Cleaning willow sap off flyline?

[John Harper]

I have a couple sticky spots from willow sap on my flyline, mostly dried up by now obviously.

Any tips on washing the line or cleaning it? I know this has probably been covered, just thought maybe some dishsoap and warm water might do it.

Thanks for any advice,

John

[midger]

Dishwater will have a hard time taking off dried pitch. I have used a product called Goo Gone (available at any Home Depot or Lowes) to take the pitch off the line. We keep the stuff as it is great for removing pitch from hands when we carry in wood for the fireplaces.

Once you remove the pitch, treat the line with a cleaner like Zip Cast, then you can reseal it with something like Loon's Line Speed. Makes for a very slick, high floating line. I treat my lines that I'm using generally every other trip or so. I take zip cast and the Loon with me on trips so I can touch up as necessary.

[Flyjunkie]

Dishwater will have a hard time taking off dried pitch. I have used a product called Goo Gone (available at any Home Depot or Lowes) to take the pitch off the line. We keep the stuff as it is great for removing pitch from hands when we carry in wood for the fireplaces.

Once you remove the pitch, treat the line with a cleaner like Zip Cast, then you can reseal it with something like Loon's Line Speed. Makes for a very slick, high floating line. I treat my lines that I'm using generally every other trip or so. I take zip cast and the Loon with me on trips so I can touch up as necessary.

What Mike sez, what Mike sez... that Goo Gone is the Stuff that will take it off.. and it won't fry Your Flyline..

( and that Scent reminds me of what an Explosion at the Orange Juice factory would probably smell like.... )

[RubiKinda]

Goo-Gone is what I used. Any petro-based solvent will work.....just don't use any acetone-based (nail polish remover), it will melt the line. Rubbing alcohol will take the greasy goo-gone off as well. Clean & seal like these guys mentioned.

[whitefish ed]

i learn something new every day. thanks gents.
now i dont feel like sucha sap...

[John Harper]

Thanks for the great information.

I have a can of "Goof Off", anyone know if that would work, it smells kind of turpentine-ish.

I'll score some Zip Cast and Line speed too, thanks.

John

[darrin terry]

Sounds like it would melt the line. I'd follow the advice already given, were I you.

[John Harper]

At $70+ a pop for flyline, I can afford a can of Goo Gone. Not taking any chances.

John

[midger]

Here's where you can get ZipCast.

http://flyreeldots.com/

I just ordered two more bottles, as just used the last of the bottle prepping flylines and needed more for the upcoming season. A single bottle goes a long ways and will treat a lot of line. I usually only treat the first 30-40 feet of line--ie what I'll actually be casting.

[John Harper]

Ordered some yesterday, just typed Zip Cast on google, got to their website. One bottle was $9.95 plus $2 for shipping. It looks like good stuff and not much more expensive than others, so what the heck.

John

[Papasequoia]

treat the line with a cleaner like Zip Cast, then you can reseal it with something like Loon's Line Speed. Makes for a very slick, high floating line. I treat my lines that I'm using generally every other trip or so. I take zip cast and the Loon with me on trips so I can touch up as necessary.

Hey Mike, I have been putting off cleaning my lines, well, forever. I just ordered a bottle of the zip cast, but do you really also need the loon stuff? They both say that they clean and protect at the same time: (From the zip cast description) Cleans, Lubricates, and Protects, All In One Pass.

Just wondering if I really need both, or if just the one zip cast is enough. Thanks, Jon (he of the floating line that sinks)

[midger]

You can probably get by with the zipcast only, but I've found it does a great job cleaning and making the line far slicker, but it wears off quickly, hence I treat it with the Loon when home then buff the line out. Lasts longer.

For stream side applications, I only use the zip cast. Either is better than no applications of anything.

[whitefish ed]

just remembered this. one needs to check manufacturers cleaning recommendations on something like sap. i know for a fact that sa trout line is soap and water only. they dont recommend other line cleaners cuz they degrade the line. at least thats what they told me...

[John Harper]

I have SA trout line, so I guess only soap and water????

I may just wait and see how the Zip Cast works, the sap problem is actually rather minimal.

I sent midger a PM regarding using both, thanks for asking too, Papa.

John