Anyone know the best way to clean an old stickyback repair off a sail.This old repair has started to come apart and the remaining sticky back is very difficult to get off.The sail is an Ezzy Infinity.

mineral turps will remove it not sure what it will do to your sail thou

Metho and chux wipes works. it sftens the glue but doesnt dissolve it , so the open weave of the chux picks up the glue , youll need a few chux and lots of metho

Shellite is a weak solvent, so although it may not appear to do any damage, at a molecular level things may be different. Same goes for acetone although acetone is a bit stronger and will melt some plastics.

I personally would use metho. We use this at work for cleaning sticky substances off of plastics all the time and it seems to cause no damage.

Thanx for the info will try the meths first to see how it goes.

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mkseven said...

Umm they are all solvents

Probably all will be ok, they are all stored in non-fluorinated plastic.

While they are all technically 'solvents' ie able to disolve other substances, metho is just a combination of 2 types of alcohol where as most of the others are mineral based and a little harsher on most plastics.

Eucalyptus Oil might do the trick too.

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OceanBlue64 said...

mkseven said...

Umm they are all solvents

Probably all will be ok, they are all stored in non-fluorinated plastic.

While they are all technically 'solvents' ie able to disolve other substances, metho is just a combination of 2 types of alcohol where as most of the others are mineral based and a little harsher on most plastics.

OK, once upon a time I was an organic chemist but I shall not ask you to explain further.

I retracted my posts as I cbf'd arguing and I checked my comment on storage containers... the heavier ones are stored in fluorinated plastic (probably all are to prevent loss over time).

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shear tip said...

Eucalyptus Oil might do the trick too.

Yeah I'd give Eucalyptus Oil a go too. Its great stuff.

Anyone watch Breaking Bad? You need someone like Walter White to answer this sort of question.

I've used citrus oil in the past, it's marketed as De-Solv-it and works a treat Metho works as well.

Sails are still going strong, you just can't kill Ezzies

^ have you met scully?

he broke one. my jaw is still on the floor......

use automotive lacquer thinners.

i've been using it since mylar was introduced to windsurfing sails.

............and have a big roll of toilet paper.

............or listen to people who don't have to do it everyday for work.

acetone is absolutely fine on film and film laminates.
but WD40 or similar can be really good for getting the goo off.

Job done the meths and chux worked a treat,put some clear stickyback on this time so see how it goes cause the fabric stuff just disintergrated leaving a sticky mess.Thanx for all the tips.

de-solve-it.
its natural made from citrus and washes off/dilutes with water. no to metho