Can sails be refurbished?...or washed?

[AllThumbs]

Can a baggy set of sails be recut and re-sewn? It seems to me that if the fabric is strong this might be a way to get some new life in old sails. That and the fabric would be "pre-streched"

Oh, and can sails be washed? I got a little cut today while hoisting the jib and I bled on both sails before I noticed. I washed the bloody areas with lake water but now both sails have a clean spot...

Eric

[sailingdog]

Yes, and yes...

Send the sails to Sailcare, and they will wash the sails, do minor repairs and you'd be surprised at how much better the sails willl look.

You can also take them into a local sailmaker and have them do much the same, and examine them to see if it worth re-cutting the sails. If the sail cloth is in good shape, it might be well worth doing, since it might give you a few more good seasons out of them.

[sailboy21]

Sailcare makes em look pretty nice, but I think my main stretched out a little during their process. I had to have it recut later to remove some draft. Those two procedures basically cost what the lower end new mains are selling for. I am not against renewing old sails, they look good and sail good now, but if I had to do it again I would probably have ordered new.

[camaraderie]

I am a BIG fan of sailcare and they do a great job on repairs and cleaning and making your older sails look like new BUT they really can't do anything about a blown out sail other than make it look better unless they re-cut it which as sailboy says...when all is said and done...you are better off with a new sail for close the same $$ overall.

[kiprichard]

Their 15% off annual sale starts Oct. 1.

[merc2dogs]

I've often wondered that myself, since most sails 'go bad' because they're stretched, would using the pre-stretched material give you a longer lasting sail in the long run?
I've had a few sails that looked to be perfect, but had too much belly from stretching out.

Ken.

[tommays]

I have a race set of J24 sails and an everyday set with a Mylar 150 is so beat it folds up like a table cloth

While the race set is better its NOT that much better and the beat 150 is So much easier to flake compare to roiling the race sails

[Delirious]

I agree with Sailcare in Ford City PA and have used them several times. Their re-resin process adds some life.

Another choice is Pete Haarstick in Rochester, NY. He'll inspect, launder and recut as necessary. Nice guy, too.