Sail Cleaning

will162878

New Member
I rinse my sail and use detergent to clean it every so often, but detergent doesn't seem to get the persistent stains out.

What can be used to remove persistent stains?
Any ideas?

Also, apparently, McLube (dry lubricant) can be used to stop tell tales sticking to the sail when wet. Does this work? What are your opinions on the legality of this practice (Re: ILCA Rules)??
 
You got me too. I clean boats for my dad as a summer jod and there are some great cleaning products out there that are environment friendly and won't hurt you sail. I've used roll-off and that seems to work pretty good. As far as the tell tales....it is unlikely it'd be illegal but deffinately check on that one, I'd like to know too.
 
The argument is between shiny, polished hull or a dull matt.
The argument is that polich is slippery so less friction, but a dull matt finish with "micro-scratches" traps water, meaning that friction is between water and water, rather than water and gelcoat. Nothing has been proved. Neither will win you a race. The difference, if there is one, must change with conditions and even then, the difference is tiny. It is true that the main decellerating force in light winds is hull friction, but I don't think the difference is massive. Polish looks nicer.
 
A lot of sailors make their hulls shiny for mental purposes. Sure, the boat will go a little faster. The sailor knows that, but (at least for me) when I'm out on the water I can say: "My boat is faster than his/hers and I'm going to win."
 
This topic is about sail cleaning but this raises a good point. I don't know what other people may think, but to me i think the worst thing you can do is sand any part of your hull. I preffer the smooth hull by waxing it or by puting McLube on it. If you sand it, someone brought up the point of water to water contact. I think this is a good theory but it will create a rigid hull although this these little grooves will be very small, the water may build in these and could either possibly work their way under the gelcoat or build up like little lumps which will create drag. I did sand my blades before the junior olympics last year but it real had no effect. We simply did that to get the corrosion and little bumps off. I don't know, the idea of sanding any hull or blades just gives me the chills.
 
The sanding of the hull is to get the little scratches out. I'm all for having a smooth/shiny hull, but what good is it if your hull has scratches
 
Sanding will get the scratches out. Sand with 1500 grit and then you have a choice: polish or leave it. I go for polish.
 
Anytime the talk moves to cleaning it turns to the old sand vs polish arguemnt. Amusing. Anyway. Back to sail cleaning. I have used Sail Bath by Davis. It works. McLube on ticklers! It works Wicked! I coat the ticklers and not the sail. Cheers.

Steve.
 
Coating the tales makes sense - the material/finish of them is not restricted by class rules - thus perfectly legal. (Also uses less McLube.) Where can you buy this Sail Bath stuff?
 
You should be able to get it from your local shop. Davis Instruments is the supplier part #Dav0795 and they have a sail bleach #dav0796. Good luck. If you get no joy e-mail me.

Steve.
 
Any Sailshop should be able to source it for you. It is from Davis Intruments Dav0795 is the order number. They also have a Sail Bleach for those stubborn stains. Dav0796. Davis Instruments is based in California.

Steve.
 
The hardest stuff to get out is mould stains, rust stains from rusing steel the sail has come into contact with and mud marks that aren't rinsed out straight away which can cause black streaky stains.
 
Originally posted by laser161116
Do mold stains effect sail performance or just look ugly

Mold stains don't affect dacron. You can remove them with a weak solution of bleach in water (Tilex works fine), rinse with water when stain is gone

Hint for other materials - keep bleach away from Kevlar and nylon.
 
When they are washed out, the sail gets slightly softer each time. Over time, sails that have had lots of stains and been washed many times will gradually lose their performance edge.
 
Originally posted by will162878
When they are washed out, the sail gets slightly softer each time. Over time, sails that have had lots of stains and been washed many times will gradually lose their performance edge.

That's only true if you tumble wash a sail or use chemicals that can break down the resinated finish on the cloth. (Bleach, when applied as explained in my earlier post will not break down the resin)

If you lay a sail on the ground and use a mild detergent, the sail will not get softer or loose any performance (a resinated finish will not be removed or broken down with soap) That's all that should be needed for a Laser sail...

Corollary to this is minimize flogging/ragging/luffing your sail, bunching it up and tossing in a pile at the end of every day. Those actions will breakdown the finish and cause a performance loss
 
Rubbing out stains does degrade polyester: a study carried out on the optimal cleaning conditions concluded that the chemicals did not break down the resin or the fibres BUT the actual pieces of dirt, grit, sand and mud abraded the surface. Chemically, the sail is nearly indestructable, but imagein rubbing your sail down with sand paper...
 
Mildew removal does not involve rubbing (nor does mildew itself contain any abrasive, it's strictly a cosmetic annoyance)

The sail washing I recommended above does not involve scrubbing or rubbing either, think of it as a rinse.
 
I thought laser sails were dracon. If so, why does what happens when you wash polyester matter. 49208 said something about tumble washing a sail. This doesn't mean putting it in the washing machine, does it. That would definetly be a new one to me!
 
Dacron=Polyester
(Dacron is Dupont's tradename I believe for polyester fibre)

Yes, there were/are some commerical sail wash outfits that use a big tumble type machine.
 
I don't use that for racing sails as I don't really trust it bu the resin should protect the fibres. You're only rolling it round and round which probably does less damage than leaving it to flap on the beach.
 
waxing your boat

i was reading some stuff of using sand paper in your hull

dont use sand paper its ilegal the best thing is car wax

car wax protects your paint from the sun salt (elements) and makes the boat faster a little bit but is important in my club once a week we put this stuff on our boats and then go sailing

you also can use special wax for boats that you can get in every marine shop the thing is that car wax is for car paint
thats diferent from the boat paint. boat paint is made from plastic and car paint from oil
what wax does is just put an extra protection to your paint leaving it softer and softer is beter
the best thing is wax
 
It's not gelcoat I believe. The boats are molded likt that in that color. In pictures of the Vanguard factory I've seen they have seperate molds for different collored laser and the molds are that color.
 

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