Cleaning Sails

[kurigan]

I came looking for a definitive guide to cleaning the sails from the Classic Pirate ships (BSB, CB, SES, etc.) and was surprised to not find it. I really thought there was one pinned years ago, but I never yet needed it. A few months ago, my sump pump failed and my basement, where my office/craft space is with all my Lego, flooded several times. Now there's a mold problem I only starting to get ahead and I noticed spots on the sails of my precious originals. What can I do?

[Mister Phes]

11 hours ago, kurigan said:

I came looking for a definitive guide to cleaning the sails from the Classic Pirate ships (BSB, CB, SES, etc.) and was surprised to not find it. I really thought there was one pinned years ago.

So you didn't go to the pinned LEGO Pirates Master Index and then Tutorial: Cleaning, Restore Your Lego Sails?

[kurigan]

Well now I have a mold problem and I'm ashamed. Marvelous! 

Thanks for the link.

[Rumtopf]

Hello all.

Just a brief testimonial from my side regarding cleaning the sails. In Germany you can buy Vanish Oxi Action Powerweiss in almost every drugstore. I cleaned my sails of the Caribbean Clipper and Skull's Eye Schooner which had a few (mildew) spots with it and the results are fantastic.

Take a proper seized bowl and put some lukewarm water in it. Make sure not to fill it up since Vanish Oxi is building some foam which might overflow. Vanish Oxi Action comes with its own scoop. Fill it up and drop the powder in the bowl then whisk it. At the end put the sails in the water and bath them. From time to time the sails will float on top. Press them back into the water with a chopstick or any other tool which is suitable. Watch your hands! Vanish is quite aggressive on the skin. I did the whole process for 2 to 3 hours.

Afterwards I took out the sails from the bowl and rinsed them under cold water. Let the sails dry in the air. I used my ironing board for this. Finally I ironed them on the lowest level. The spots are gone and the white stripes look astonishing new again. I am not sure if the blue or black colours faded. They look the same to me.

I am still holding of from doing this with the Imperial Flagship from the redcoats. Not sure if the imprints will survive this.

The smell of Vanish Oxi can be a bit annoying but it's not that bad. I'd definitely give this method a try if your Lego sails look a bit dirty and got strange spots.

Best regards.