how or where to wash huge shade structure material
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how or where to wash huge shade structure material
this might be sort of a location specific question here.. i have a large approximately 20 by 50 foot spandex material (possibly larger i'm not exactly sure) that we used for a chill tent. my friend soaked and rinsed it 4 times already in the bathtub. she let it dry and it still puffs out playa dust. i live in san francisco, was wondering if there is any place in the bay area with a washing machine that can accomodate a huge piece of fabric like this. or is there another way to clean this that i'm missing. thanks for any advice.
- motskyroonmatick
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I found rain takes out about 50% of the playa dust off of my shade cloth and the other 50% just stays until the next burn. I have given up on cleaning things that I only use on playa.
Pressure washing maybe? Working from one end to the other?
Pressure washing maybe? Working from one end to the other?
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hmm, interesting ideas. i think the salt water from the ocean may damage / fade the material, that's just a guess. car wash, yah that's an idea. could bring a large container and use a high pressure spray on it. interesting..
other outdoor parties not related to burning man. it's actually on loan, i don't own it. it was lent with the request to clean it before returning. when we said "how do we clean it" the answer was "no idea". :-)Ugly Dougly wrote:What further use do you have for it?
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[quote="Stickygreen"]20' wide piece of spandex? i've never seen something that wide? presuming it's all one piece? if so I'd really like to know ware one gets something like that?[/quote]
You've obviously never been to the Kentucky State Fair; we have many women here who wear a 20' piece of spandex as a tube top!* We also have a disease known as State Fair Hair around here that makes your hair get all puffed up like a mix between the 1980's glam bands and Einstein's worst static frizz day.
*(I can make that joke 'cause I live in KY. Oh heck, anyone who's ever seen the Kentucky State Fair can make the joke. It's sadly true...)
You've obviously never been to the Kentucky State Fair; we have many women here who wear a 20' piece of spandex as a tube top!* We also have a disease known as State Fair Hair around here that makes your hair get all puffed up like a mix between the 1980's glam bands and Einstein's worst static frizz day.
*(I can make that joke 'cause I live in KY. Oh heck, anyone who's ever seen the Kentucky State Fair can make the joke. It's sadly true...)
- Ugly Dougly
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So how do you clean the anchovies out of it, smarty-pants?ygmir wrote:hell, you're at the ocean..........go trolling with it.......then, rinse the salt water off...........
Find a big lawn or parking lot area where you can spread it out and use a hose on it. If the area is not big enough, you're going to have to fold the fabric. Get some help with this. But you can do it.
Heck, we just had some rain recently.

- ygmir
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Dougly,Ugly Dougly wrote:So how do you clean the anchovies out of it, smarty-pants?ygmir wrote:hell, you're at the ocean..........go trolling with it.......then, rinse the salt water off...........
Find a big lawn or parking lot area where you can spread it out and use a hose on it. If the area is not big enough, you're going to have to fold the fabric. Get some help with this. But you can do it.
Heck, we just had some rain recently.
it was a chill tent, not a bed sheet..............
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- theCryptofishist
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I knew a vietnam vet who told this story about how he cleaned his cloths by trawling them behind the troup shit, and this made the threads dissolve so his clothes came apart at the sseems. Iknow, different materials, but I wouldn't say that the ocean is a good idea. Hose is where I would start.ygmir wrote:you think the salt water is stronger than the soap at the car wash?........more corrosive or caustic?
I dunno about that........
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does seem that'd be hard on the threads........theCryptofishist wrote:I knew a vietnam vet who told this story about how he cleaned his cloths by trawling them behind the troup shit, and this made the threads dissolve so his clothes came apart at the sseems. Iknow, different materials, but I wouldn't say that the ocean is a good idea. Hose is where I would start.ygmir wrote:you think the salt water is stronger than the soap at the car wash?........more corrosive or caustic?
I dunno about that........
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- EspressoDude
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We clean our shade cloth(not spandex) by laying it out on the lawn and spraying it with a hose....Careful about carwash's The hose have high pressure and my ruin spandex...Try your speedo's or bike shorts first.
Also broke in several pair of Seafarers dragging them behind a navy ship...ages them quickly and softens the fabric..
Also broke in several pair of Seafarers dragging them behind a navy ship...ages them quickly and softens the fabric..
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I might think the aging and such effect being towed behind the ship may be due to the action of the water and "flapping"?......EspressoDude wrote:We clean our shade cloth(not spandex) by laying it out on the lawn and spraying it with a hose....Careful about carwash's The hose have high pressure and my ruin spandex...Try your speedo's or bike shorts first.
Also broke in several pair of Seafarers dragging them behind a navy ship...ages them quickly and softens the fabric..
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- Stickygreen
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to funny!seanmcpherson wrote:You've obviously never been to the Kentucky State Fair; we have many women here who wear a 20' piece of spandex as a tube top!* We also have a disease known as State Fair Hair around here that makes your hair get all puffed up like a mix between the 1980's glam bands and Einstein's worst static frizz day.Stickygreen wrote:20' wide piece of spandex? i've never seen something that wide? presuming it's all one piece? if so I'd really like to know ware one gets something like that?
*(I can make that joke 'cause I live in KY. Oh heck, anyone who's ever seen the Kentucky State Fair can make the joke. It's sadly true...)
and no I've never been to the kentucky state fair...
)'(
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Funny, that's how we used to clean mops (swabs) in the USN.ygmir wrote:I might think the aging and such effect being towed behind the ship may be due to the action of the water and "flapping"?......EspressoDude wrote:We clean our shade cloth(not spandex) by laying it out on the lawn and spraying it with a hose....Careful about carwash's The hose have high pressure and my ruin spandex...Try your speedo's or bike shorts first.
Also broke in several pair of Seafarers dragging them behind a navy ship...ages them quickly and softens the fabric..

Yeah, spandex has got to be a bother. It ain't a parachute. Still, folding it and treating one piece at a time would be the "sane" approach. I have some large canvas tents that I haven't brought to the playa, but I clean them in this manner.
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Here in Denver some of our laundromats have supersize washers, sized much larger than even a triple loader commercial unit. It seems possible one could wash that amount of material in a unit that size.
Personally considering how pervasive the dust is, I would consider washing said material an exercise in futility...or a waste of cash that would be better spent on other things....but to each their own.
Personally considering how pervasive the dust is, I would consider washing said material an exercise in futility...or a waste of cash that would be better spent on other things....but to each their own.
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YOu can water down the vinegar. Also, as it's ina liquid form, I don't think it will stay in the cloth and continue to degrade it after a rinse.
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Yeah, I put a cup of vinegar in the washer every time I get a little sheet rock dust on my clothes. Doesn't everybody?
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- Stickygreen
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spandex will wash out just fine in a washing machine, I bring lots of white spandex to the playa and all I do is throw it in my machine on regular cycle, it comes out clean after teh first time.
I really want to know where this 20' wide spandex comes from though.....
I've never found stuff wider than 10' off the roll.
I really want to know where this 20' wide spandex comes from though.....
I've never found stuff wider than 10' off the roll.
)'(
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