Here is a copy of an email from a local email list I belong to, as to how a local, BC Canada fellow washed his own sails
"
If you do the "Google" search of 'cleaning sails' as I had suggested to Marty, there are a lot of sites with recommended cleaning for general and specific stains. I believe that UK & North also have cleaning instructions on their sites. I would not hesitate to try the "Oxy" products that are now on the market if I didn't have the 'Hertel'.
'Hertel' is a Canadian product, apparently. The bottle says:
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS:
N- alkyl (40% C12, 50% C16, 10% C16) Dimethelbenzyl ammonium chloride at 0.28%
readily biodegradable
I know not what that all means but the usual warnings should apply with regard to mixing chemicals. DON'T! Make sure you rinse well before applying different solutions.
I washed both sails on the C30 when the boat and sails were 12 years old. PO had raced the boat during the 10 years that he had it. I've also washed the main and jib on previously owned Cal 25 when it was around 12 yrs old and put new sails on it in its 18th year.
Give it a try! As you say, it saves a lot of $."
This was a reply to someone else when I also asked a similar question.
Here is original reply to me
"
Google "cleaning sails" and read a bunch of them. A good one is:
So you wanna clean your sail yourself
but after reading a half dozen or so, you will see that they mostly say pretty much the same thing.
Mild soap and a bit of bleach for mildew works OK
I started with a wetting on the front lawn and some spot cleaning with a spray product called "Hertel" It says right on the plastic bottle that it's good for 'SAILS' so I trusted them. Works good! I would not use 'Fantastic' since I know that it attacks some plastics and it does not list 'sails' as a product to be used on.
After the spot cleaning I tossed the sails in the tub with some dish soap and a bit of bleach. It really filled the tub pretty good but I swished it around as best I could, let it soak overnight and drained and rinsed the next day. Hung on the clothes line and sprayed with the garden hose for final rinse."
Anyway, just another thought on doing yourself if you want. Local place charges a bit under a 1$ per sq foot.
Marty