Sail cleaning

[blackbeard]

Have a dinghy sail with an extensive green stain, from algae I think. Has been stored outdoors and probably while wet.
The Karcher stands ready. I think it would do the job - or should I be more gentle?

 

[VicS]

Be more gentle.

Try one of the mould removers mentioned here recently, but try it on a corner first to make sure it does not stain.

Someone suggested marine Spray 9.

Avoid chlorine bleach if the sail is Terylene or similar

A soak in bio laundry detergent might do the trick

 

[alahol2]

I'd be inclined to try a dilute mix of bleach and water first off, just soak it for a day. If that doesn't work then maybe the pressure washer on low power.

 

[VicS]

dilute mix of bleach and water first off, just soak it for a day

No

see the report from a forumite recently on the damage that a chlorine bleach can do to terylene.

Very very dilute and a minimum contact time might kill the algae without harm. Then soak in Bio and wash perhaps

 

[DanBurrill]

Have a dinghy sail with an extensive green stain, from algae I think. Has been stored outdoors and probably while wet.
The Karcher stands ready. I think it would do the job - or should I be more gentle?

Definitely don't use a pressure washer, or a chlorine-based bleach.

I had a similar problem when I bought my Express Pirate earlier this year - she'd been sat at the end of a dyke in Coltishall for two years with no sail covers at all, and large parts of the main were either green or black.

I started off by putting the main and jib in a bath full of warm water and Oxyclean (which IIRC is sodium hydrogen peroxide crystals, Tescos do an own-brand version but I can't remember the name just at the minute). After a gentle swirl around the bath was full of green water with scum (and rather a lot of spiders nests), and the sails looked a bit better.

I then laid them out on the lawn, filled a bucket with warm water, my other half's Persil liquid for delicates, and half a cup of spirit vinegar, and gently sponged the sails with that (taking care not to stretch them), before rinsing with a hosepipe.

They came up really well considering. There's still one or two small black smudges that might have benefited from another going over, but I had so much else to do to fix up the boat that I decided that they were good enough that I wasn't going to be embarrassed to hoist them, and called it a day.

 

[VicS]

and Oxyclean (which IIRC is sodium hydrogen peroxide crystals,

Oxiclean or Vanish Oxi-Action. Both contain sodium percarbonate, a powered source of hydrogen peroxide.

 

[BrendanS]

Some of the sail manufacturers recommend Dettol, not for removing the staining, but killing the cause, and providing some longer lasting effects on keeping the cause reoccurring. You'll still need to remove most of the green stuff for cosmetic reasons, and also to allow the Dettol to work on the underlying cause.

 

[jwilson]

Have a dinghy sail with an extensive green stain, from algae I think. Has been stored outdoors and probably while wet.
The Karcher stands ready. I think it would do the job - or should I be more gentle?

I have used diluted Milton (baby steriliser) to clean mould off lots of things, including ropes and sailcovers. Whether it actually removes the green algae or just takes out the green colour I don't know but it is the most effective thing I've ever found.

Pressure washers can do a lot of damage.

 

[VicS]

I have used diluted Milton (baby steriliser) to clean mould off lots of things, including ropes and sailcovers. Whether it actually removes the green algae or just takes out the green colour I don't know but it is the most effective thing I've ever found.

Pressure washers can do a lot of damage.

Milton is a hypochlorite ( chlorine) solution so not really advisable on polyester sail cloth

 

[ChattingLil]

I did my headsail a few weeks ago. After reading all the hoohah I just laid it out on the pontoon, wet it and sprinkled dreft powder (for handwash wool) over the green and grubby bits. I used a soft brush broom to gently work into a lather and rinsed off. Didn't get them white, but then i wouldn't have expected a 10+ years old sail to do any better. But it did get all the green off.

 

[Lodesman77]

If you do decide to use a pressure washer - and I use mine on my sprayhood but not sure about sails - than put the sails on the lawn not the driveway...
.