Crestline Soaring Society

Mike,
I have an old 1991 Wills Wing Super Sport. I have flown it in the rain, washed it, left it in the snow, baked it in the sun and the thing looks and flies great. I do have to do a little tunning once in a while but other than that no problems yet. I do think its best that you follow the instructions that came with your glider. EZ to get if you dont have.

Stay high and fly safe.
Brent

I don't think that the resin in the sail cloth is soluble enough in plain water to make washing your wing a concern, as long as you don't use stronger solvents than water and some diluted dishwashing soap to loosen the dirt. I've washed my entire Sport2 with water at least four times now and never noticed any change to the sail in the sense of before / after washing. With 2.5 years of use, it's not crispy new any more but is in good condition.

Years ago there was an article in the hang gliding magazine about washing gliders. It basically said don't use harsh chemicals and don't drown the glider. Set it up completely and don't disassemble until completely dry. This might be to minimize shrinking if there is any. With our beautiful green LZ my 10 year old Fusion doesn't get washed as much as it used to. It does get a wash after flying in salty or dusty conditions. I've been using an automotive soap. Something you get at Pep Boys that doesn't remove wax or damage clear coats. I'm always amazed how much dirt flows off the wing with the first rinse. I would think that gritty abrasive dirt would be worse for the fabric than a mild soap and good rinse.

Tom

I've been washing my wings once every year for as long as I can remember without any adverse results. Hot day, mild car wash
detergent. Careful around the threads and seams with whatever you use to apply the soap. Good rinse after wards and towel dry letting the sun bake out the remainder. Cloth dries really quick on a hot day usually within an hour. Sails get pretty dirty
landing in Elsinore LZ. Have to be careful not to get gravel in bag
while breaking down.

Simple green even when diluted is much stronger than you need. If used on your car it will remove any protective coating and dry out the paint and shorten it's life.

There are lots of opinions on what to use... http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?p=1235

What is really harmful to Dacron polyester is an alkaline pH in the presence of UV. It can handle solvents like MEK just fine. If the glider needs a complete wash, a pH balanced detergent like no-more-tears baby shampoo is best followed by rinsing, rinsing, rinsing. I think dirt acts like internal sandpaper on the fibers, so washing is a good thing. Plain water will get 90% of it. Spot cleaning with MEK will get another 5% and that may be enough. I also let it dry fully set up.

-Stan