Washing Kite after use

[fdvj]

I only rinse my kite if it has a lot of sand or mud between canopy & underside of LE. That is
an often overlooked area of the kite and can be a sand catcher. If you leave it in there it can cause problems. If you do rinse it with a waterhose, make sure to let it dry completely- fresh water causes mold and mildew, but saltwater doesn't.

The reason for not washing your kites is the chlorine and other chemicals found in tap water. Chlorine will deteriorate the threads, eat away at the coating on canopy material, and fade the colors.

If you think its dirty, take it out in the water and give it a quick rubdown before you deflate.
If there's not a good place to roll it up, (mud or sugar sand) loosely roll in the water and dry it out when you get home.
I try to avoid rolling up my kites on the sand whenever possible and it helps keep them in great shape.

More gear maintenance tips here:
http://kiteboardingtampabay.com/kiteboa ... nance.html

You could always use mineral water to avoid the chemicals.

[OzBungy]

I carry a damp chamois cloth in the car. I use it to wipe the board dry and wipe any mud marks or sand dust off the leading edge.

The most import thing in kite care is to not do dumb stuff with your gear. Use it and abuse it hard on the water. Don't leave it sitting on the beach for hours or drag it around on pavement or bushes or stuff.

[Flysurf77]

At our spot we drop a lot the kites in the water as we have many students, and water here is very salty with very strong sun.
After 5 min drying on the beach you can see on the LE and struts the white stain due to salt crystallisation!
I am right nowreading a study about damages due to this crystal and it looks like those crystals are strong enough to damage rocks and hard surfaces! So not really good for kite fabric I guess!!!
It creates those crystal due to evaporation, and the fastest it occurs( means the warmer it is) the more damage it does!
Tropical countries should be more alike to get this to happen than colder countries!
So for me, knowing that we use about 20/30 kites per season, I ve decided to to take the risk of rinsing them with fresh water even if I know the tap water is not the best either!
So far it looks like we are saving more kites and giving them a longer life time!
It should be the same for the lines I guess!
Any body found some more info about it?

[Zeek]

I only ever wash mud off it.

Rinse lines and board every time in fresh water and always dunk my bar in the water asap after launch if its sandy.

The biggest tip I think for increasing the life of your kite is just to pump it, use it and pack it.

Kites flogging on the beach all day under UV makes me cringe.

[cglazier]

I wash my kites just before I sell them.

And that's the only time.

(washing and then drying in the sun does more damage than doing nothing)

[panchito]

I am currently performing a durability test to my kites .... ( well the truth is , I like my kites , no need to change them and will keep them until they fall apart )

Anyway ... they are now 4 years old ( wow , how time flies ) and none of my 4 kites have never ever touched sweet water in their entire life , I use two of them on a regular basis , the others once or twice a year , fly them for a few hours , roll them back and store in my garage till I need them again .

Two things I never do though :
1) leave them pumped for hours so they get roasted in the sun
2) same as above with strong winds fluttering the canopy

Other than that , I always pack them the same way , try to fly them till they are dry ( if they crash ) and once upon a time I empty the bag when it gets too heavy cause of the sand ..

All kites looking good ...

Saludosssss

[Westozzy]

Yep no need to wash them. But I do brush them down if they get totally swamped in the surf and full of sand after they have been thoroughly dried in shed.

Last thing I do is pump up my kite and the first thing I do is let air out and pack away. Less time flapping the better. Hence why I never by demos, seen them sit all day flapping away on some demo days.