Sail cleaning and repair

[Mark Williamson]

I'm thinking about having my sails cleaned and restitched along the sacrificial strip on the furling jib.  Not sure what it's going to cost.  I've read a few things online that some lofts charge almost $1 a square foot for cleaning which sounds a little crazy.  If anyone would like to add their experiences feel free (anyone buy new sails?).  I'll post my results at some point.

[Dave]

I own a 7.6. I have had my #2 (furling ) jib inspected/repaired for $200. in the past.
Last fall I had a new main made for $1200. All prices Cdn

[Mark Williamson]

I ended up buying Wash Safe Industries SAIL WASH which is "a unique blend of powdered hydrogen peroxide and cleaning detergents".  I filled a 45 gallon trash can with hot water, put in the container of Sail Wash, waited 30 minutes then put in my jib.  Didn't worry too much if the water worked into all the seams.  I think sail fabric is relatively porous anyway so it should eventually soak through.  After 24 hours i removed it, hosed it down and hung it out to dry.  Then I put my main in the can and repeated the process.  Both came out looking much cleaner, brighter with most of the staining gone.  I'm sure most of this is due to the hydrogen peroxide.

It was difficult handling the sails after soaking them.  It was a calm day so i tied them between two weighted down chairs in the yard and an upper deck so they weren't lying in the grass.  Then i hosed them down.  It didn't quite seem like i was removing all of the Sail Wash even after ten or more minutes of spraying them.  Not sure if this matters.  I finished the drying process in the garage with the sails semi-folded on the floor.

Haven't taken the jib to be stitched yet.  Luckily the boat came with a couple of spares so I have one of them on the boat for now.

After all that I actually got to do some sailing.  It's been a long winter....