Cleaning Sails

We are in the midst of winterizing our Alberg 35, Mystic. One of the tasks that was necessary this year is cleaning our main and jib sails. Both are going on 20 years old. The main is in pretty solid condition, the jib is starting to look a bit worn. 

We began the process by soaking the sails in a trough that Dave built with 2x4 framing and a plastic liner. We filled it with about 50 gallons of water and 2 cups of oxyclean dissolved in hot water. Oxyclean works by releasing the bond that dirt has with the canvas. It starts out as sodium percarbonate. When you dissolve it in water it breaks down into hydrogen peroxide and washing soda, (a kind of baking soda).

Sail soaking in trough

After the long soak, we scrubbed both sides of the sail with water and dawn dish detergent. We thoroughly rinsed it before hanging the sail from two trees. Once it was hung, we rinsed it some more and let it hang in our backyard all day until it was dry. 

Rinsing the main

More rinsing after hanging 

Once the main was clean, dried, flaked and stored we turned our focus on the jib. While we worked we kept an eye on the weather. The forecast called for rain in the afternoon. Unfortunately, precipitation arrived in the morning right after we'd hung the jib. Although it wasn't ideal, we draped the sail through our living and dining rooms. Dave added fans to speed up the drying. By dinner time we had a clean, and dry jib.

Jib hanging to dry

Jib draped through our house

That's a lot of sail

While we were cleaning the sails, we inspected them from the head to the clew. We found three tiny holes in the main that will need patching. The jib had deep stains on the sacrificial UV cover edge. After taking a closer look at this area we could see that it should be replaced. 

Cleaning our sails was a huge project that created two more huge projects. Each sail took two days to complete. Patching the micro holes in the main, and replacing the sacrificial UV cover on the jib will be labor intensive. We hope to have them completed before spring. 

The sails turned out great! Not all of the stains lifted but the majority of the canvas brightened during the process. We've owned Mystic for 13 years now.  It seems like a lot of boat projects are popping up these days. She's turning 60 next year, a good old boat that's seen a lot and travelled far. She's worth all of our hard work to keep her looking beautiful.