Conference unifix::sailing

    When I lived in Vancouver,BC, the mildew was horrendous. I first
    used mildew cleaner, but soon discovered the basic ingredient was
    common bleach. From then on I just used a solution of bleach and
    water. It worked fine, but ALWAYS rinse out the solution completely
    and fairly quickly as it can permanently damage the fabric backing
    material.
    
    Hope this helps..
    

    I will add some to the soapy water this weekend....thanks.

    You should not mix chlorine with anything. In particular, chlorine
    plus many soaps and detergents gives off a poisonous gas. Especially
    if one is filling a bathtub. I once had a problem with bleach and
    dishwashing detergent (concentrated). If you read the bleach container
    it will probably tell you not to mix it with anything. I know pool
    chlorine says that.
    

    I didnt know that (but then I use Clorox 2 or detergents with Oxygen
    bleach in the machine at home). Do washing machines with the bleach
    dispenser add the bleach after the soap is rinsed away ?  
    
    Maybe I will try this (dodger in place): wet the dodger and brush on 
    a water diluted bleach solution. Wait X minutes, rinse, then wash with 
    soap and water and rinse again. Or would it be more effective to
    wash then bleach ?
    
    Walt

    .3 is correct, mixing bleaches with soaps or other substances is
    very dangerous.  Remembering my basic chemistry, its very easy to
    end up with a mustard gas similar to the WWI Argonne forest stuff.
                       
    Forgetting basic chemistry, I can remember working in a meat room
    during college which used bleach to clean the fiberglass cutting
    boards.  Somebody got the bright idea of turning a two step process
    into one and a bunch of people ended up with nasty burns and scarred
    windpipes.  
    
    Rick

    Hmmm.... I add bleach to the laundry all the time... many detergents
    even tell you when the best to add it is (I think they actually
    say to put the bleach in first, then add the detergent 5 minutes
    later, but I'm not sure...)
    
    I suspect that you can get in trouble if you add straight bleach
    to straight detergent, tho...
    
    As far as the order of doing things, probably bleach then wash;
    the reason is that the bleach will bleach out any brighteners in
    the detergent (unless you don't want them there...) - also, you
    have a better shot at getting the residual bleach out that way..
    
    						..tek

    	The problem is when you mix bleach (chlorine) with ammonia -
    you create a gas, N2O (nitrous oxide, I think - but, definitely
    not the one the dentist gives you (laughing gas)).  The poisonous
    gas is brown in colour and heavy (sinks to the bottom of the room).

    Oh, well that makes sense... I was assuming you'd use LAUNDRY detergent
    to clean a sail.... laundry detergent is probably OK, especially
    if there no statement like
    
    	DO NOT ADD BLEACH UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH
    
    
    						...tek
    

    Well, I gave it a shot Thursday nite.  I brought the canvas home
    to allow it to soak in the tub.  Both the Clorox bottle and the
    FAB recommended they be mixed together.  I soaked and scrubbed
    for an hour.  The canvas seemed to brighten up some.  The vinyl
    strip around the aft end of the dodger was still pretty bad (black
    stuff in the low spots of the material texture) so I rinsed the
    dodger a couple times and went at the vinyl with Ammonia (Phew!).
    
    I think it all came out pretty clean, if not just like new. Since
    I havent found anything more effective than Camp Dry water repellant
    I treated it with that again. The repellant leaves a sort of oily
    look to the canvas (slightly wet in appearance) that isnt as nice
    as bleached white canvas, but it all looks much better than before.
    
    Thanks for the suggestions.
    
    Walt
    
    PS.  I decided to begin breaking down the Dodger and covering with
    the sleeve supplied with it as long as we are not aboard. Maybe that
    will delay the next time I have to do this.

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Note 337.10                   Boat Canvas Cleaning                      10 of 13
FASDER::AHERB "Al is the *first* name"                5 lines  20-JUN-1992 21:38
                          -< How to stretch Canvas? >-
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    Does anyone know how to stretch canvas (vinyl covered)? I have a
    backdrop that snaps between my convertible top and the stern. It's
    several years old and I'm trying to avoid replacing it till
    Fall/Winter. Right now, I can't get all the snaps snapped.
    

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Note 337.11                   Boat Canvas Cleaning                      11 of 13
MAST::SCHUMANN "We've met the enemy, and he is us!"  10 lines  29-JUN-1992 14:49
                        -< have you tried brute force? >-
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re .10

Try partly collapsing the frame, then put the snaps on, then put the frame
back. This may not be feasible, depending on the style of frame.

You might be able to get a good grip on the canvas, and pull hard. One way to
grip it is with two small pieces of plywood (one on each side) and a vise grip.
You should decide whether the canvas is expendable before doing this :-)

--RS

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Note 337.12                   Boat Canvas Cleaning                      12 of 13
FASDER::AHERB "Al is the *first* name"               11 lines  29-JUN-1992 22:40
                          -< Ended up with extenders >-
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    Yes, I've tried brute force. At the dock though (compared to the
    driveway), this doesn't work too well.
    
    I ended up "inventing" some extenders using 1" webbing and an el cheapo
    snap kit. Made up a number of 2" straps and, where I can't snap the old
    top, I insert one of these.
    
    By the way, I get the impression from fellow local boaters that vinyl
    covered canvas is "out". Someone several bearths down was showing me
    his canvas work from '82 that looked like new. Have they really made
    the miracle canvas for boats?

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Note 337.13                   Boat Canvas Cleaning                      13 of 13
HOTWTR::SASLOW_ST "STEVE"                              1 line  30-JUN-1992 14:20
                         -< Miracle canvas for boats >-
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    Yes, it is called Sunbrella.