etully Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 I just bought a used kite and noticed that it has some sort of a sticky residue on it. What I found was the kite sleeve had degraded on the inside and left some sort of sticky water insoluble hydrocarbon mess on the kite. Now the question is, how should I go about cleaning the kite? I want to be careful because the kite is red with white, and it is a Blue Moon. Any suggestions? -Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHBKF Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 Kite restoration, what an interesting topic this is for me. I really like older kites & the problem is similar to detailing an older car for car shows. How do I clean up this mess without making it worse. Some just call it patina & leave it. I want to get things to look as if they never had any blemish if possible. So you start with the mild treatments & cautiously progress to harsher methods watching for signs of distress. In this instance I would begin with the kite sleeve as my test bed. It may not be the same fabric as the sail but it has the offending material on it's fabric. Once you find something that works on the sleeve then decide if the fabric of the sail can handle the same treatment without loosing color or substance. In some of my old backpacking gear it is the urethane coating on the inside of the fabric that deteriorates becoming sticky making a mess. Figuring out what the proper solvent to use can be tricky. Some things I have used on different surfaces are of course logical like detergents. Others are more harsh like lighter fluid. You can use hand cleaners to remove materials like pine sap. I will be watching this topic to learn from others who help with this question. Many ladies are experts as fixing things like this & I ask older friends for advice as they have a lifetime of experience. But I am getting to that status myself now. Good luck. Sounds like a really nice kite. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobB Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 Do they still make that hand cleaner called 'Goop' ? I remember that was useful for safely cleaning nasty dirt off of all kinds of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etully Posted June 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 Great ideas. I think I am going to try soap on the bag first. But, i know goop will do the job. Great idea and i think i have some. If soap doesn't work, then i will cautiously test out the use of goop. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makatakam Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 There's a sticky-stuff remover called "Goo-Gone" that removes things like sticker residue quite nicely and evaporates within a day if you saturate the item you're cleaning. Again, test on fabric and different colors, as it does remove some dyes, for instance ink. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etully Posted June 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2014 I tried regular soap and water this morning, and it didn't work. I think I will spot test a mild hand cleaner like Go Jo and report back. I am really concerned about attacking the coating of the nylon as well as the red dye. On second thought, I'll use the Silver Fox sail as the test material . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reef Runner Posted June 29, 2014 Report Share Posted June 29, 2014 Before you mess up the old Silver Fox, why not try your cleaners on an old nylon (preferably rip-stop) jacket. Just suggesting 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Dowler Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Bazzer has said to use denatured alcohol to clean Revs, but don't know how this will work on your cleanup! Just know it's at least safe for most Rev cleaning! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etully Posted July 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Great suggestion, and I just happen to have some denatured alcohol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etully Posted July 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 I wanted to take a moment to report that denatured (wood) alcohol cleaned the sticky residue off of the kite without any problem at all. I wiped it on with a paper towel, and wiped it off with a clean paper towel. Wipe on+ Wipe off=clean kite. Very easy. Whew, I am so happy that worked! Thank you all for your very valuable and thoughtful suggestions. -Ed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makatakam Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Actually, now that I have thought about it a bit, cleaning a kite is pretty much the same as cleaning a fish. The only problem is that once you gut it and remove the skin and bones there's nothing left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reef Runner Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Actually, now that I have thought about it a bit, cleaning a kite is pretty much the same as cleaning a fish. The only problem is that once you gut it and remove the skin and bones there's nothing left. You must be catching some mighty "skinny" fish, there Mark ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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