Cork - Cleaning it up

[Bruno]

How do you refurbish the cork on your rod handle? My favorite rods handle is getting a little beat. It is pitted and needs cleaned up. I saw somewhere that you could make a cork putty with cork dust and glue and use this to fill the pits. Is this a good way to go? Do any of you have any other suggestions ? I just want to make the grip last and clean it up.

 

[JackM]

Soap and water works wonders, Bruno. I clean mine occasionally. You can also lightly sand them. As for the cork paste-- yes, it works, use just enough wood glue (or regular "Elmer's" type school glue) to hold the dust together. After it dries, sand the area to smooth it out.

 

[Padraic]

A soft toothbrush can clean up your cork without scouring it.

 

[sundrunk]

Steel wool,


On hot and humid days sometimes I will use low-profile wristbands. They keep all of the dirt from running down your arm on to the grip.

 

[Acristickid]

Saw this a while back.

http://www.flyfishersparadise.com/phpBB-3.0.0/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=378

 

[RLeeP]

I've used a baking soda/water paste with a toothbrush for a long time for this.

it does a good job

The great thing about baking soda in this application is that there is no waste. Whatever you do not use can be employed to brush your teeth, calm your stomach, scrub the Foreman grill, deodorize the trash can, make the cat litter last longer, bake a cake or make lemon juice fizz.

Can't do any of these things with regular soap...

 

[tomgamber]

I have a jar of cork dust I saved after making a grip from scratch ... But it does work as Jack said...fill the cracks, sand and then clean...make sure you get all the glue off the places you don't need it or those spots will not clean...

 

[MKern]

Leave the pits, they add character and are great heirlooms to pass onto the grandkids.