Frank Langer
1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Hi,
I avoid pressure washing boat stuff to not cause damage--just be gentle with everything they say. But after a few years the dock lines get pretty grungy and green and hosing them down, soaking in detergent, etc was just not working. So I brought them home to soak in a very mild water/bleach mix in the bathtub, and then to wash in the washing machine--a two year old front load LG machine with more settings than I ever thought possible.
So after the tub soak I rinsed them in cool water, but they still looked pretty bad, even after a light brushing with a nail brush (didn't want to damage the lines). So time to put them in the washing machine with just a bit of detergent and even less fabric softener, to make the stiff lines a bit more supple. The machine display said it would take and hour and thirty-five minutes--no problem, I wasn't in a hurry for them. After ten minutes I checked them--lots and lots of white soap visible in the front glass, but really, I hadn't added much soap!
The machine continued to spin and soak and spin and rinse, but still only white soap visible. After an hour and forty-five minutes the display still showed 11 minutes, and then an error message showed on the display. I found the manual, error message says the load is too light--after almost two hours it figured that out, and why now? Can't stop the machine because my wife says to interrupt the process can cause all kinds of trouble. So we gently paused the machine, opened the door and tossed in a couple of towels to increase the load. Machine started again, no error message!! Ok, checked again ten minutes later, and it still said it needed 11 minutes, and a flashing light suggested it was thinking--who knows what about!?
Still lots of soap visible despite how many rinses? Then all of a sudden the machine began to whirr and spin and ten minutes later the music announced that it was done. With much hesitation I opened the door and removed my dock lines. The grungy green lines were unrecognizable--almost pristine white, no grunge! My wife said "you're welcome" and suggested I was lucky. I get to take my clean dock lines to the boat tomorrow and have my dock mates again tell me how I put them all to shame with how clean my boat looks. And I didn't have to buy all new dock lines!
Frank
I avoid pressure washing boat stuff to not cause damage--just be gentle with everything they say. But after a few years the dock lines get pretty grungy and green and hosing them down, soaking in detergent, etc was just not working. So I brought them home to soak in a very mild water/bleach mix in the bathtub, and then to wash in the washing machine--a two year old front load LG machine with more settings than I ever thought possible.
So after the tub soak I rinsed them in cool water, but they still looked pretty bad, even after a light brushing with a nail brush (didn't want to damage the lines). So time to put them in the washing machine with just a bit of detergent and even less fabric softener, to make the stiff lines a bit more supple. The machine display said it would take and hour and thirty-five minutes--no problem, I wasn't in a hurry for them. After ten minutes I checked them--lots and lots of white soap visible in the front glass, but really, I hadn't added much soap!
The machine continued to spin and soak and spin and rinse, but still only white soap visible. After an hour and forty-five minutes the display still showed 11 minutes, and then an error message showed on the display. I found the manual, error message says the load is too light--after almost two hours it figured that out, and why now? Can't stop the machine because my wife says to interrupt the process can cause all kinds of trouble. So we gently paused the machine, opened the door and tossed in a couple of towels to increase the load. Machine started again, no error message!! Ok, checked again ten minutes later, and it still said it needed 11 minutes, and a flashing light suggested it was thinking--who knows what about!?
Still lots of soap visible despite how many rinses? Then all of a sudden the machine began to whirr and spin and ten minutes later the music announced that it was done. With much hesitation I opened the door and removed my dock lines. The grungy green lines were unrecognizable--almost pristine white, no grunge! My wife said "you're welcome" and suggested I was lucky. I get to take my clean dock lines to the boat tomorrow and have my dock mates again tell me how I put them all to shame with how clean my boat looks. And I didn't have to buy all new dock lines!
Frank