new one in yellow, which looked great for over a year.

Since then I've stuck to dark sprayhoods like everybody else.

 

[smeaks]

good point... do they take a dye? I have visions of navy blue hull streaks on a rainy day!

 

[tritonofnor]

once you've sorted the colour out then Thompson's Water Seal, (as used on brick walls!) does a great job of sealing new stitches and re-waterproofing. It will darken the canvas very slightly, but you'll get enough for a tenner to last for years!

 

[alldownwind]

There's stuff on the market called 'Renovo' - several different potions, one for cleaning, one for restoring colour (though only blue, I think) and one for waterprooofing. Not cheap but very effective on a friend's sprayhood, not used it myself.

 

[billmacfarlane]

There's a mention of Renovo in PBO this month. Seemsto give good results.

 

[AIDY]

also sealing can be done using Fabsil available from your local camping shop

 

[Dave99]

A quick steam clean with a high pressure steam cleaner works a treat. Has got to be hot water though.

 

[Chrissie]

Bleach will damage the fabric and weaken it, washing powder and a scrubbing brush will help, rinsing the soap powder out well. Good luck,

 

[Blueboatman]

I would second the effectiveness of using Thomsons waterseal,the only downside I noticed was a very,very slight degree of greasiness and increased stiffness to the fabric.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

Find a launderette with a big machine or, failing thta, one that does service washes and check how big they can manage. Gentle wash and no tumble dry, stick it back on during a warm day and reproof when dry. I do this with a full camper canopy that breaks down into smaller parts. I've not killed the mildew but at least it goes away for a while

 

[RupertW]

[ QUOTE ]
Bleach will damage the fabric and weaken it

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, exactly, otherwise I doubt the wave would have shredded it. It probably wasn't much stronger than kitchen paper by the time I'd got it back to brilliant white. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[TiggerToo]

Following advice from this forum I did the following:

put the sprayhood in the bath tub
rubbed in Dettol with a fingernail brush
let work for a few hours
rinse thoroughly and dry
(all this gets rid of the mould)

brush in 3-in-1 Mould killer (available at B&Q, Homebase etc) - it is a product used to kill and prevent eroccurrence of mildew on walls
let dry
spray on a rain proofing product like the ones used for camping equipment.

This season it has worked a treat /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif: no mildew or green algae growing at all.... but now I must refurbish the sprayhood which is getting rather old after 8 years' service.
/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif