Recommendations for washing a wnter cover

[Bob S]

Anyone out there with a canvas cover ever wash it off the boat? This thing weighs a ton. I was thinking of cutting the lid off a plastic 55 gallon drum and filling it with water and Ivory detergent and letting it soak. I'm not sure how long I can soak it before rinsing. Any better suggestions?

 

[jlp0217]

Anyone out there with a canvas cover ever wash it off the boat? This thing weighs a ton. I was thinking of cutting the lid off a plastic 55 gallon drum and filling it with water and Ivory detergent and letting it soak. I'm not sure how long I can soak it before rinsing. Any better suggestions?

I spread mine on a wide section of dock, and washed it with a bucket of soapy water (with a little bleach for the mildew), boat brush, and hose. Repeated on the other side and put back up on the boat to dry.

 

[Steve Dion]

Do you have a "freind" with a hot tub?

 

[DougM]

Whatever you do, don't use anything with bleach in it. Though it probably wouldn't do much to the canvas, the thread in the seams won't fare very well.

Where I volunteer on a square rigger, we soak canvas sails easily as big as a winter cover in one of the large Brute trash containers for several days. Unfortunately I am not sure what the cleaning solution is. To rinse, the sail is spread out over a scaffold frame and sawhorses and hosed off on both sides until the material no longer has a slippery feel to it

 

[shemandr]

The one time I tried to clean mine, which weighed a ton and a half, it ended up more dirty than before I started. It was a complete PITA and not worth the effort. I never did it again. It went up on the boat and the rain and wind was it washing.

 

[Bob S]

I cut 2 55 gallon drums today but now I'm concerned as Andy said "it might not be worth it" It's a lot of effort for the potential of just spreading the dirt.
Thanks for the replies.

 

[S36_Osprey]

I washed my miller marine cover when it was still on the boat. I used one of those things you connect to the hose that was made for mixing and spraying lawn fertilizer, but filled it with soap. Wet it down with soapy water, scrub with a long handle soft bristle brush, rinse, let dry.
The cover is huge, and dont know how else i could have done it.

Jim

 

[rardiH36]

I would think that much will have to do with how much private "real estate" you have do do the work. If the area is public property -- such as a dock -- then my below process probably wouldn't do. Much like one doesn't hang out clothes to dry in a public place.

Assuming that your "canvas" is actually a Sunbrella type of fabric, it's quite resistant to cleaning damage. I have cleaned my sail cover and sails with good success in the following manner. (See my attached pic of a sail cleaning effort.)

Best to do this on an overcast day or early in the morning so things stay damp for a while.

- Clean your driveway or deck.
- Spread the Sunbrella cover over your driveway or deck.
- From Dollar Tree, buy a few of their spray-on auto tire cleaner bottles. Pore each 32oz container into a garden sprayer and dilute to say 2-1.
- Mist over your cover with a garden hose to dampen.
- Spray on the diluted tire cleaner.
- Let sit for a while.
- Now rinse/clean with a low power "home" type of electric power washer on the fan setting. Let the nozzle end be close enough to do some work, but not close enough to do any damage to the fibers. Work in a manner that constantly pushes the water out and away.
- On my property, I can tightly stretch some old halyard line between a couple of trees and drape the item over the line. (As in the picture.) I wedge a couple of 6' long 2x4's under the line so the line is propped up from sagging too much under the weight of the water-logged fabric.
- Then spray water both on the inside and outside to wash any remaining dirt/grime off and down.
- Let dry.