Top cleaning FAIL!

WillhoundWillhound Member Posts: 4,208 ✭✭✭✭✭
in General Boating Discussions
Just as we like to boast of our successes I'm also not afraid to share an epic fail if it acts as an aid to someone else. Spent a few hours scrubbing my canvas with my trusty car wash brush and mild detergent. Looked fabulous until they dried and I could see in the sun that my old brush is starting to deteriorate and left a haze of blue particles all over the black top. :s
Going to try and vacuum them off and start again....
"Knot Quite Shore" - 2000 FV270 (Sold)
2018 Cherokee 39RL Land Yacht (Sorry...)
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  • StodgeStodge Member Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭✭
    You are more aggressive than I am with the canvas.  I take it to a laundromat and wash it with Dreft and a cap full of bleach.  Then it comes home to air dry and get a coating of 303.

    2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX

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  • WillhoundWillhound Member Posts: 4,208 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I have the main top piece in the dryer now on air fluff with some dryer sheets. If that doesn't take it out I just might do the same. But I have to hand wash the pieces with eisenglass in them anyway.
    "Knot Quite Shore" - 2000 FV270 (Sold)
    2018 Cherokee 39RL Land Yacht (Sorry...)
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  • StodgeStodge Member Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭✭
    Ah, my eisenglass pieces are all separate.  

    2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX

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  • WillhoundWillhound Member Posts: 4,208 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Doesn't look like Dreft is aeasily available in Canada. If I machine wash them maybe I'll use Ivory Snow baby detergent. Look like the same idea.
    "Knot Quite Shore" - 2000 FV270 (Sold)
    2018 Cherokee 39RL Land Yacht (Sorry...)
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  • StodgeStodge Member Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭✭
    Yeah same thing.  Woolite is another option.  Basically any mild detergent.  I add bleach to deal with the mold that likes to grow over the season.

    2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX

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  • WillhoundWillhound Member Posts: 4,208 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The dryer helped a bit, not much. Got a bunch more with a hand vac. Want to at least get the main top piece cleaned and treated with Aerospace so I can install it tomorrow. It stays up all year as a sun shade. The rest of the pieces I can do after launch if I run out of time as I take them off and on regularly.
    "Knot Quite Shore" - 2000 FV270 (Sold)
    2018 Cherokee 39RL Land Yacht (Sorry...)
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  • Dude_HimselfDude_Himself Member Posts: 596 ✭✭✭
    I hang mine in the back yard and hit it gently with a soap blaster and laundry soap, then rinse a few times and let hang dry.
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  • 06Rinker27006Rinker270 Member Posts: 1,277 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2018
    Putting the bimini top in the laundromat wash wont harm it?  That sounds a lot easier than my way.  I also get mold on the underside. 
    Patrick
    06 Rinker 270
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  • StodgeStodge Member Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭✭
    I've done if for 4 seasons now.  I use a commercial washer on the most gentle setting it has.  I air dry it at home when it's done.  I may be doing some harm, but as yet haven't seen signs of it.

    I've heard that putting 303 on the inside surface of the top can help prevent mold too.

    2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX

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