Aug 26, 2012, 9:54 PM
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Smelly Canopy
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Hello,
I purchased a secondhand canopy with a couple of hundred jumps on it a while ago and the darnn thing smells. I am guessing that it might have been packed away when it was damp by the previous over although there aren't any signs of mold.
I have tried leaving out unpacked for a few days but that didn't help. I was thinking of hanging it in the loft at my DZ for a week but before I do that I was wondering if anyone had some better advice.
I purchased a secondhand canopy with a couple of hundred jumps on it a while ago and the darnn thing smells. I am guessing that it might have been packed away when it was damp by the previous over although there aren't any signs of mold.
I have tried leaving out unpacked for a few days but that didn't help. I was thinking of hanging it in the loft at my DZ for a week but before I do that I was wondering if anyone had some better advice.
I don't know if you know the history of your canopy? I've come across a fairly new rental main that I jumped before and after it spent 3 weeks in the woods after a cutaway. After its stay in the woods it stunk badly.
It might be worth getting a rigger to check it over, in case it has spent time outdoors like that. Can't help on the smell though.
I would get it checked out by a rigger you trust to be safe.
I had a canopy that smelled like cig smoke and hung it outside, out of the sun and heat, under our back patio with a fan on in for a couple of days and that got most of the smell out.
RIGGERS - please give your opinions on the following:
Bar of Ivory Soap. Cheese Grater About a quarter of a bar into small bits. Place in a mister bottle and let soak until it all becomes liquid. Some spritzes deep into in each cell, top skin and bottom skin. IMMEDIATELY rinse off entire canopy. Rinse it off a lot. Hang out to air dry with a big fan if possible (out of the sun)
DISCLAIMER: While I've done it on ZP; that don't make it right.
(This post was edited by BIGUN on Aug 27, 2012, 7:09 PM)
The less a canopy comes in contact with water, the better. If you absolutely have to (like you landed in the ocean or covered it with mud) use fresh water. I've heard of people using things like a very small amount of Woolite but I wouldn't. Each manufacturer has worked out the least invasive way to wash their canopies. Call them!
Try not to wash the seams too vigorously. There are lots of different materials in a canopy besides 0-P or F-111. Sometimes they shrink but the materials around them don't.
If you have no other choices, soak the canopy and keep the lines out of the water as much as possible. Empty the water and soak it again to rinse. If I am trying to get the salt out of a canopy from being in the ocean, I actually taste the canopy in a few places to tell if all of the salt is off of the fabric. Let the water do the work. The less you scrub or agitate the canopy the less you will mess with the coatings on the fabric.
Hang the canopy by the tail (as opposed to the lines) to dry it. Try not to let any one part take the weight of the entire wet canopy. All of that water is heavy and can distort the shape of a canopy. If it is a small canopy, a distortion can make for some really exciting moments. Hang it in a cool, dry, ventilated place. Fans help. The seams will dry much more slowly than the fabric. If the fabric is dry but the seams feel damp, let it hang. Don't pack that wetness into your rig. Mold sucks!
Ivory soap is probably not a good idea. Again, try not to wash the coatings off of your canopy.
To the OP: You really can jump the stink out of it. Sometimes rigs just smell rank if they have been sitting for a while. The more you jump them the less they stink.
In reply to:
RIGGERS - please give your opinions on the following:
Bar of Ivory Soap. Cheese Grater About a quarter of a bar into small bits. Place in a mister bottle and let soak until it all becomes liquid. Some spritzes deep into in each cell, top skin and bottom skin. IMMEDIATELY rinse off entire canopy. Rinse it off a lot. Hang out to air dry with a big fan if possible (out of the sun)
DISCLAIMER: While I've done it on ZP; that don't make it right.
I agree with your comment about Woolite and learned some 10-15 years ago from a Rigger that it's no longer what it used to be, but now has a detergent agent in it. I never verified the comment because he was one of those no BS riggers.
In fact, it was his recommendation "If you're going to do anything, then do this... (The post above).
You're especially correct when it come to hanging it evenly by the tail and I forget that some DZ's don't provide a hang line across the hanger. And here in Oklahoma, one can hang their canopy by the bottom, aim some fans into the nose cells and it doesn't take long to dry.
someone elses B.O. 
