Hi! I love September – it’s great here in New England. Hope it’s also nice where you are.
A couple of the dyed bucktails I have feel greasy to the touch (both the hairs themselves and the leather) and leave a light, oily “wild scent” on my fingers when used. (Also, one of them must not have been cured properly, as its leathery part is still soft.)
What would you recommend I do to clean them? I obviously don’t want to damage the dye.
Also, since I have your attention, I have a hare’s mask that just literally stinks. Again, the back of the mask doesn’t seem to have been thoroughly cleaned and/or dried. Any suggestions?
Ditto on the dishwashing liquid for the greasy bucktails. I’ve also had bucktails that had an unnecessary amount of dye residue remaining on them, making the hair impossible to stack well. It seems the problem has mostly been with black, purple and a couple fluorescent colors. Dish soap (Joy) did the job, too.
For cleaning, I soak the tails in warm, soapy water for about 30 minutes. Then I agitate them to really work the junk out. Rinse very, very well. If I notice during rinsing that the tail still doesn’t feel exceptionally clean, I repeat. To dry, I set them hide side up on paper towels overnight.
I have noticed a very slight loss of brightness with a couple colors, due to excess dye in my case. I don’t consider this a loss; the dye would have likely ran after being fished anyhow, staining other parts of the fly, other flies touching it, or me. besides, the hair was unstackable the way it was originally. If you’re really concerned about losing any color, go easy on the water temperature and the amount of detergent and keep agitation minimal.
As for hare’s masks, I’ve had many and never had one stink. Like you indicated, there may have been some fleshy or fatty tissue left on it that is causing the odor. You could try a washing first and see how bad it is after.
By the way…don’t expect your bucktails to be stink-free. Even the cleanest seem to have an odor. My springer “Fred” had a particular fondness for my bucktails. :lol:
Dawn works the best on cutting oil. Go through them all and scrape off all the extra fat, then wash them with warm water and let dry COMPLETELY before putting them away. Same with the hares mask.
Generally if something smells rotten that means bacteria has begun to break down the organic matter of your materials. This happens with the soft tissue first. If the skin isn’t dried completely then bacteria will multiply quickly. If you live in a humid climate it can be hard to keep your materials dry. Take special care if you have to store them for long periods of time.
Salt can help pull moisture out of the skin, and will start to pool on the skin, then evaporate from there. If you can, tack the skins on a board or cardboard and let them dry in direct sunlight. Just remember that moisture is the enemy here. That is the last component that bacteria needs to start feeding and multiplying and smelling. If you are having trouble keeping the materials dry while storing them try transfering them to paper bags instead of the plastic ones the are sold in. If they still smell after washing and drying toss them and get a new patch. If the hares mask still smells after drying turn the whole thing into dubbing and toss the skin. Hope that helps a bit. Good luck.
I have to go with Flyrodde . . . soften it in warm water with a bunch of Dove or Dawn dishwashing soap. Scrape any leftover fat from the skin with the back edge of a knife, soak, wash and rinse thoroughly and allow to dry before storing. That should do you just fine!