Seeking info on cleaning Sunbrella sail cover

[Michael Abramson]

Does anyone know of any specific techniques for getting yellow pollen
stains out of a sail cover? I don't have any washing instructions,
but was planning on trying a commercial washing machine at a laundromat. What detergents are recommended? Is soaking necessary?
Thanks for any comments.
Michael Abramson
CD Intrepid 9M "Peace"
Yorktown, Va.



mabramson@widomaker.com

[Neil Gordon]

I don't know about pollen stains in particular, but my sailmaker suggested you could just drop a sail cover in the washing machine. He did reccomment NOT putting it in the dryer, though!!!


Regards, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167



cdory28@aol.com

[Hal]

Mike-

I recently cleaned my Sunbrella sail cover and did it in the washing machine (small boat). I sprayed the livin' bajeepers out of it with "Shout" (common household prewash spotter). I did this a couple times going through the standard wash cycle (not "delicate" or "hand wash") and it turned out great! Sunbrella is tough stuff (acrylic) and will stand up to rigorous washing.

Does anyone know of any specific techniques for getting yellow pollen
stains out of a sail cover? I don't have any washing instructions,
but was planning on trying a commercial washing machine at a laundromat. What detergents are recommended? Is soaking necessary?
Thanks for any comments.
Michael Abramson
CD Intrepid 9M "Peace"
Yorktown, Va.

ficadoor@aol.com

[John R.]

I use the regular household washer. I pretreat any stains like bird droppings, heavy mildew etc with straight out of the bottle Simple Green. I let that soak for about a half hour. Then I put about a cup of Simple Green in the washer and some regular Tide or equivalent detergent (not containing any bleach products). I do use the dryer on "delicates setting". After the Sunbrella pieces are dry I spray 3M ScotchGuard Fabric Protectent on everything, I saturate it.

I do all the Sunbrella covers twice a year and some pieces a third time depending on mildew accumulation. Here in South Florida the Sunbrella takes a real beating but it manages to hold up very well. I spray all the zippers with silicone and spray the snaps, Lift the Dot posts with Corrosion X. I spray twist locks with Silicone.

I know oxalic acid based powder cleaners will remove difficult stains but you'd better be careful about color fastness. You might try it diluted on a folded inside edge area as a test.

Does anyone know of any specific techniques for getting yellow pollen
stains out of a sail cover? I don't have any washing instructions,
but was planning on trying a commercial washing machine at a laundromat. What detergents are recommended? Is soaking necessary?
Thanks for any comments.
Michael Abramson
CD Intrepid 9M "Peace"
Yorktown, Va.

[mike mascaros]

hi folks...as i was looking into sailbrite web page....
very interesting info ref cleaning/sunbrella canvas and sails...
so try www.sairite.com
pros tell how to do it rite
cheers/mike
compinche cd30.



compinchecd30@yahoo.com

[mike mascaros]

reference canvas/sunbrella cleaning information...
correction on address...
www.sailrite.com.....
.....sorry....
so lets clean the birds crap out of those sail covers ...
cheers again/mike
compinche cd30.



compinchecd30@yahoo.com