I expect that you'll be pretty much stuck with your graphics in one way or the other. Should you be able to remove said paint job, the cloth will have faded differentially between the painted/nonpainted area and you'll at the very least have a 'shadow' of whatever was painted.

That said: First I would try an oxygen or enzymatic bleach before resorting to a hypochlorite bleach.

I have a friend who swears by BIZ bleach formula washing soap (enzymatic) for dacron sails. Worth a try. Should that fail, go to something like Oxiclean.

As a last resort, and in an inconspicuous, lightly-loaded area of the sail, would I try a diluted, I repeat, diluted, hypochlorite bleach solution. Mix up various dilutions: 10, 25, 50 percent. I really don't think I'd go over 50% solution. Ever spilled undiluted bleach on cloth? It'll eat it like acid. (bleach is a strong base.)

edit: it occurs to me that you might also try an oxalic acid dilution - go there as one of your first options before trying hypochlorite.


I do believe, though, at best you're going to end up with something that looks like it's been tie-dyed. Which is just as gay as the rainbow you already have, isn't it? ;-)