Sail Stains

[unbusted67]

I have two types of nasty stains in my sails I think they are dacron (?) any thoughts on how to wash these out?

This is from the eyelets in the sails. It is way worse on the jib because the hanks seem to be made of brass or copper (whatever bleeds green).

click to enlarge image


I am not sure where this rust came from but this is on the mainsail primarily.

[Richhh]

The green stuff seems to be verdigris ... an oxide of bronze, the yellow is probably iron (most bronze has a bit of iron). Try a soak in oxalic acid. Just get some oxalic crystals, add a wee bit of water so that all dissolves, then soak, then thoroughly rinse. Acid based toilet cleaners, commercial cleansers with oxalic, etc. will do otherwise go to a paint store for the oxalic.

[unbusted67]

The is also some graphic on the sail this stuff sounds harsh will it dissolve the graphic? What about the plastic windows sewn into the sail will they suffer?

[zephyr4]

We only use mild bleach and natural soap on our sails because they do not harm dacron.

However, if you go for bigger guns avoid strong alkali's (e.g. borax ) because dacron has poor resistance to alkali's. Most detergents are mild alkali's so we don't even use them. But then again, we also pull the skin off chicken and drive the speed limit....

Something else to consider is that a small stain is probably not visible from very far away....

[AnchorageGuy]

UB, Go to Home Depot and get a product called Rustaid and spray it on the areas, let it set for a while but not dry and rinse it off good. You might have to do it a couple of times if it is really bad. It will not harm the material. We had some nasty stains on the main and mizzen from a concrete plant on the south coast of Cuba. When we got back to the states we tryed everything to get it off and nothing worked. I accidentally spilled some Rustaid on the sail and the stain just disappeared.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by Chuck Baier

UB, We had some nasty stains on the main and mizzen from a concrete plant on the south coast of Cuba.

...weird, why were your sails at a concrete plant on the south coast of cuba?