edid 0 #1 February 4, 2002 The area around the bridle attachment point on my canopy is looking and feeling dirty, greasy and limp. When I pro pack, lying on the canopy squeezing the air out of it, the bridle attachment point rests right under my chin. Thus, a lot of grime, sweat and skin oil is rubbed into the fabric. It may look worse than it is because my canopy is white but it definitely feels very greasy, thin and limp compared to the rest of the canopy. Does this pose a problem? Or rather, if skin oil is degrading to ZP fabric, how long before it becomes a problem. Now that I’ve noticed, I try to keep skin contact to a minimum, but, short of packing in long sleeves, a polar neck and gloves (not an attractive option in the heat and humidity of summer), skin contact seems unavoidable. And since the bridle attachment point is a pretty important point of the canopy that gets and lot abuse, I’m keen to see it stays in good nick. What can be done to clean ZP fabric of skin oil, dirt and grease especially around this point? Thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #2 February 4, 2002 Fortunately, the bridle attachment has plenty of reinforcing tapes, so even if the fabric tears, it it unlikely to fail structurally.I doubt that skin oils will react chemically with nylon, but they do retain salt and sand. Most desert soils contain salt, and salt crystals have sharp edges that slowly grind away at fabrics. It is the same as putting too much oil in your machine gun while chasing Afghanis. The oil traps grit and the grit causes your machine gun to jam.About all you can do to remove grime is rinse the canopy with fresh water and hang it in the shade to dry. I cannot recommend any detergent because that is likely to wash off some of the UV coatings, etc. Fabric mills are highly secretive about coating processes, so don't expect a straight answer from them about which solvents you can or cannot use.The leading causes of canopy damage used to be - in descending order - dragging through the weedssloppy packingUV damageslider or d-bag grommets slapping togethergrit.I have seen ZP canopies with thousands of jumps. Their center cells were filthy, but the fabric was still structurally sound.At least wear a T-shirt while packing.And quit worrying about grime. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites