Softening nylon rope

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Can anyone recommend a way of softening old nylon rope?

I have been having a blitz on unwanted gear and rediscovered some 14mm three stranded nylon rope that I bought four or five years ago to use as mooring lines. Over a couple of seasons they got so stiff that I threw them in a locker and replaced them with polyester.

I have tried putting rope in the washing machine while the management was out but it didn’t seem all that successful.
 
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Can anyone recommend a way of softening old nylon rope?


[/ QUOTE ] I dont think you can!
 
I agree with VicS - if they are stiff due to ingrained dirt, then washing can bring back some, but not all, of the life to it. If it is stiff due to age then no chance, in my experience - the stiffness is due to accumulated fibre damage, and is much worse with laid rope than sheathed.
 
Comfort is a fabric softener. I dont think it or any other similar product will help but it may actually weaken ropes
 
A good soak in fabric softener is fine. Just use as directed and soak for a few days, stirring occasionally.

Nylon hardens as that is what nylon does. To minimise it don't expose the rope to heat, wash the salt build up out in fresh COLD water, don't leave it sitting in the carpark on a real sunny day and things like that.

The softener will/can help but there comes a point where you just have to pull the pin and say goodbye to it.
 
Just to let you know how I got on. I put about 2/3 of a bottle of Comfort in a bucket and topped it up with water. I let the rope soak in the mixture for two days. If anything the rope seems stiffer now than before I started, although that could be my imagination. It is certainly no more pliable than it was. I think the only answer is to buy polyester. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
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I think the only answer is to buy polyester

[/ QUOTE ] Nylon is better for mooring warps because it stretches ... quite abit!
 
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Just to let you know how I got on. I put about 2/3 of a bottle of Comfort in a bucket and topped it up with water. I let the rope soak in the mixture for two days. If anything the rope seems stiffer now than before I started, although that could be my imagination. It is certainly no more pliable than it was. I think the only answer is to buy polyester. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

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Didn't use hot water did you? That will harden a nylon.
2/3 of a bottle... don't know if that was overcooking it but I'd use what is recommended per bucket.

Yes Nylon does a have a bit more stretch than polyester but not as much as some think and most of that is up near break load, the place you shouldn't be anyway.

Many like to use polyester as mooring ropes due to the better abrasion resistance.
 
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Yes Nylon does a have a bit more stretch than polyester but not as much as some think and most of that is up near break load, the place you shouldn't be anyway.

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If I remember correctly, nylon can stretch by more than 50% of its length. But it's only elastic up to elongations of about 20%; beyond that it stays stretched and hardened.

Towards the end of WWII, when we were using gliders for troop landings, someone suggested the use of nylon towropes to recover gliders for reuse. The theory was that the towplane would trail a hook which picked up a loop on the end of an undrawn nylon towrope fastened to the glider. When the load came on the nylon would start to stretch as the glider accelerated with the hope that speed equality would be reached before the cable broke. I watched it at the Farnborough Air Display in 1946, and on at least one day the cable broke. The glider just managed to land before the airfield ran out.
 
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