ZONklare now has a wealth of experience in cleaning all common types of cloth. We are in close contact with various fabric manufacturers, with whom we share knowledge and experience. We therefore dare to say in black and white: no good means no payment! If we find that certain stains cannot be removed, we will first consult with the customer. There will then be a discussion about what to expect and a decision can still be made to continue with the treatment. If not, the treatment will be stopped and there will be no costs involved.

You can bring your spray hood to us during our opening hours and we will ensure that the hood can be picked up fresh and clean after a few weeks.

If a repair is needed, we can repair it in our own sail maker.

With our handy price list you can see exactly what it costs, which is great!

Nothing harmful happens to the windows during the washing process. After cleaning, existing plastic windows will be polished with a special agent. We are able to remove even the smallest scratches because plasticizers are included in this polishing paste. When packaging the freshly washed hood, we always ensure that the windows are rolled up properly, so that there are no strange folds.

The windows need to be replaced when brown spots appear. This is the result of long-term exposure to UV radiation. This causes the plasticizers to dissolve, the plastic to harden and cracks to form. If you want to have this repaired, you can do so in our own sail maker.

There is no fixed answer to this, because there are many variables that influence this. For example, consider the following questions. How intensively is the hood used? What is the environment of the hood? Is there a lot of sailing on salt water? On average, the coating lasts optimally for three years. After that, the protection will gradually decrease. Another fun fact about our coating: a color filter has been incorporated into the protective layer. This means the cloth remains colourfast for even longer.

Weather or spoch is a permanent material deterioration of textiles. Weather stains in clothing or pieces of fabric such as ship's sail are caused by having been damp for a long time. Weather is visible as dark spots (dots) that cannot be washed out. This is also called spoch. The damage to boat covers, for example, is caused by fungi that thrive in a moist environment and live on organic particles. Stashed textiles can contaminate uninfected textiles. If left untreated, it will lead to permanent damage and holes in the material. If the object is affected by mold or weather stains, we can easily remove this. When the object is subsequently recoated, the mold is less likely to adhere to the surface. However, there is no guarantee that mold will not return.

If you want to try to quickly remove recurring weather stains yourself, you could do the following. Fill a plant sprayer with nine parts water and one part chlorine bleach. You can then spray this over the weather spots and let it sit for fifteen minutes. Consider the floor and benches. Keep plenty of water on hand to immediately clean any other items. After the soaking time, you should rinse it with plenty of water. It is better not to use a hard brush or other soap and cleaning products. This gives you the chance to damage the applied or existing coating, which will only make the problem worse.

Step 1: Pre-cleaning

We rinse your spray hood in our car wash under reduced pressure to remove all surface dirt.

Step 2: Soak

We then place your spray hood in a soaking bath for 10 to 15 hours with a cleaning agent specially developed by ZONklare. The temperature in the bath is a maximum of 20°C, making the soaking process 100% shrink-free.

Step 3: Rinse

We then spray your spray hood again under reduced pressure. With this action we remove all loosened dirt.

Step 4: Special soap treatment

After the soaking process, all normal dirt has been removed. Only stubborn dirt residues such as rust deposits, petrol or oil stains and mold require extra attention. We remove this last contamination with a special atomization process in which we brush your spray hood with special soap products.

Step 5: Rinse

The spray hood is now completely clean, we immerse it briefly in a bath with a special agent that contains all the agents previously used neutralizes. We now hang out your spray hood to dry.

Step 6: Impregnation and drying

After your spray hood has dried properly, it goes to the coating location via a smart transport system. Here we impregnate your spray hood with a special hydrophobic coating. We have had this coating developed to enhance water-repellent properties without harming the environment. The aim is to limit the moisture content in the cloth as much as possible and to prevent or limit mold growth as much as possible. This dirt- and water-repellent coating provides optimal protection against, among other things: algae, green deposits, (rain) water, fungi, weather stains, UV radiation (more colorfast), atmospheric dirt, salt water and spider droppings. The coating protects the cloth and extends its lifespan. Of course, your spray hood is also 100% waterproof after impregnation.

Step 7: Polishing and an optional check-up

When your spray hood is dry, we polish any plastic windows by hand. Our Window Spray contains protection for the plasticizers in the window film. Even the finest scratches disappear after polishing. After polishing we assess the cleaning result. If repair is not necessary or desired, we proceed to step 8. If a repair is desired, this can be done in our own sail maker.

Step 8: Packaging and Returns

Your spray hood will be packed and prepared for shipping. After arriving at Bateau Bootservice you will receive an email and you can pick up your spray hood during opening hours .

There is nothing more annoying when a fresh, clean spray hood no longer fits. We got to the bottom of this a few years ago.

I submitted the question to a testing laboratory. This party focuses specifically on textiles and can carry out all possible tests. I have given an exact description of our process, including a list of products we use for the various contaminations.

We had our washing process tested

A whole range of textile types was tested, and the outcome was always the same. The dimensions were exactly the same in all cases after the treatment. It is therefore indeed excluded that the washing process can be the cause of shrinkage in boat covers.

The report came after a few weeks

A whole range of textile types was tested, and the outcome was always the same. The dimensions were exactly the same in all cases after the treatment. It is therefore indeed excluded that the washing process can be the cause of shrinkage in boat covers.

But what is the cause of the shrinkage?

What about the observations of the people who called me? It turned out that their tent had shrunk. What could be the cause of this? I presented the issue to at least five sail makers, consulted fabric suppliers and finally checked for myself whether the window film could possibly have an influence on this.

The window film turned out to be the right track

The PVC window film used for the windows can sometimes cause (slight) shrinkage. That is as long as the spray hood is tensioned tightly on a ship No problem. But when the cover is removed and the tension disappears, the window film can 'move freely' and shrinkage is allowed to occur. Usually the hood can be put back on with some wringing and pulling, but in some cases some adjustments may be necessary.

How do I get my spray hood fitting again?

What can you do if your spray hood no longer seems to fit? If that is no longer possible, a sailmaker can move the tenaxes slightly or make other corrections if necessary. If you want to try to get the spray hood to fit again, I have two tips.

Tip 1:

Try to tighten the spray hood as far as possible and secure it with the straps or tension straps. It may be that after a few sunny days some stretching has occurred and the tenaxes fit again.

Tip 2:

Soak the spray hood with water and place it wet on the boat. Wet material is sometimes easier to get moving. Once the tent is secured, the tension decreases and the tube tent fits properly again.

The good news is that nowadays people are increasingly using specially treated window film, which shrinks much less. We therefore expect that the problem of shrinking window film will eventually be a thing of the past.

Anti-shrink guarantee

We have now created an anti-shrinkage guarantee. We guarantee you a fresh and clean spray hood with the same dimensions as before the wash!