Cleaning Sails

My sails are yellow and white to match my yellow and white 74 hobie, the guy i bought them from stored them inside so they are clean exept the bottom portion which was exposed for the 10 some years it sat in a storage box. Needless to say it is now brown from the dirt setting in.

What do you clean sails with? I know you dont want to use harsh cleaners as they take the resin out of the sails, but what can I use to scrub the dirt (rust too) stains out?

There are several products available from Hobie, but a wider choice from West Marine (I think www.westmarine.com). It is good practice to clean the sails after every season since most cleaners also contain sail "preservation" chemicals. If you can, get access to a 55 gal drum to dip your sails in (being careful to not crease mylar sail material) Also throw all your lines in the washer at the end of each season (and plan on spending an evening untangeling the mess ). It is also a good idea to wipe down the shrouds and trap lines with a rag SOAKED with WD-40 and use a brush to remove dirt from between the weave- this also forces you to inspect for wear from top to bottom. Pay particular attention to the thimbles and nicro press insertion areas.

The reason for the cleanliness is not just because it is "near to godliness" but because particles of dirt on and in the seams and weave of material (yes, even stainless) act as abrasives, speeding up wear and eventual failure. (Nothing sucks like shroud failure or a trap line breaking off unexpectedly because these things usually happen when you are stressing the boat to limits )

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The fact that this windy world is largely covered in water obviously means that man was meant to sail.

Thanks for the reply i really appreciate any info!

luke