cleaning fly line

[Dave E]

Hey Garb,

Cleaning a fly line - first you'll need a disc sander loaded with some 40 grit and a quart of terpentine, some steel wool and a pair of safety glasses. O.K. let's get started. Put on the safety glasses. Now with a couple of inches of the fly line securely clenched in a vise, grasp the disc sander with both hands.......Joking of course.


Moving on.
If you note discoloration on the line due to a build of dirt, bio-gunk or if it simply seems gritty or tends to sink to early in the game, then your line may need cleaning before dressing. Think of cleaning a line like you would washing a car and conditioning a line like you would waxing a car. I wouldn't wax a dirty car, so first I need to determine whether it needs cleaning and conditioning, or just a little conditioning.

Cleaning a dirty fly line: I usually run a large sink full of tepid fresh water and add to that a tablespoon of dish soap. I strip the line into the bath, letting it soak for about fifteen minutes. While it's still in the bath and without agitating it - ( we don't want to tangle the line if we can avoid it. ) I'll take a folded paper towel saturated in the soapy water solution and gently wipe any noticeable build ups of gunk or discoloration.
Once I'm happy with the result of that sequence, I'll drain the sink and refill it with freshwater, gently rinsing the line.
I then extract the line from the sink, buff it gently with dry paper towels and once it's dry, I then dress it. Everybody's got their favorite dressing, mine is Glide. Dab a very little onto a paper towel, strip the line through it and let is stand for another fifteen minutes. After that, another light buffing with a clean paper towel and I'll normally not fish the line again until the next day.

One thing to keep in mind, many of today's techy lines really don't need dressing, they actually have a dressing incorporated into the surface. However lines can get dirty and gently cleaning a gunked up fly line can breath new life into them again.

Best, Dave