I have had my fly line on my reel science ive started fishing (about a year and a half) i have never done anything more than wipe it down a few times with a damp cloth. ive noticed that some ppl condition them? any help would be great. i have cabelas prestige wf floating line foe both of my rods 4wt and 6wt.
I carry some small felt pads sold my Cortland for cleaning lines when Im “out and about” but there are many cleaning kits…etc…available for “at home” use. If you cant find something you can always use “303 Protectorant” that you can buy thats top notch for everything and anything. Car tires; fishing lines; windshield wipers…you name it.
Second that 303. Even tubes and toons, PLUS the boots on my hippers.
But do need buff it off, or it will attract dirt.
Has anyone tried Zipcast? I ordered a bottle, but haven’t tried it, yet.
Zip Cast works great! I was using the Cortland pads, but Zip Cast takes off a lot of dirt that those pads were missing.
Garb, to your original question, cleaning a floating line helps it to float better. I usually clean the line before each outing, but I’ll also clean it during a fishing day if the line stops floating well.
I’ve been using Glide fly line dressing for more years than I care to remember and heartily recommend it. Cleans really dirty lines and leaves them like new!
The little fly line cleaner patches that come with your new Cortland lines are also a good option. Either takes up almost no room in your vest.
bobbyg
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
Leon Chandler who was “Mr. Cortland” until his death was a regular here on FAOL. He wrote a terrific article about how to care for your fly lines.
It’s in our Fly Fishing 101 section here:
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/101/linecare.php
And that’s the truth!
Thanks for the link, LF !!! As for the Zipcast, great stuff, I use it all the time, does an excellent job of cleaning and makes the line shoot like nobody’s business !!!
Mike 
I love ZipCast too. I put a drop on a small felt scrap and run the working part of my line through it before each fishing trip. There’s no drying or buffing, so it just takes a minute while I’m rigging up. It makes a noticeable difference in the floating and shooting performance of the line. The only downside is that you need to apply it petty much every trip, but it is quick to apply.
I’m NOT preaching this practice ,BUT, I have never cleaned a fly line, well, maybe once. Regardless, I’ve had several of them for over five years and more and they still seem to perform well. Of course, I have no basis for comparison as to would they perform better had I kept them clean.
Maybe it’s also that I only fly fish and use them only about 30 days per year.
Mark
I use Zipcast at the end of each day’s fishing and while fishing (if need be). I use this tool to apply Zipcast. Zipcast both cleans and conditions the line.
At the end of each season I clean the entire length of the flyline and backing with clean water and a rag. Then I apply Zipcast to the line. A buddy of mine cleans his line in a similar manner except he transfers the line and backing to a bicycle rim. He stores them in a cabinet in his garage. He claims he get rid of the coils from being left on the spool using this method.
Hey Grab72, where in CA do you live? I live in SoCal (Canoga Park). I might not know much but if you ever want some help just throw me a line
Thanks every one for the help… gotta love the ppl here… so much help to be had thanks again, best site by far!
im in the central valley 40 min south of fresno and 20 min north of lemoore in a small town of laton… thanks for the offer… im very new to this but its in my blood already i even bring a rod and small fly box while deer hunting 
Great tips on cleaning a fly line here! But lets not forget the guides, they get dirty too!
If I have to pay a guide, he can take his own danged shower!
LOL!!! thats good!
I’m a bit new to the area still but I gather we’re not that near…(Arizona far and California far are ver different lol). Maybe one day we can get together to wet the line.
Fly fishing is amazing, there is always something to learn and I gotta say I have learned most of what I know here. These are good peeps.
And how do you clean a sinking line, well, for cleaning i suppose soap and water will do, but what do you use to make it slide easily through the guides without making it float?
Karel
Zipcast is perfect for that application, but they don’t ship overseas. I don’t even know if it can be shipped overseas, or I’d try to help you out. Maybe Jerry can jump in here if he sees this…
Scroll down the FAQ’s, and you’ll see a question about sinking lines.
http://flyreeldots.com/page/p2sk/Welcome.html
Good Luck…