Fly Line Cleaning/Dressing

docsab

docsab

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2012
Messages
98
Wondering what you guys use to clean/dress your lines. I read some use Armour all but others say it can ruin the line. Zipcast had some good comments but is it worth the price?
 
Hi doc - Zipcast is all I use. Quick, easy, and cleans great. No need to do the soap and water bit.

A bottle lasts a long time if you apply it with a small gun cleaning patch. Two or three drops is all you need to do the whole line. Just strip the line off the reel while pinching a patch around the line, flip the patch and pinch it around again, and reel the line back on. Done. No drying, buffing, soaking, or any of that nonsense.

Good stuff.
 
I have used several products including Glide, Cortland, and a 3M (can't remember the specific name) and have had good results with all. Some can't be used on a wet line so are ruled out for greasing the line while fishing. Most are about $5 and easy to apply. When my lines receive heavy use and my salt water I will soak in soapy water prior to using Glide which renews and helps the line to shoot and float better.
 
There was an excellent 2 part series in fly line cleaning on the blog. Simply click on the blog on the top of the page and scroll down to the bottom of page 5
 
The original Armour All is just fine for vinyl lines and once a year A good scrub with Bon-Ami abrasive cleanser(when i flip a DT around) some lines are not vinyl i don't think armour all works on them , maybe some one else knows about them?
 
osprey wrote:
The original Armour All is just fine for vinyl lines and once a year A good scrub with Bon-Ami abrasive cleanser(when i flip a DT around) some lines are not vinyl i don't think armour all works on them , maybe some one else knows about them?
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Nearly all lines are PVC, not vinyl?! Never use Armor All to clean or treat fly lines, it will ruin many of them. And if the Armor All doesn't, the Bon-Ami abrasive cleaner will.

Mild dishwashing soap and warm water in a bucket is the safest way to clean your line. I've used "Zipcast" as a cleaner and line treatment for a long time, and find it to work quite well.
 
I'm not 100% sure about the PVC vs Vinyl but igot the bon-ami info right out of fly fisherman magazine and i'm pretty sure at one time alot of fly lines were made out of vinyl. Bon-Ami is an abrasive like soft-scrub It is not oxygenated or chlorinated it's just mildly abrasive soap and WILL NOT damage your flyline at all. I do this when i flip a DT around to use the other side but i do it to the whole line. Never had a problem , the Fly Fisherman mag was from the 80's
 
Mr Moderator , afishinado look up PVC , guess what the V stands for? Lighten up on my old asp i know of what i speak. I think as a Moderator an apology would be nice.
 
osprey wrote:

Mr Moderator , afishinado look up PVC , guess what the V stands for? Lighten up on my old asp i know of what i speak. I think as a Moderator an apology would be nice.
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Lol.......yup, PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride. I googled (below) what is usually referred to as "vinyl" and it is actually unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) and is for construction. Things like siding for houses, "PVC" pipe, gutters, etc.

Vinyl:
Unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) for Construction

Modern "Tudorbethan" house with uPVC gutters and downspouts, fascia, decorative imitation "half-timbering", windows, and doors
uPVC, also known as rigid PVC, is extensively used in the building industry as a low-maintenance material, particularly in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and in the United States. In the USA it is known as vinyl, or vinyl siding.[21][22] The material comes in a range of colors and finishes, including a photo-effect wood finish, and is used as a substitute for painted wood, mostly for window frames and sills when installing double glazing in new buildings, or to replace older single glazed windows. It has many other uses including fascia, and siding or weatherboarding. The same material has almost entirely replaced the use of cast iron for plumbing and drainage, being used for waste pipes, drainpipes, gutters and downspouts.[23] uPVC does not contain phthalates or BPA. uPVC does not have the same concerns as flexible PVC. Phthalates are only added to flexible PVC. uPVC is known as having strong resistance against chemicals, sunlight, and oxidation from water.[24]

Long and short, a long while back I ruined a bunch of my fly lines using Armor All. And even today, I see guys mess up perfectly good fly lines using Armor All and/or abrasive cleaners. Therefore, every time someone suggests using it (it happens maybe once a year on here) I post an admonition to never AA your fly line.

Want another tip?....DEET used in insect repellent, (especially the highly concentrated kind) will ruin a fly line quicker than you can blink an eye. I see it all the time. Never use it when fly fishing.

Here to serve. Nothing personal Osprey...... :)
 
Here's another good one , the grease most commonly used , imo . to lubricate reels . white lithium , should not come into contact with the line , it will ruin it. I bought a Cortland 444sl , got some on it by accident and evn though i removed immediately with soap (Bon-Ami) heh ...........it never floated right for long in that section of the line. The patches you get when you buy a Cortland line seems to work well on their lines , never tried them on another companies line , i buy mostly Cortland when it comes to lines.
 
osprey wrote:
Here's another good one , the grease most commonly used , imo . to lubricate reels . white lithium , should not come into contact with the line , it will ruin it. I bought a Cortland 444sl , got some on it by accident and evn though i removed immediately with soap (Bon-Ami) heh ...........it never floated right for long in that section of the line. The patches you get when you buy a Cortland line seems to work well on their lines , never tried them on another companies line , i buy mostly Cortland when it comes to lines.
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Good one! Use grease sold for use in fishing reels for the above reason.
 
Don't get that spensive stuff on thar neither. Read the ingredients and the instructions.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. Aside from soaking and wiping the lines in buckets, seems like Zipcast is the favorable consensus(and per HA doesn't get any easier :))
 
docsab wrote:
Thanks for the tips guys. Aside from soaking and wiping the lines in buckets, seems like Zipcast is the favorable consensus(and per HA doesn't get any easier :))
Click to expand...

That's the key, doc. Easy. If you don't clean your line because it's too much of a bother, you're gonna be fishing with a dirty line.

I find I'm much more likely to clean my lines if it only takes a couple of minutes when I put them away for the day. This gives me a clean, slick line to use next time I use that line, and if I forget, I can always do a quick cleaning before fishing. Makes no difference, since you can use the line right away.

As far as the slickness thing - Zipcast's teflon coating wears off during a full day of fishing. You may find you want to clean your line every trip or two, just to maintain the slickness. With how quick it is to do, this isn't a big deal to me. The short time the slick coating lasts is the only drawback I've found to Zipcast.

It isn't perfect, but it's the best option I've found.
 
Is Cortland the only company that includes line cleaner with the line?
 
White lithium grease is a really bad idea for reels with aluminum parts (most of them). I've seen reel gears crumble into clay from it.
 
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