Ok, I sold the Blade and I'm trying to get it perfect before I ship it off to Harddrive8. There are some spots on the backside where it has touched wet sand in the past. I washed the kite with a mild soap solution and a cotton wash mitt. While it was wet, it looked perfect, but as it dried, I could see a slight remainder of the spots still lingering around. They are only visible on the dark blue portions. Any of you have these spots and found a way to get them removed? I thought they would just wash away but they didn't.

dry, has to be dry, the particles will come out dry when the fabric is moving, soap only helps when oil based adhesion is present. the particles will desiccate and fall off. dry vacuum with ultra soft light brushing. if the fabric is coated waxy/solvent type soap is better. do not scrub. repeated fresh water will work it just takes alot . the more you touch it with your fingers the more oil is incorporated with the particles. hard to resist, i know, but less you do is better for the material. abrasion is the worst in any case. it can bruise the material like carpet that has been scrubbed to hard.

These spots have been there for months. The kite has only been actually wet one other time when a rainstorm caught me across the field from the car in the buggy. This isn't actually sand but probably a mineral or something that was in the sand. You can't feel any grains on the surface at all. Imagine you drove your car in the rain and when it dried there was the residue of soils from the road left behind. It won't vacuum off but it will rub off when you wash it. Since my original post, I used a sponge instead of the cotton wash mitt with a very light soap mixture on about 3 cells and those areas are almost totally clear of the spots. The flexi manual says this is the only way they recommend cleaning the kite. I guess the wire brush is off limits. JUST KIDDING.

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Originally posted by BeamerBob I guess the wire brush is off limits. JUST KIDDING.

Only if you're cleaning the wall to be able to hang my kite! :shocked2:

Oh yeah! I'm getting a Blade 6.5m!!! :roll:

Yeah I use a big soft sponge meant for washing cars, and a lot of water. Only ivory soap when I have to, but I think Chad is right about that. I know what you mean about the dirt re-appearing when it dries and that is frustrating. But like they say on the shampoo bottle, "Rinse and repeat".

I've done it about 3 times now and the spots are gone from about 80% of the kite. Now I can just hit the dirty spots till I get it clean. I'm winning, but its a slow fight. Wash rinse let dry with the fan blowing on it. Repeat. HD, made you wince with the wire brush thing didn't I? :P

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Originally posted by BeamerBob I've done it about 3 times now and the spots are gone from about 80% of the kite. Now I can just hit the dirty spots till I get it clean. I'm winning, but its a slow fight. Wash rinse let dry with the fan blowing on it. Repeat. HD, made you wince with the wire brush thing didn't I? :P

Yes, indeed you did... I would hate to think of what a wire brush would do to ripstop.

Thanks again for taking the time to clean the kite. I just hate that it's becoming such a trial to do.

I can see the fear in his eyes from across the road BeamerBob. Now I just have to talk him into letting me fly this bad boy. I need to add this to my list of kites below: "And anything harddrive8 has in his bag." LOL Also BeamerBob, I have a Crossfire that I will ship to you to be cleaned if you want to clean it for me ????

Nothing a little steel wool won't fix! :roll:

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Originally posted by BeamerBob Nothing a little steel wool won't fix! :roll:

I hear Ajax works real nicely on Crossfires!

yeah, but it leaves a milky white residue on the blue sections of petrol Blades. Bleach will take that off though. Oh, I can't stop! :ticking:

Phil and I had the same conversation earlier this week. He was having trouble getting chocolate krispy kreme icing of his game day shirt. He called and I said, "use lemon juice Phil, damn dont you know anything"!

I'm afraid our beleaguered coach is having to cut back on snacks due to an impending change in job status. (Referring to Univ. of TN head football coach Phil Fulmer.)