Mildew on Sails

[Cyndy]

After taking the sails out of their bags, I noticed some of that dreaded grey mildew on them. So my question is "How do I get the sails back to their original white color?". I imagine chlorine bleach is out of the question, but what about using those "oxygen" type cleaners (ie. Oxy-clean, etc)? Is there a product or homemade mixture that will get mildew out of sails without damaging the cloth? Thanks in advance for your suggestions! ;-)

 

[Chris Burti]

Courtesy of Brian Cleverly

Here is Brian's "Witch's Brew for sail cleaning."He is a yacht restorer, site link below for the curious.________To a bucket of water (2gal. or so +/-) add 1 cup of boat soap (I use West Marine), 1/4 cup of TSP powder (Tri-sodiumphosfate), 1/4 cup of Oxalic Acid powder.Apply, scrub with **-very-** soft brush, rinse with fresh water, apply, scrub again, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse and let sun dry. My sails are suspended from their three corners by rope to three trees in the back yard. Works.The boat soap makes bubbles and suspends the dirt for rinsing, the TSP gets the oil and dirt out, the Ox. gets the rust stains out. **It works**...If any of the "rust" stains are really stubborn, wet them with the above solution and work some additional Oxalic Acid powder into the area to make a paste... Leave it for a couple of minutes and rinse off whilescrubbing with the **soft** brush.Hope this helps...Brian Cleverly

 

[Ed Bergman]

Mildew

I don't think I would try anything other than mild soap and water or one of the sail soaps available at any marine supply store. If that doesn't work, go to www.sailcare.com for advice. I had some sails reconditioned by them and they came back like new. Rust stains removed and all.

 

[simon currey]

Laundry

In the UK I had a small mainsail cleaned by a sail laundry for about 15 dollars. They removed rust and mildew successfully.However, this was in a major sailing location. I do not know if these would be easily found elsewhere?