Submitted on April 16, 2007 by Wendy Johnson

Question: We just purchased a 46’ Moody with in boom furling mainsail. Unfortunately the mainsail and the jib are severely discolored – they are North Sail laminated sails. The glue has turned pink and there is mold in between the laminates. Is there anyway to clean up the sails?

I look forward to your response.
Wendy Johnson

Answer: Hi Wendy,

Congratulations on your new boat. Unfortunately, all laminated sails here in the tropics are likely to develop mildew if untreated. We offer a mildew protection called SailKote Plus that is applied to each side of the sail in both the horizontal and vertical direction. SailKote Plus offers very good coverage, and although we cannot guarantee it, I have not yet heard of a treated sail that has developed deep mildew stains.

We do also offer a cleaning service for sails that have already developed stains. Sails are soaked in a heated tub with a mildew treatment called CS 530. Once removed from the tub, the sails are scrubbed with a formulated solution, power rinsed, and hung to dry. While the results are much better than a plain wash, we can’t promise that all the mildew stains will come out. The sail will definitely come out cleaner than it was, but if the mildew stains are deep enough it may not be worth the money to clean the sail. The best way to determine this is to bring the sail into our loft so we can have a look and give you a quote for the cleaning.

Thank you for your interest in North Sails, and please don’t hesitate to give me a call if we can help out.

Best Regards,
Anson Mulder
North Sails, Fort Lauderdale
(954) 522-8840

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