Cleaning rod cork?

[David Parker]

All good suggestions listed above. I have cleaned so many cork handles on my customers rods that I cannot remember. I mostly use Colgate diswashing liquid on a soft sponge with warm water and the cork usually comes up looking like new again. Occasionally I will also use an old toothbrush for scrubbing additional hard to clean areas. The baking soda works wonders as well, but I have a huge supply of dishwashing liquid to use up first. Only once did I receive a rod for reconditioning where the handle had never been cleaned and the poor thing was so caked with egg yoke from salmon roe that I had to bring out my secret weapon.........I used an industrial Scotchbrite srubbing pad to lightly scrub the handle clean. Even I had my doubts if I could ever get the handle clean at first, but after some very light scubbing the end result was amazing. My customer was shocked when he got his rod back!...... Ha! I would recommend that cork handles be cleaned at least annually to keep them looking good and lasting longer.

[Bamboozle]

Crash13:

All the suggestions offered are good just be careful how hard you scrub.

Many cork grips have filler in large holes or the grain areas; aggressive scrubbing can easily knock out the filler. You can end up with a grip with a hole right where you keep your thumb which can be annoying. I've also seen rod grips with chips in the flared areas of the grip from overly aggressive scrubbing. I have heard from some builders that supposedly the cork available today may not be as nice as cork used a few years back. That translates to grainier cork on newer rods which make them more susceptible to chips and filler.

As a result I only clean my grips once a year with dishwashing liquid mixed with Bon Ami cleanser on a wet sponge. I try and wipe with the grain, or lengthwise along the grip. So far, no issues using this method for a zillion years.

And make sure to let the grip dry completely before putting it back in the tube!

Warm Sudsy Liquid Dish-soap Water, and a Soft Wash Rag, is all you need. I not only clean my handle, I also clean the whole Fly Rod (special attention to the guides), after every Fishing Session. This also includes the Fly Rod Reel, and Fly Line.

Leave them out to air and dry, before storing. This is what Leon Chandler taught me.

~Parnelli

[Northern Extreme]

Once it's clean use some kind of Cork Seal (U40, is what I use). It may not help the first time you have to clean the cork, but it sure will help keep it cleaner, and make it easier to clean next time!

Good Luck

[mojoman]

hehehe.....clean my rod handle.....as likely as me washin' my fishin' vest....just not gonna happen....to me its like a badge of experience and lessons learned....your milage may vary....


mojo I do wash my underwear tho...

[littlebrook]

There was a thread on this topic several months ago. I know from experience that SoftScrub works. There've been several folks who've used the baking soda routine to accomplish the same thing. Apparently both work well.
G'luck
Bill