Last July, I was in the process of commissioning RAMONA, my Nigel Irens–designed Romilly, which had not been in the water since 2019. At the end of that season, I had rolled the 206-sq-ft fully battened mainsail around its battens to store it in its bag in the covered boat. A couple of years later I hauled the sail out for inspection before sliding it back into the bag, tying it up, and storing it on sawhorses in the boatshed.
This summer, I took the sail up to my deck and unbagged it. I knew I was in trouble the moment I opened the bag and saw some acorn shells. I unzipped and unrolled. Disaster. I’d never seen a sail so discolored with mouse urine. I found a mouse nest, some minor holes, and the luff and leech lines had been chewed. It was a mess. I took some photos and sent them to our local sailmakers. No one wanted to touch it—neither the cleaning, nor the repairing. None of them would be set up for laundering until the fall, and the sail was really nasty. I started to think I would have to buy a new mainsail. This one was two decades old but, like most fully battened sails, it still had its shape. Nevertheless, it was no good; I was done. It was time to add a new sail to the boat budget and put off sailing for another season.
I reported the situation to my partner Marti, who has vast cleaning experience. She recommended trying Nature’s Miracle Urine Destroyer Plus, which she’d initially used to clean up puppy messes, and then found it to be an effective rodent-mess treatment when she rehabbed and repainted her house during the Covid-19 pandemic. The product, she said, would lift the stains, and Folex would be suitable for a follow-up clean. She gave me some of each to try.
As advertised on the bottle, Nature’s Miracle enzymatic formula claims to work on all manner of nasty organic problems created by pets: “Guaranteed to work or your money back.” In turn, Folex, an Instant Carpet Spot Remover, claims to remove almost anything from any kind of fabric—no rinsing needed. Neither product cites any green credentials, but online searches have attested to both being nontoxic, not harmful to humans or animals. Safety data listed on the Folex website describes its product as not toxic to plants and animals. Similarly, the Nature’s Miracle product contains no ingredients listed with the EPA, and the Environmental Working Group marks its hazard score as “mid-range.”
As for the wondrous cleaning claims, I was skeptical but had nothing to lose. I spread the sail on the deck and read the instructions on the bottles. For both products the directions were similar: test, spray on, wait, blot. The stains on my sail were too large for blotting; I would have to rinse. I tested the Nature’s Miracle on a corner of the sail. After a very few minutes, the black urine stains began to float off. I rinsed the sail with the hose. It was looking better. Next, I attacked the same spot with the Folex, and more of the stain came off.
Satisfied with my limited test I decided to tackle the whole sail. I worked section by section: apply, wait, rinse, move on. Using a scrub brush, I spread the mix of cleaner and water and was able to work it into the fabric. I scrubbed and rinsed for the best part of a day to complete one side. I hung the sail so that the rinsing water would run down, and the following day I repeated the exercise on the other side of the sail. The result was outstanding.
As the sail dried, I inspected the rest of the damage: there were a few holes; a few inches of light luff line and leech had been chewed; the leech telltales were gone, but it was all fixable. I considered doing a short-term fix with some light line and sail-repair tape, but didn’t have time for the project. Instead, now that the sail is clean, I can send it in for repair and will be out on the water next season.
Ben Fuller, curator emeritus of the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine, has been messing about in small boats for a very long time. He is owned by a dozen or more boats: kayaks, canoes, a skiff, a ducker, and a sail-and-oar boat.
Nature’s Miracle can be found at most pet stores and online retailers, priced between $13 and $17 for a 32-oz spray bottle. Folex can be found at hardware stores and online retailers, priced between $6 and $10 for a 32-oz spray bottle.
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