The most common repair on kites is sail repairs. The sail material is usually made of nylon ripstop which is a light-weight man made material with inter-woven ripstop reinforcement threads in a crosshatch pattern. The material comes in many different colors and sizes, including thickness. It is woven with coarse, strong warp and filling yarns spaced at intervals so that tears will not spread.
The cause of most sail cuts/damage is laying/landing the kite on sharp objects or dragging the kite. Make sure when you are having someone launch your kite that they do NOT drag the kite when getting ready to launch. There is four common ways to repair the sail material.
1. Having a Professional Repair center repair your kite
To get a kite repaired properly you should send it to a professional repair center. The common ways repair centers repair a sail is using a sail tape and sew it. Another way is to do a panel replacement which replaces the damaged area with new sail material. Most repair centers will have some type of guarantee. Here at fixmykite.com guarantee our repairs for the life of the kite.
2. Using Sail Tape if damage is under 2”
Sail tape is a ripstop tape that has an adhesive backing that comes in different colors and sticks to the sail material. Sail tape comes in a 2” wide tape or 1” wide. For best results is to clean the area of salt water and dirt and let it dry completely. When using sail tape you will be using two pieces. One piece of sail tape will be on the top side and the other will be put on the bottom side. The sail tape should be cut so that the sail tape covers at least a ¾” away from the sail damage. See picture below. The sail tape is a temporary fix until you have the means of getting your kite fixed professionally.
3. Using Kitefix Ripstop Repair kit for sail cuts/damage
Kitefix ripstop repair kit is a kite repair kit that uses fiberfix and glufix to repair kites. Here at Fixmykite.com we like using the kitefix ripstop repair kit if we are somewhere that does not have access to a professional repair center. The kitefix ripstop repair kit is fairly simple to use and is very strong.
4. Using Tear-Aid
TEAR-AID® repair patch is made from an exceptionally tough, matte finish, abrasion resistant, elastomer that resists puncture and tearing. It is combined with an aggressive adhesive formulated for high bond strength to a variety of surfaces such as canvas, leather, rubber, nylon, most plastics, paints, aluminum, stainless steel, fiberglass, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl and vinyl coated. TEAR-AID® provides a simple and easy method of patching holes and tears, as well as an excellent protective film solution. Tear-aid has many different uses. Here at fixmykite.com we use tear-aid to repair bladders. If you find yourself in a position where you do not have access to a professional repair center tear-aid works really well. To apply tear-aid is very similar to the sail tape but you only need to use one patch instead of two. Clean the area of salt and dirt and let completely dry. Then apply the tear-aid over the damaged area.
The cause of most sail cuts/damage is laying/landing the kite on sharp objects or dragging the kite. Make sure when you are having someone launch your kite that they do NOT drag the kite when getting ready to launch. There is four common ways to repair the sail material.
1. Having a Professional Repair center repair your kite
To get a kite repaired properly you should send it to a professional repair center. The common ways repair centers repair a sail is using a sail tape and sew it. Another way is to do a panel replacement which replaces the damaged area with new sail material. Most repair centers will have some type of guarantee. Here at fixmykite.com guarantee our repairs for the life of the kite.
2. Using Sail Tape if damage is under 2”
Sail tape is a ripstop tape that has an adhesive backing that comes in different colors and sticks to the sail material. Sail tape comes in a 2” wide tape or 1” wide. For best results is to clean the area of salt water and dirt and let it dry completely. When using sail tape you will be using two pieces. One piece of sail tape will be on the top side and the other will be put on the bottom side. The sail tape should be cut so that the sail tape covers at least a ¾” away from the sail damage. See picture below. The sail tape is a temporary fix until you have the means of getting your kite fixed professionally.
3. Using Kitefix Ripstop Repair kit for sail cuts/damage
Kitefix ripstop repair kit is a kite repair kit that uses fiberfix and glufix to repair kites. Here at Fixmykite.com we like using the kitefix ripstop repair kit if we are somewhere that does not have access to a professional repair center. The kitefix ripstop repair kit is fairly simple to use and is very strong.
4. Using Tear-Aid
TEAR-AID® repair patch is made from an exceptionally tough, matte finish, abrasion resistant, elastomer that resists puncture and tearing. It is combined with an aggressive adhesive formulated for high bond strength to a variety of surfaces such as canvas, leather, rubber, nylon, most plastics, paints, aluminum, stainless steel, fiberglass, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl and vinyl coated. TEAR-AID® provides a simple and easy method of patching holes and tears, as well as an excellent protective film solution. Tear-aid has many different uses. Here at fixmykite.com we use tear-aid to repair bladders. If you find yourself in a position where you do not have access to a professional repair center tear-aid works really well. To apply tear-aid is very similar to the sail tape but you only need to use one patch instead of two. Clean the area of salt and dirt and let completely dry. Then apply the tear-aid over the damaged area.