I agree with Longs for Cutts, don't use the rubber leader straighteners, you will burn and shred your leader. If you pull it through your hand on clenched fists and you start to feel your skin burning then you know you are pulling too fast, so slow down. If you are burning your skin you are also burning the leader and it will weaken it. That is the problem with the rubber or leather type, you can't feel when you are damaging the leader. As to how old the leaders are, if they have been stored in the dark they may be alright to use. Give them a good pull and if it breaks then don't use them. If they have had any amount of sunlight on them they the UV rays have done their damage. Why risk it? As for getting them wet, if that is what you want to try, then I would use warm tap water out of your faucet and let them soak in that a while since mono does absorb water. Then let it dry a bit and give it a slow pull through your hand to pull out the memory of the coils.
Larry ---sagefisher---