Cleaning Stained Dacron Sails?

Any suggestions on how I might remove orange (rust I think) stains from an older Dacron sail? They have been there for sometime.

i'd try oxalic acid. this is poisonous so wear gloves!

I've done this a few times and I'm happy with it...do this at your own risk though. It ain't my fault if it buggers your sail up ;-)

put the limescale remover on and work in with a toothbrush, leave for 15 mins, add a bit more limescale remover and work in again, leave for 15 mins or so.........and then rinse thoroughly with soapy water......rinse and rinse.

I've done this on an old Dacron sail that's been made into a sailbag. Try it on something similar

If the stuff dries on there it will stain the sail blue, OK for an ent I suppose.

The active ingredient seems to be hydrochloric acid @ 7% conc. If you're worried about the blue staining then get some hydrochloric Brick and Mortar cleaner from the local builders merchant and dilute as necessary.    According to Plastic chemical resistance charts Dacron, poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET has excellent resistance to hydrochloric acid.

.....as I said, at your own risk.

Plastic Chemical resistance chart:

http://www.plasticsintl.com/plastics_chemical_resistence_chart.html


Edited by transient - 04 Aug 14 at 11:58am

I've always been advised to NEVER use straight bleach on anything! Not getting a chemical burn is not a bad reason along with I haven't seen anything that can be cleaned with bleach that can't be cleaned without diluting it somewhat.