My Experience
Several months ago, for my 1980 Hunter 36, I purchased a second hand mainsail which had been original equipment on a Catalina 36. I wanted to remove the Catalina logo from the sail. And while at it, might as well remove the numbers as well.
Others will have probably alternative/better suggestions, but this is how I did it:
- I put the sail on my driveway and scrubbed it with a nylon bristle brush with a mixture of bleech and heavy duty household cleaners. Then hosed off with fresh water. Much cleaner looking.
- With a razor knife, I cut the stitching sewn around the logo and numbers, taking great care not to cut into the logo/numbers and particulary not to nick the actual sail fabric.
- The self-stick (or contact cement) adhesive was to tacky to simply pull off the numbers and logo. So I wet down the logo/number fabric with lacquer thinner(acetone should also do well). It soaked through and after a minute or so, the logo/number could be peeled off easily. Don't wait too long, or the solvent will evaporate and the adhesive will get hard again. To slow down the quick evaporation rate, it helps to do this on a cooler day and certainly note in full sun. (NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN'T WORKED WITH LACQUER THINNER OR ACETONE OR OTHER AGGRESSIVE SOLVENTS, GET INSTRUCTION FROM SOMEONE LOCALLY. ONE NEEDS TO USE THESE TYPE OF SOLVENTS WITH GREAT CARE. MUST BE USED IN VENTALATED SPACES ONLY. NOT TO GET ON SKIN AND EYES. USE GLOVES AND GOGGLES. ITS EXTREMELY FLAMABLE. READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNINGS ON THE LABEL.)
- Also test a small section of sail with the laquer thinner to verify that the solvent does disolve the sail fabric. (Didn't on mine. Dacron.)
- Adhesive still remained on the sail, so more lacquer thinner and a brush and paper towel several times until gone. (NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN'T WORKED WITH LACQUER THINNER OR ACETONE OR OTHER AGGRESSIVE SOLVENTS, GET INSTRUCTION FROM SOMEONE LOCALLY. ONE NEEDS TO USE THESE WITH GREAT CARE. NOT TO BREATH IN CLOSED SPACES. NOT TO GET ON SKIN AND EYES. EXTREMELY FLAMABLE.
The sail became much cleaner after the driveway washing, but years of embedded stains and UV exposure of course made it almost impossible to completely eradicate the imprint of where the original logo and numbers were. But unless one is looking hard, the difference does not jump out.
