Hello All,

I’m just about to hang the first sail, so I collected all of them in one pile to get them soaked in tea to make them look ‘used’.
While I was labeling them I noticed two possible issues:

1) Issue 102 - Mizzen sail
There is some writing (numbers, Chinees characters) on one side of the sail.
Do you believe that they will disappear during the soaking or should I request a replacement?

2) Issue 107 - Fore topgallant sail
Compared to the picture in the magazine my sale has a little bit of weird shape.
It’s not quite trapezoid, the top/bottom edges are not parallel, hence the two sides aren’t the same length.
I believe it should be symmetric, right? Is it normal or should I request a replacement?

+ General question:
The creases due to the folding will disappear during the tea soaking or should I do something extra, e.g. ironing?

Thanks for your help in advance.

PS sorry how the pictures attached, posted from phone.

You could try washing the sail to see if that removes the writing and see how it looks after the staining process. If it fails then ask for a replacement. As for the topgallant sail, this one I would ask to be replaced....

Regards

Alan

Hi Laszlo it's a bit hard to give a time it all depends on how strong the tea is and how well the sails take the stain . When I stained my Vasa sails I used cold tea just in case it shrunk the material and left them in for a few minutes and then rinsed with fresh water then left to dry . If there not dark enough you can soak them again.
Hope this helps
Martyn