WHERE to wash headsail?

[Cool Beans]

Where could I wash it?

It has a 41 foot luff and like an 20+ foot leech. . .it's a biggun, 155%

Can't do it at home because we only have well water. . .I could take it over my dads place since he uses city water. . .but it would have to be scrubbed in the grass under a dripping pine tree. . .I could possibly do it in my employers parking lot? I can clean up any rocks on the pavement before hand to prevent tears. I've also read of people who cleaned them in bathtubs or barrels I would need that explained to me lol. . .

Or is it worth just dropping off at the sail loft?

Thanks!

 

[xcyz]

Don't laugh but I've used my neighbors pool while they were on vacation. :naughty:

I have also washed the main while on the pole and just raised it as I went. The head sail if on a furling, ah, not so easy..

 

[finding41]

I washed mine on a large tarp in the back yard under the pine tree. You can get a tarp big enough or use two or as many as you need. It's just there to keep it from getting dirty from the lawn.
What is on your sail? Just regular wear dirt?
I got black coffee on my storm jib 2 weeks after I washed it. The spot is about the size of a basket ball. I should try and wash it again. Haven't got to it yet though.

 

[anchorclanker]

I have a cable run I put up for the dog, I tied the sails up to it one at a time and hosed it off and softly scrubbed it. If you have any trees in your yard you should be able to hang the sail lengthwise without much trouble.

I have/had some rust stains on mine. Everything I read, and I read a lot, said to totally avoid bleach or anything chlorinated or caustic, as well as any strong chemicals or solvents, a swimming pool dunk could shorten their life quite dramatically if there is enough chlorine in it. Even if the material is benign to chlorine, the thread is not.

 

[gpd955]

Beans,

Check with some of your local firehouses. Some of the older ones have hose towers where the old hoses (before synthetic jackets) are hoisted for cleaning and drying. Maybe for a small donation to the volunteers they'll let you use it.

Just a thought.

 

[Warren Milberg]

My advice is to send it to Sail Care in Ford City, PA. They do a great job and the price isn't too bad, either.

 

[bffatcat]

where to wash sails

I wash my sails at a self service laundromat most laundromats have an 80 lb machine now a days

 

[whatfiero]

just wash in marina pool late at night or early in morning one of the liveaboards saw me and laughed but haven't heard any complaining from management soft scrub gets stains out

 

[rardiH36]

Well, I don't know about the problems with well water. Guess its hard with minerals?

Anyway, depends what you want to do and also how new the sail actually is. If its an older one that is no longer in its "racing" prime and you are just looking to reduce the stains and clean, then read on. If relatively new, then get others' viewpoints.

Attached is a pic of my spring laundry "close-line". The sail is a 135 genoa with a 43' luff. Not much different in size than yours.

Stetch out some old halyard line as in my picture. Depending on how high you can tie and how tight you can tension the line, you might need to support in the middle with a 2x4 or two. Drape the sail over it in calm wind conditions.

Make a solution of your cleaning solution. (I won't go into that because there are many opinions here about what is best and you'll get warnings about ruining the sail.) Put the cleaner in a garden sprayer. Early in the morning when temps are cool, low/no sun and humidity high, spray liberally onto the sail. Or you can slop on the cleaner from a bucket and a floppy brush. Let soak/penetrate for a while as you sip some early morning coffee. Then blast away with a garden hose working down from high to low. Also a pressure washer is great if you use the wide spray pattern and don't get too close with the nozzle. Get into the "tunnel" under the close-line to do the same with the hose or the pressure washer on the other side (inside) of the sail. Expect to get wet doing this.

The sail should end up much cleaner. To remove rust stains, I use an oxalic acid based cleaner followed by a rinse. Several applications might be necessary, but eventually the rust will go away, or at least be a lot less noticeable. After removing the rust, see if you can observe what is causing the stains on the sails and rectify. For instance, on my boat, the ends of the 3/8" bolts securing the boom bails through the boom were prone to rusting a bit and transferring onto the flaked mainsail. I have painted the ends of the bolts with clear automotive lacquer and the rust stains on the sail now longer happens. (Tip: You can do the oxalic acid thing this while sailing if the weather is calm. Just brush over the stain with a brush. A couple of times later, there will be no stain left when you douse the sail.

 

[xcyz]

Nice picture. Can we see a bit more of your Zen garden, it looks so inviting?

 

[tedsbeds]

Take it to a car wash

 

[Dan Hill]

Buy a cheap collapsible 8-10 foot kiddy pool at your fav mart store and use your feet til they get prunny lol. Thats what the PO of my 28.5 used, even gave me the pool. Haven't tried it yet but the sails look good.

 

[Cool Beans]

Our well water has iron in it. . .even when it is runs clear, if you let it sit in a bucket over night it turns brown. It's better or worse depending on time of year and amount of rainfall we've had. . .

I could always crawl under the house and turn on the city water I guess. . .such a PITA though. I do have to big trees out front I could string it up between. That might be the ticket.

TO wash it in the pool, does getting it all crinkly do any damage to the cloth?

 

[Dan Hill]

They sail fine and look fine so I don't think it's an issue, but my sails have been used well and been with the boat for most of her 24 years I suspect. If they have lasted that long I wouldn't hesitate to continue the practice.

 

[Gunni]

That sail is too big to self wash. There is a Doyle sail loft in Hampton. Sail the dirty rag until the end of the season and let them have it for the winter - clean, re-stitch, patch, evaluate the life left in the sail.

 

[rardiH36]

Nice picture. Can we see a bit more of your Zen garden, it looks so inviting?

Hello RG:

I think that you already know that the real Zen place is out on the water sailing our boats.

But since you asked, here is another scene from our back deck taken a few years back. Showcases a couple of my wife's Zensais. Took it and sent it for/to our at the time home-sick daughter while she was away at university. The school was only 90 miles away. But we told her to take full advantage of the away-from-home thing. She did adjust -- and subsequently married her very fine fellow.

Also another picture attached of when the zen-snow falls in California. (Not my backyard of course -- just joking!) Definitely a different type of Zen however. Not Terror Zen, but a bit of adrenaline was was being metered into my bloodstream.

 

[rgranger]

The last time I washed sails I got a new 60 gal trash can, put the sail in it along with a bottle of woolite and filled it with water. I let it soak a few days and then hung it between two trees and hosed it off until the water ran suds free. The sails looked a lot better, not perfect but better.

 

[RichH]

Do it ON the boat.
On a cloudy, humid and no wind day ..... Clean the deck, raise the sail in increment as you apply detergent and scrub as the sail goes up, then drop the sail and cover with plastic to prevent drying out and to let the detergent soak. Raise and scrub and cover to soak several times adding mist from a garden hose to keep wet. Then thoroughly rinse to extract the soil and detergent several times.
Then BLEACH out with an oxalic acid mixture to remove tannins and rust. Rinse again and let the sail thoroughly dry.

Best detergent to use on woven dacron - sodium silicate based detergent ... commercial name "tuff-eNuff".
Rewax the boat as strong detergents 'strip' was from fiberglass.

Dont do this if you have a teak deck or bare teak on the topsides - will extract the tannins from the teak.

 

[Cool Beans]

Good points and advice from everyone. Soak in the tub and hang between the trees sounds like the easy route for me

But, if I can't get it done before Sunday I like Gunni's idea the best. . .sail it the rest of the season and deal with it then