cleaning the canopy and lines

[martin245 0]

Hi,

what about cleaning the reserve and main canopy?
I´ve heard it´s not so recommendable to treat the lines, reserve and maincanopy with water.

cheers, Martin

[kenneth21441 0]

Why would anyone want to clean a reserve in the first place??

I could see if it was used and the jumper landed in a muddy field etc... or a jumper landed in saltwater..

but not to generally wash the reserve...

As a rule you do not wash a canopy: IE main or reserve unless the above happens... due to that the fibers do not handle to much with the water..and cause problems with the TSO rating on the reserve later on.. general spot cleaning is somewhat permitted... but this is using a lightly moist cloth..(not too wet)......

have your rigger look your equipment over.. for some helpfull hints etc..

I wash the container at least once a year... but the reserve and main are disconnected to start with.....

just my two cents worth here..

Thank you,

ken..

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[FeFe 0]

water and mild soup for main
never occured to me to clean a reserve
it's almost impossible to clean the lines (bloodstains, oil, etc.) so just leave them as they are
Some useful stuff.

[riggerrob 643]

We washed one of our tandem mains (SET 400) this year because it was grimy from too many years in the California desert. We were hoping to reduce pack volume to a reasonable size by removing some of the sand and salt that had ground into the seams over the years.
It still flies fine, is still ugly and is still the bulkiest canopy in our fleet.

[Courteney 0]

Nah, then you'd just end up with mild, watery soup!!!
;-)

...drags me down like some sweet gravity!!!

[teason 0]

I hope we're talking about spot cleaning here!

Your reserve is made either from f-111 or a similar fabric. This fabric goes through a process called calendaring (Ihope that the right spelling). This is where the canopy is put through 2 hot rollers and the nylon fibers are heated and mushed together. This decreases the porosity of the fabric and we all know that porosity plays a big roll in performance. The thread is also bonded.

Water will reverse the calandering process! That, in turn, will make your canopy more porous and decrease the performance of your reserve. Some manufacturers even mandate a porosity test after X many packs or uses, so maintaining your reserve is obviously important.

The only time it's OK to soak a canopy is when you're trying to get something worse out, like salt water. The canopy is already wet and letting it dry will cause salt cystals to form like little knives. In that case rinse the canopy is clean fresh water.

Hope that helps

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.