rookie question... how to clean sails ?
- Thread starter paul4378
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Simple solution .....
For WHITE dacron sail - not colored, not laminate sails: First wash with a mild 'caustic' containing detergent ... such as with sodium silicate - to remove the mold, mildew and 'air-pollution' specs. Use a long handled soft bristle brush. Then rinse, and rinse and rinse until no soap bubbles are in the rinse water. Then make up a mixture of oxalic acid (wood bleach from a hardware/paint store) which will remove the yellow/brown TANNIN stains and RUST stains. Oxalic can absorb through the skin and do damage to your kidneys so wear adquate protection - gloves, goggles, etc. Then rinse, rinse, rinse. Best is to do ON the boat on a cloudy humid no wind day. Raise the sail as you spritz on the detergent and lightly scrub to spread, drop to the deck and let soak - cover with a plastic tarp so it doesnt dry out, then raise while scrubbing, etc. do again with detergent if the first application doesnt do the full job. The soak time is the most important. the raise and rinse raise and rinse, etc. Then apply oxalic with a long handled brush to bleach out the brown/yellow/rust, then rinse, rinse, rinse with a garden hose. Then raise the sails, go sailing to dry out the sails. Then re-wax the boat as that which you cleaned the sails will have stripped out all the old dead wax in the pores of the gelcoat .... and you should strip the gelcoat every few years as that old dead wax will promote oxidation of the gelcoat ..... two jobs in one.
For WHITE dacron sail - not colored, not laminate sails: First wash with a mild 'caustic' containing detergent ... such as with sodium silicate - to remove the mold, mildew and 'air-pollution' specs. Use a long handled soft bristle brush. Then rinse, and rinse and rinse until no soap bubbles are in the rinse water. Then make up a mixture of oxalic acid (wood bleach from a hardware/paint store) which will remove the yellow/brown TANNIN stains and RUST stains. Oxalic can absorb through the skin and do damage to your kidneys so wear adquate protection - gloves, goggles, etc. Then rinse, rinse, rinse. Best is to do ON the boat on a cloudy humid no wind day. Raise the sail as you spritz on the detergent and lightly scrub to spread, drop to the deck and let soak - cover with a plastic tarp so it doesnt dry out, then raise while scrubbing, etc. do again with detergent if the first application doesnt do the full job. The soak time is the most important. the raise and rinse raise and rinse, etc. Then apply oxalic with a long handled brush to bleach out the brown/yellow/rust, then rinse, rinse, rinse with a garden hose. Then raise the sails, go sailing to dry out the sails. Then re-wax the boat as that which you cleaned the sails will have stripped out all the old dead wax in the pores of the gelcoat .... and you should strip the gelcoat every few years as that old dead wax will promote oxidation of the gelcoat ..... two jobs in one.
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