Dirty ugly sails

[Mic]

Hello Gang: I need some help on how and what to use to clean dirty and ugly rust stained sails. I just purched the boat and it had not been in the water for a number of years and the sails have been wadded up on the boom and have rust stains. Also would it be best to have them professionally cleaned? The sails appear to be in good condition other than the mildew and the rust. Thanks for your help. "MIC"

 

[Dave]

Oxlatic Acid

I just cleaned my old Hunter sails with rust stains in them. I first soaked them in the bath tub over night with laudry detergent and oxiclean. I then placed them on the lawn, and used Oxlactic acid, Check the spelling it is at all boat marine supply. Using a tooth brush I brushed the crystals in with water. Let them sit for 5 min and rinsed with the hose. Make sure to rinse very well. It works great on fiberglass stains as well. Good luckDave

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

Try SailCare

in Pennsylvania. They do a great job restoring and re-resining old sails, although some lofts scoff at the treatment as damaging to the sails. I've had good experiences.

 

[Steven Green]

SailCare is great!

I just got my sails back form SailCare in Ford City, PA. I shipped them out 7 weeks ago and had a laundry list of repairs and cleaning to be done. The sails are off a 1989 Hunter 26.5 and are original. They were pretty dirty, some mildew and spreader marks. Batten pockets were worn out and some stitching needed repair. They came back clean as new and crisp. I should be able to get another 5 years out of them with no problem.I highly reccomend that you check them out!Steve Green on "Grace"