Cleaning and straightening out your sails

[Medievalego]

Hi guys,

I did a couple of searches for ironing and washing sails and got some useful information about ironing, but not washing them.

Has anyone had any experience with either? I've got two or three sets of BSB sails that I need to work on and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

~ M ~

[Capn Frank]

I highly suggest not putting your sails through the washing machine! :'-(

The edges of the sails will become much more frayed.

I don't see a problem w/ hand washing them (gently) or letting them soak in detergent or stain remover.

P

Phredit:

I hand washed my carribean clipper sails in warm, soapy water to remove some dirt in it. They came out alright *sweet* . Colors didn't wash off or anything.

What did the source suggest about ironing?

I'm curious too. :-$

[Scouty]

I hand washed my carribean clipper sails in warm, soapy water to remove some dirt in it. They came out alright *sweet* . Colors didn't wash off or anything.

What did the source suggest about ironing?

[AFOL SF]

Hi guys,

I did a couple of searches for ironing and washing sails and got some useful information about ironing, but not washing them.

Has anyone had any experience with either? I've got two or three sets of BSB sails that I need to work on and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

~ M ~

I have washed my sails using a small amount of dishwasher soap and immediately rinsing them. For drying, I leave them in the garage or any place where there's a light wind/draft. Once dried, I place the sails in-between pages of a thick book and leave them there for a week or so. No ironing required/never tried that. Hope this helps!

AFOL SF

[Piranha]

I have washed sails in cold water with a bar of soap and then let them air dry! They ended up pretty clean and fresh

For ironing, I put it on the max setting, and that made them super straight and almost new!

Same technique works for capes, and other older cloth

Not sure about newer cloth like Jabba's Sail Barge or SSA

:-)

[BerndDasBrot]

I highly suggest not putting your sails through the washing machine! :'-(

you're right, you can't use your washing machine for everything... :-$

for the ironing: I put the sails / capes between two towels and then iron them (I'd say not too hot)

mine are as good as new!

[Medievalego]

you're right, you can't use your washing machine for everything... :-$

for the ironing: I put the sails / capes between two towels and then iron them (I'd say not too hot)

mine are as good as new!

Yeah, that's what I'd read, put the sails between other cloth to protect them from heat damage. Apparently this works pretty well though.

Thanks all for the comments!

~ M ~

[Mister Phes]

What's the best way of drying them without them developing mildew?

[Scouty]

What's the best way of drying them without them developing mildew?

Actually, that is what happened to one of my Carribean Clipper sails.

It didn't wash off.

[Mister Phes]

I've seen this happen to sails before - they get some moisture in them and then the mildew starts to form. Nothing seems to get it out. Very annoying. Very cretinous.

[Lorentzen]

Hi guys - I've just succesfully cleaned my sails and in that process, they also got straightened out.

My sails for the Carribbean Clipper and the Skull's Eye Schooner were a bit dirty, and also quite creased from not being used for many years.

I put them in some soaped water (I held back with the soap, because I didn't know how much the sails could actually take without being damaged) and when I pulled the sails out of the water, they had become totally straight and much cleaner. I then placed them all on a totally flat and even table, where they dried off.

If you take a look in my Skull's Eye Schooner review (can be found in the index) you can se how beautiful all the sails look after this process.

I just wanted to let you guys know that it's actually pretty easy to clean and straighten out your original LEGO sails without damaging them at all.

Sorry if this was already known, but alas, I can't use the search function because of my post count which isn't big enough yet. (I think it should be changed back, becuase all new members are going to post a lot of threads on topics that already exist, just because they can't search for older threads)

[Captain Blackmoor]

Thanks for the info! I didn't know this, I tried to clean my sails with a wet cloth but it didn't work, and I was afraid damaging the sails by putting them in soapy water.

Do you mind I use your way too?

[Lorentzen]

Thanks for the info! I didn't know this, I tried to clean my sails with a wet cloth but it didn't work, and I was afraid damaging the sails by putting them in soapy water.

Do you mind I use your way too?

of course you can use this way that's why I made this thread. But still, be carefull not to use too much soap, and you should only leave the sails in the water for a minute or so. An remember that they should dry on their own, on a totally flat surface

Oh, btw I used regular hand soap without perfume

[Captain Blackmoor]

Oh, btw I used regular hand soap without perfume

You ever heard a pirate weeping about smelly sails?

I have to buy some smellless hand soap then.

[Kaptin_BarfBeerd]

When I shipped my Lego overseas 15 years ago, the sails for my BSB have more creases than something with a lot of creases. My mum suggested ironing them but I never did because like everyone said, afraid of damaging them. Has anyone tried ironing the sails?

[Fluyt]

When I shipped my Lego overseas 15 years ago, the sails for my BSB have more creases than something with a lot of creases. My mum suggested ironing them but I never did because like everyone said, afraid of damaging them. Has anyone tried ironing the sails?

Yeah, I got them ironed. I layed down the sails on the ironing board, covered them with a dish-towel and ironed over the towel. Worked pretty good, they even got a little cleaner (no guarantees though). Only if your sails are really creased, some creases may still show (maybe ironing them a couple of times would work).

[General Armendariz]

Thanks I needed that!

[Scouty]

Yeah, I got them ironed. I layed down the sails on the ironing board, covered them with a dish-towel and ironed over the towel. Worked pretty good, they even got a little cleaner (no guarantees though). Only if your sails are really creased, some creases may still show (maybe ironing them a couple of times would work).

I straight up ironed them, no towel. It doesn't look like they were damaged.

[Rick]

Simple question: What's the best way to clean dirty Lego sails?

[Joey Lock]

Simple question: What's the best way to clean dirty Lego sails?

Well you see all these adverts like Vanish Oxy Max and other stuff.

I think if the sails are cloth you can clean them the same way as you do with Clothes. Obviously not in a washing machine but mabye a sink.

Others proberbly have a easier way.

[Joe H]

I also have some dirty sails that came in a recent purchase at a garage sale, and would also like to hear what types of products people have had success with, when it comes to the cloth sails. I'm reluctant to try anything that would be used with clothing for sails with printed patterns (i.e. the pattern on the trading ship of the Imperial Trading Post set), though it seems like a safe idea at first thought.

[BillytheKid]

I've set 6274, but the seals have light brown spots on it. And I've also set 6285, but those seals stays good (bought new, when I was a child). I like to keep sets mint. How can I clean them?

It's about these kind of seals:

[Shadows]

Your title confused me until I saw the picture of your 'seals'. What you mean is 'sails', and here is a topic about cleaning them. I'll merge this into that a little later.

[Commodore Hornbricker]

I have had a lot of luck putting them in the dishwasher.

[Paul cantu]

I have had a lot of luck putting them in the dishwasher.

I never would have thought about doing that. Hmmmm......