Washing old lines / ropes/ running rigging: cheapo or thrifty!

[JamesToBoot]

Just finished washing the last rope on the boat.

I wash everything w Dawn, why not ropes. Some I tied up and tossed in the wash. Some went w the bucket and plunger. All got Dawn. Com'on man, it gets grease outta your way.

Idk, probably just lazy.... Just like washing old behind ropes to get them from looking so nasty and letting out a cloud of dryrot and dust when you use them!!!

What are your thoughts... Cheapo and dangerous or wise and thrifty? At what point do you replace the ropes? Do you replace at the first stray twine or once the thing breaks or somewhere in between?

Here's a picture of the main sheet drying... It came in stormy gray... didn't it?


I guess I could oxyclean bleach it... But who's got the time and energy?

[tuxonpup]

Just finished washing the last rope on the boat.

I was everything w Dawn, why not ropes. Some I tied up and tossed in the wash. Some a went w the bucket and plunger. All got Dawn. Com'on man, it gets grease outta your way.

Idk, probably just lazy.... Just like washing old behind ropes to get them from looking so nasty and letting out a cloud of dryrot and dust when you use them!!!

What are your thoughts... Cheapo and dangerous or wise and thrifty? At what point do you replace the ropes? Do you replace at the first stray twine or once the thing breaks or somewhere in between?

Here's a picture of the main sheet drying... It came in stormy gray... didn't it?


I guess I could oxyclean bleach it... But who's got the time and energy?

So far we've replaced the dock lines, cause it came with two shorties with one unraveling, the internal halyard and furling line for the CDI furler and the Genoa sheet. Main halyard and sheet are stock, boom vang and topping lift are stock, the presently unused jib halyard and mast raising system lines are stock and they all look like your pictured line. Really, we handle the Genoa sheet more that anything when sailing, so we started there. The rest we pretty much just hoist once or handle just the tail end of on a sail.

Washing machine is pretty much reccomended, so I'd say Dawn in a bucket would be the gentle cycle version.

[Russ]

Dawn is my goto cleaner for almost everything. Best degreaser and gentle on most things.

Washing ropes makes a lot of sense. Especially in salt envronments where those tiny salt particles act line tiny knives on threads.
Same for sails. We used to wash salt sprayed sails in the bathtub with something like dawn. Same reason. Salt is a crystal and has sharp bits that cut fibers.

Some say a tad of bleach also kills any mildew and mold.

[Be Free]

Dawn in a bucket is my go-to for all of my lines at least once a year. The running rigging gets a hand wash in place when I'm washing the outside of the boat. After a trip, the anchor rode gets hosed off and air dried before it's put away. That's probably why the anchor rode has outlived the anchor and chain it was attached to!

Dirt and salt will prematurely age your lines. Don't let it stay in them any longer than you have to. Good dock lines and running rigging can be expensive but they will also last a long time if you take care of them. Watch for fraying or breakdown of the outer sheath of lines that see a lot of sun and replace them as needed.

My main halyard and centerboard line are a showing a little sun fatigue and will likely be replaced soon. Everything else looks great and I think that keeping them clean is a big reason why.

[JamesToBoot]

Thanks Tux, Be Free,

Not to start up a row... do any of you use a touch of bleach on the lines and dacron sails?

[Be Free]

I try to keep chlorine bleach off of my lines and definitely off my sails. Chlorine is not friendly to Dacron or Nylon.

[Be Free]

Sorry, I should have mentioned in the last post that if you are trying to get stains out of your sails or Nylon lines a weak solution of oxalic acid in cold water works pretty well.

[Russ]

Thanks Tux, Be Free,

Not to start up a row... do any of you use a touch of bleach on the lines and dacron sails?

Years ago....MANY YEARS ago (30) I used a touch of bleach on lines and ropes. Mostly for mildew stains.
However, I believe it is too harsh for use. Oxyclean is probably a safer product to use for stains.

Dawn and water works great at removing most salt and dirt.

[Be Free]

I've used bleach on the exterior of the boat but it's too harsh for anything else.

Bleach (sodium hypochlorite), Barkeeper's Friend (oxalic acid), and Oxyclean (sodium perchlorate) are all oxidizers. They don't clean the stain, they oxidize the organic components of the stain, effectively "burning" it off. You need the detergents (Dawn, etc) to remove the grease and oils, an oxidizer to lift the stain, and water to carry the remains away.

Any detergent you'd put directly on your hands should be safe for anything on the boat. An oxidizer you'd put on your hands is probably safe anywhere; one that would burn you will probably damage anything flexible (lines, canvass, cushions, etc).

[dlandersson]

I'm a tad jumpy about getting any acid solutions near my lines/sails

Sorry, I should have mentioned in the last post that if you are trying to get stains out of your sails or Nylon lines a weak solution of oxalic acid in cold water works pretty well.

[JamesToBoot]

Dont use anything that you wouldn't get on your skin....? I hear pools are a bad idea for cleaning sails and city water has chlorine in it, doesn't it?

So I guess we're just being super cautions... dilutions stories gone wrong?

Maybe acids / bases should be used as a last resort before you decide to chuck something for looking nasty, if you were worried about looks over a 600 sail?

To be honest, I get bleach everywhere when Im cleaning the boat for the season. I know plenty gets on the halyards and the boom holdy line thing... (powerwash, spray bleach w a chem sprayer, rince, and repeat next season). I might start removing the ropes and cleaning w Ospho (diluted phosphoric acid). I hear its great on stainless, aluminum, iron (trailer rust) and fiberglass.

[Be Free]

Dont use anything that you wouldn't get on your skin....? I hear pools are a bad idea for cleaning sails and city water has chlorine in it, doesn't it?

So I guess we're just being super cautions... dilutions stories gone wrong?

Maybe acids / bases should be used as a last resort before you decide to chuck something for looking nasty, if you were worried about looks over a 600 sail?

To be honest, I get bleach everywhere when Im cleaning the boat for the season. I know plenty gets on the halyards and the boom holdy line thing... (powerwash, spray bleach w a chem sprayer, rince, and repeat next season). I might start removing the ropes and cleaning w Ospho (diluted phosphoric acid). I hear its great on stainless, aluminum, iron (trailer rust) and fiberglass.

It's not the case that you should not use anything you would not get on your skin but that if you would not put it on your skin you need to be careful where you use it.

City water chlorine is usually around .25 parts per million. Pool water is usually around 3 parts per million and may be significantly higher in public pools. When I was doing competitive swimming my suits would be noticeably bleached out by the end of the season and my skin always smelled like chlorine.

I would not hesitate to use city water to clean my sails but I would not put them in my swimming pool.

Almost everything is either an acid or a base, very few things are neutral. It's all about concentrations and application time. Use the right tool for the right job in the right way.

A tannin stain calls for an oxidizer, an oil stain calls for a detergent, a blood stain calls for an explanation or possibly an alibi.

[JamesToBoot]

Dont use anything that you wouldn't get on your skin....? I hear pools are a bad idea for cleaning sails and city water has chlorine in it, doesn't it?

So I guess we're just being super cautions... dilutions stories gone wrong?

Maybe acids / bases should be used as a last resort before you decide to chuck something for looking nasty, if you were worried about looks over a 600 sail?

To be honest, I get bleach everywhere when Im cleaning the boat for the season. I know plenty gets on the halyards and the boom holdy line thing... (powerwash, spray bleach w a chem sprayer, rince, and repeat next season). I might start removing the ropes and cleaning w Ospho (diluted phosphoric acid). I hear its great on stainless, aluminum, iron (trailer rust) and fiberglass.

It's not the case that you should not use anything you would not get on your skin but that if you would not put it on your skin you need to be careful where you use it.

City water chlorine is usually around .25 parts per million. Pool water is usually around 3 parts per million and may be significantly higher in public pools. When I was doing competitive swimming my suits would be noticeably bleached out by the end of the season and my skin always smelled like chlorine.

I would not hesitate to use city water to clean my sails but I would not put them in my swimming pool.

Almost everything is either an acid or a base, very few things are neutral. It's all about concentrations and application time. Use the right tool for the right job in the right way.

A tannin stain calls for an oxidizer, an oil stain calls for a detergent, a blood stain calls for an explanation or possibly an alibi.

Thanks for elaborating. Thats good info.

Tannin is from plant material... but is different from something like mold / mildew??? But you would still use an oxidizer for those, correct?

There doesn't seem to be a lot of talk about using vinegar. How many of you use it instead of other acids / bases? I may try it instead of bleach next year. I see theres a big difference between food vinegar (5%) and cleaning vinegar (59%). Anyone have experience with the cleaning vinegar?

[Russ]

I've used the 30% vinegar on some things. I wouldn't use it on my sails. The smell is one reason.

I'm just not a fan of harsh chemicals on sails. I use Dawn for most things. It will take all waxes off so that is a consideration.

[Be Free]

Mold and mildew are pretty common where I live. The key is prevention but that's easier said than done. Humidity is a fact of life here and and I've not found anything that is practical for the boat to keep it down year-round. Chemicals (calcium chloride) quickly get overwhelmed and anything that uses electricity is not feasible away from shore power. The only thing that works is to keep the surfaces wiped down with disinfectant (bleach) wipes so that the spores don't get a chance to grow.

For small areas like the interior of the cabin I've found that any cleaning product with "bleach" does a good job of removing it and slowing down the growth. If you have a large area to treat you can mix household bleach and water 30:1 to make an effective cleaner.

I don't use vinegar (acetic acid) for cleaning anything other than calcium deposits but it will be effective on mold as well. The smell and the fact that it can get expensive if you have a large area to treat are the main reason I usually go with sodium hypochlorite.