Does salt water left on a kite harm it?

[Larry]

I kite on fresh and salt water. Does salt water need to be washed off after salt water sessions? Is kite life reduced when salt water is left on the kite?

[Andres_Santacruz]

A friend told me it is better not to wash kites after using them in salt water. He told me that mold and mildew,bacteria, etc, doesn't grow on kites that have been dried without rinsing the salt. He said the fabric is fine, the salt doesn´t affect the fabric. I would wash the bar though.
Proof that you don't need to wash: a cabrinha rider came down to a mexican competition, and he had had his prototype blacktips for 10 months. He told me he never washed the kite, and it really looked brand new.
So, Don't think it is a problem dude.
Andres

[kieran]

according the manual i got with my north kite, salt water will not damage the kite.

[lndpnt]

Actually it's rolling up a wet kite with fresh water on it that will cause damage, as it will mildew after a while. So make sure it's real dry before you roll it up. Salt water doesn't effect the kite.

Another thing I learned after many years of windsurfing is, the less you handle the sail/kite the better, if you wrestle it around rinsing and hanging it to dry you'll probably cause mor wear and tear than if you just leave it in the bag.
Lane

[Guest]

Oh man, you gotta be kidding! And here I've been so careful to hose off my kite if it gets in the ocean. Somewhat of a waste of time, huh? On the other hand, I've noticed my kites tend to stay cleaner looking than some folks who don't wash theirs. Especially when there is a dirty beach involved. Occaisionally, I even lightly clean my dirty kites with Simple Green, a bio-degradable degreaser/cleaner. I agree with the mold/mildew factor being most important, though. Anybody else out there got some input on this?

[Guest]

Hey, you guys all seem to speak about tubekites, but what about doublefoils? Does salt water harm those? Especially if it comes inside the cells?
Thanks!

[murdoc]

i've used flysurfer, ARC and mosquito for quite a time ...
the mosquito was used in salt - water as well as buggy-kite.
after a few month, i cleaned ist and it looked like new!
i noticed, that with time, the water-relaunchability got worse.

the flysurfer kite - that's made from a different (lighter and better) material just got dirtier and dirtier, but it still worked fine, same with the arc.

so i think if the kite was made for kitesurfing, saltwater shouldn't harm it....

[Larry]

Thanks for the help. I have been washing down my sails for years.

[lndpnt]

It's cool to rinse your sails and kites with fresh water, I still rinse my winsurfing sails (cause I use them less and less ; ) unlike with salt water, they just have to be dry before you roll em up,
Lane

[Guest]

Is this still true?? I always rinse in fresh if it gets wet.