Centre line become inflexible

[Steve Manc]

Hi, I have a centre line which was on the narrowboat when I purchased it. It is quite thick but inflexible. It is difficult to use to put a knot in when securing the boat. I have since purchased new ropes but would like to try and recover this one as a spare.

 

Does anyone have any idea how to get the rope soft and flexible?

 

Thanks

[LadyG]

Stick it in someone else's washing machine/in a large bucket with laundry liquid, pound as in treading wine.

If it has been stiffened due to being over-loaded, do not use it it any critical situation.

any pics?

Edited May 22, 2020 by LadyG

[koukouvagia]

8 minutes ago, Steve Manc said:

Hi, I have a centre line which was on the narrowboat when I purchased it. It is quite thick but inflexible. It is difficult to use to put a knot in when securing the boat. I have since purchased new ropes but would like to try and recover this one as a spare.

 

Does anyone have any idea how to get the rope soft and flexible?

 

Thanks

A small point, but you don't need knots to tie up a boat.  A boatman's hitch just wraps around the bollard or dolly  and tucks under the loop.

 

[cuthound]

If you use the centre line to moor, the boat will rock viciously whenever a boat passes. This is because it is tied high up on the roof, unlike normal mooring lines. 

 

Best to use it for boat handling, particularly in locks and when bringing the boat to a halt when single handing.

Edited May 22, 2020 by cuthound
Missing comma

[bizzard]

Tow it behind the boat for a few hours, The wriggling along in the water behind will clean it and make it more supple. Haul it inboard before reversing.

[OldGoat]

You shouldn't use a centre line to moor a boat - but it seems everone else does (and then complain when passing boats rowck your boat)

 

Poo - Cuthound got there first...

[pearley]

The OP said securing, not mooring.

[Nightwatch]

Buy a replacement.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

15 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Stick it in someone else's washing machine/in a large bucket with laundry liquid, pound as in treading wine.

If it has been stiffened due to being over-loaded, do not use it it any critical situation.

any pics?

The important bit is someone else's washing machine! I wash my mooring and centre lines once a year in the twin tub, so I get to see the state of the water that comes out. Absolutely black. Lock slime, mud, grit, goose sh1te etc etc. I've had the same ropes for a decade and they still handle well. Used for cruising only and stored in the dark when not in use. I use old climbing ropes at my home mooring. 

Jen

[Tony Brooks]

This may be a polypropylene rope and they can stiffen by sunlight. If so I doubt anything will soften it. The traditional looking rope like Hempline are polypropylene.

[Alan de Enfield]

23 minutes ago, Steve Manc said:

Hi, I have a centre line which was on the narrowboat when I purchased it. It is quite thick but inflexible. It is difficult to use to put a knot in when securing the boat. I have since purchased new ropes but would like to try and recover this one as a spare.

 

Does anyone have any idea how to get the rope soft and flexible?

 

Thanks

 

If it is Nylon then as Nylon is hydroscopic it will both absorb water, and also 'dry out', depending on the conditions. Hot dry weather and it will be stiff, Very cold weather with low humidity and it will be very brittle. We used to have to blend special grades for supplying products into Scandinavia for Winter time use.

 

Dry Nylon is not only stiff but brittle.

 

Soaking it in a bucket of hot water will soften it (you can use cold water  but it will take a week to be absorbed).

You need to get about 2-3% by weight of water into it to get it to be flexible,

[dmr]

Soak it in a bucket of warm water with some fabric conditioner.  You could put it in a bag in a washing machine but this does have risks, you can easily over do it and it goes so soft it unravels.

 

..............Dave

[LadyG]

49 minutes ago, koukouvagia said:

A small point, but you don't need knots to tie up a boat.  A boatman's hitch just wraps around the bollard or dolly  and tucks under the loop.

 

A knot weakens the strngth of a rope by a half!

[Naughty Cal]

41 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

Buy a replacement.

Seconded.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 hour ago, Steve Manc said:

Hi, I have a centre line which was on the narrowboat when I purchased it. It is quite thick but inflexible. It is difficult to use to put a knot in when securing the boat. I have since purchased new ropes but would like to try and recover this one as a spare.

 

Does anyone have any idea how to get the rope soft and flexible?

 

Thanks

I’ve had similar. 
Through use it will regain it’s flexibility. 
A bit irritating to begin with trying to turn it around a post at a lock landing. 

Like turning wire. 
But gradually under tension and getting wet with rain, or wet when dropped in the water, it will recover. 
 

To quote Mrsmelly “save your money for beer”.  
 

[Steve Manc]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

If it is Nylon then as Nylon is hydroscopic it will both absorb water, and also 'dry out', depending on the conditions. Hot dry weather and it will be stiff, Very cold weather with low humidity and it will be very brittle. We used to have to blend special grades for supplying products into Scandinavia for Winter time use.

 

Dry Nylon is not only stiff but brittle.

 

Soaking it in a bucket of hot water will soften it (you can use cold water  but it will take a week to be absorbed).

You need to get about 2-3% by weight of water into it to get it to be flexible,

Hi

Rope is currently in 3rd bucket of hot Water, boiler states water is 78 deg, with slight improvement.

[Machpoint005]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

If it is Nylon then as Nylon is hydroscopic it will both absorb water, and also 'dry out', depending on the conditions. Hot dry weather and it will be stiff, Very cold weather with low humidity and it will be very brittle. We used to have to blend special grades for supplying products into Scandinavia for Winter time use.

 

Dry Nylon is not only stiff but brittle.

 

Soaking it in a bucket of hot water will soften it (you can use cold water  but it will take a week to be absorbed).

You need to get about 2-3% by weight of water into it to get it to be flexible,

 

Point of order m'lud. If a mooring line is hydroscopic, what sort of underwater measurements are you making with it?

 

Perhaps you meant hygroscopic?

[LadyG]

3 hours ago, bizzard said:

Tow it behind the boat for a few hours, The wriggling along in the water behind will clean it and make it more supple. Haul it inboard before reversing.

Tie a sprat on the end, guaranteed to catch a mackeral.

[WotEver]

25 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Tie a sprat on the end, guaranteed to catch a mackeral.

All you need is a shiny hook for mackerel.  

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, Steve Manc said:

Hi

Rope is currently in 3rd bucket of hot Water, boiler states water is 78 deg, with slight improvement.

Just put in the hot water and leave it (to cool) for 24 hours, No need to keep changing the water.

 

Q : is it Nylon rope ?

[Steve Manc]

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Just put in the hot water and leave it (to cool) for 24 hours, No need to keep changing the water.

 

Q : is it Nylon rope ?

I do not know

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, Steve Manc said:

I do not know

Well it certainly won't hurt to do it, but, if it is (say) Polypropylene then apart from giving it a wash you won't gain anything.

[bizzard]

4 hours ago, LadyG said:

Tie a sprat on the end, guaranteed to catch a mackeral.

The Wherrymen on the Norfolk Broads always towed new or stiff rope behind in the water, ''To take the viciousnesses out of it'' they say, not synthetic rope though, grass or hemp rope. Arthur Ransome say's so in his book ''The big six'', so there.

Edited May 22, 2020 by bizzard

[Bee]

I've got old rope that is so stiff you could push things with it as well as pull them, No idea what it is and no idea why I keep it but like lots of old junk it might come in handy some day. Old climbing rope sometimes comes up on E bay and is useful and good to handle, might not stop a 20 ton boat stuck in forward gear going into a lock but it has its uses.

[bizzard]

No such word as pull really. Its always push. To pull something it always has to have some kind of grasp from behind in order to pull it.