Sail washing

[ghostlymoron]

The sails on my little boat are small enough to fit in our washing machine. Would it do them harm? If not, what powder should I use?

 

[[70521]]

What material are they?

 

[ghostlymoron]

They are terylene i think. Reasonable condition. (i think I'm talking myself out of this)

 

[ganter]

I was told absolutely not. You'll break them badly.


Mine came off this winter and I washed them with ordinary washing powder and a soft broom on the lawn - after first checking for any garden detritus, thorns, prickles - giving a few stubborn stains an extra scrub but gently.
I then rigged up lines to each corner and hoisted the sail flat a few feet off the grass for a final rinse with the garden hose. They were then left to dry thoroughly before repacking in their sail bags. I'm very pleased with the result and will 'rinse and repeat' next year.

It also gave me a chance to do a thorough inspection which revealed two pinpoint holes in the main which I repaired with circular patches of sticky back both sides.

 

[BlueChip]

Soak them in a warm Oxyclean solution (from the £ shop) in the bath or a wheelie bin for at least 24 hours then give them a quick scrub, results are miraculous

 

[ghostlymoron]

Oxyclean sounds a good idea, I'll look out for some. I've never had small enough sails to go in the washing machine before and have done the 'soft broom on the lawn' technique before. Goodness knows when my lawn will be dry and mud free enough for sail washing.

 

[rob2]

I've never washed sails in a machine, but unless the filler has all gone from the sails, they'll be too crisp to go in and the action will probably break it all out. Of course most older sails are no longer crisp so would probably suffer no further damage on a wool cycle (gentle action).

We used to wash the sails of a 24 footer on a tennis court with buckets of gentle detergent and a soft broom. Hanging them on the chain link fence to rinse extensively with a hose and then dry them in the plant room over the weekend. Unfortunately the H&S rep of the company decreed that the sails hanging near the boilers were a risk - though what he was up to in there on a Sunday I have no idea! The most difficult bit is not the washing and rinsing but getting them really dry before packing them away. By the way, wash and dry the bags too so you don't have any salt around.

Rob.

 

[Fossil]

Sails can be washed
If wash them you must
In water that's soapy and wettish

I wash mine a lot
But then, I have got
A soapy hot water fetish...

(with apologies to the shade of Bob McKay)

 

[LittleSister]

The most difficult bit is not the washing and rinsing but getting them really dry before packing them away.

If only one had an upright pole a little longer than the sails, and a stick and a few ropes to hold them out flat in the wind.

 

[LadyInBed]

When I had smallish sails I used to soak them in the bath, give them a scrub then feed them out through the bathroom window and string them from the window frame and across to the garden fence, hung vertically. Then used hose to rinse.