how or where to wash huge shade structure material

gattomatto · Post by **gattomatto** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:07 pm

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 · Post by **motskyroonmatick** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:40 pm

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?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:59 am

Truck washing shop maybe.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 8:21 am

hell, you're at the ocean..........go trolling with it.......then, rinse the salt water off...........

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:50 am

What further use do you have for it?

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 10:09 am

gattomatto · Post by **gattomatto** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:09 pm

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..

Ugly Dougly wrote:What further use do you have for it?

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". :-)

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:12 pm

you think the salt water is stronger than the soap at the car wash?........more corrosive or caustic?

I dunno about that........

Stickygreen · Post by **Stickygreen** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:33 pm

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?

seanmcpherson · Post by **seanmcpherson** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:17 pm

[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...)

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:03 pm

ygmir wrote:hell, you're at the ocean..........go trolling with it.......then, rinse the salt water off...........

So how do you clean the anchovies out of it, smarty-pants?

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 · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:33 pm

Ugly Dougly wrote:
ygmir wrote:hell, you're at the ocean..........go trolling with it.......then, rinse the salt water off...........
So how do you clean the anchovies out of it, smarty-pants?

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.

Dougly,
it was a chill tent, not a bed sheet..............

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:37 pm

ygmir wrote:you think the salt water is stronger than the soap at the car wash?........more corrosive or caustic?

I dunno about that........

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 · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:47 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:
ygmir wrote:you think the salt water is stronger than the soap at the car wash?........more corrosive or caustic?

I dunno about that........
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.

does seem that'd be hard on the threads........

EspressoDude · Post by **EspressoDude** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:15 pm

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..

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:01 pm

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..

I might think the aging and such effect being towed behind the ship may be due to the action of the water and "flapping"?......

Stickygreen · Post by **Stickygreen** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:19 am

seanmcpherson wrote:
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?
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...)

to funny!
and no I've never been to the kentucky state fair...

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:54 am

ygmir wrote:
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..
I might think the aging and such effect being towed behind the ship may be due to the action of the water and "flapping"?......

Funny, that's how we used to clean mops (swabs) in the USN.

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.

swampdog · Post by **swampdog** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:28 pm

Did you ask at a laundromat? They sometimes have a big washer for things like curtains & sleeping bags. That might be big enough capacity, or they might have a suggestion for what to do with it.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:38 pm

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.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:23 pm

Hang the spandex over something big and spray it with a hose. Attach a feeder/bug spray attachment to your hose and fill it with vinegar.

gaminwench · Post by **gaminwench** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:54 pm

mojo's got it, it's all about the vinegar - it neutralizes the Alkali that is playa dust...

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:38 pm

how would neutralizing the alkali make it come out easier?

I also wonder, isn't vinegar much stronger acid than playa is alkali?......are you just trading one for the other?

just wonderin'........

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 6:33 am

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.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:24 am

I tried the vinegar.
I could tell no difference.

Great window cleaner though.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:36 am

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?

Stickygreen · Post by **Stickygreen** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:43 am

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.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:23 pm

isn't most detergent caustic?
and, vinegar acidic?

hhhhhmmmmmm just balancing here........

Thecatman · Post by **Thecatman** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:39 pm

Another problem with car washes is there no place to spread it out say for a dirty, greasy, muddy, maybe even playa mud drive up

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:13 am

No word on how or whether this thing got cleaned.