A Tasmanian Maker's Guide
What to Do With Old Sails
A Tasmanian Maker's Guide to Recycling, Donating or Rebuilding
Every sail eventually reaches the end of its working life — blown out, delaminated, or simply replaced. Sailcloth isn't accepted in kerbside recycling, and most old sails end up folded in a shed or, worse, in landfill. Here are your real options in Australia, and how to turn a retired sail into something you'll use for another decade.
Your Options
Four Things You Can Do With a Retired Sail
1
Sell or Trade It On
If the sail still has racing or cruising life in it, sell it privately or through a sailmaker's used-sail listing. Only viable if it's not delaminated or badly UV-damaged, and buyers will usually want the exact dimensions and rig details, so measure before you list it.
2
Repurpose It Yourself
Sailcloth can be resewn into boom tents, ground sheets or covers. This takes sailmaking skill, a domestic machine strong enough for the fabric, and time — a straightforward boom tent alone is a multi-hour project even for an experienced sewer.
3
Donate to a Sail Drive
Some sailing clubs run sail donation drives that pass old sails to community or overseas sailing programs. Ask at your local club, or check with state sailing associations, who occasionally coordinate collection points during racing season.
4
Have It Made Into a Custom Bag
The option that keeps the sail's actual story intact — its racing history, its home waters — turned into something you carry every day, made locally in Tasmania. Unlike selling or donating, this is the only option where you keep the material itself.
Why This Beats the Shed
A Sail Sitting in Storage Is a Sail Doing Nothing
Modern sailcloth — Dacron, laminate, aramid — is built to survive years of UV, salt and load. That same durability makes it almost impossible to recycle through normal channels, and it won't break down in landfill for decades. Sitting folded in a shed, all that engineering goes to waste. Turned into a bag, it gets a second working life: the same weatherproofing, the same reinforced panels, now carrying your gear instead of catching wind.
Option
Keeps the Sail's Story
Requires Your Time
Usable Result
Leave it in the shed
No
No
None
Sell privately
No — new owner
Yes
If still sail-worthy
DIY resew (boom tent etc.)
Yes
High
If skilled
Custom bag with RECOLAB
Yes, fully
Minimal — we do the work
Everyday, durable
Build Your Bag
Have Your Own Material? Build a Custom Bag
RECOLAB's Build Your Bag service turns your own retired sail (or ours, if you don't have one) into a custom-designed bag — tote, duffle, backpack or toiletry bag — handmade in our Tasmanian workshop. Tell us the sail's story and we'll design around it.
Before You Send It
Getting Your Sail Ready
You don't need to do much before sending a sail our way. A rinse to remove loose salt, sand and grime helps, and it's worth noting anything you know about the sail — the boat it came from, the year, any races it saw — so we can factor that into the design. If the sail is large, fold it along its existing creases rather than rolling it tightly, which keeps the panels flat and easier for us to assess.
FAQ