I was kind of in and out of a conversation a few weeks ago and the guys were discussing soaking there dry flies in a cup of “Scotch Guard” or “Kiwi Camp Dry” overnight then placing them out to air dry before they use them or place them in their fly box. So this got to my curiosity and I had to look it up, the article I was reading said after tying your fly spray it with Scotch Guard. Has anyone heard of this or even tried this, the theory sounds good and it is an interesting idea but will it damage your dry flies. I would have concerns the solvents may dissolve the oils in feathers especial flies where CDC feathers are used? I just looked here on FOAL and found that Liquid Silicone is also used. I guess I could see soaking your dry flies in that but would it have any damaging affect as the other products I mentioned?
I’ve dipped flies (not cdc, though) in Rain-X, then let them dry overnight; similar effect, guess it worked okay. Now I just use Dry Magic on everything, including cdc flies.
I think 3M took Scotch Guard off the market, cause cancer in rats or something like that. But it makes sense that anything that keeps moisture from penetrating shirts and ties will work on flies.
Remember the leading cause of cancer in rats is laboratories.
I’ve used both Kiwi Camp Dry and another product (which I like better) called Silicone Water Guard (camping department at WalMarts) to ‘waterproof’ my dry flies, my spun deer hair bass flies, and some tying materials before use. After some testing, I find it works better than the pastes or powders. Results are similar to the Orvis ‘Watershed’ stuff, only it lasts longer and is less expensive.
It comes in an aerosol can. To use it, I spray it into a small glass jar until I have an ounce or two.
Soak whatever you want to be waterproof for a few minutes, then let it air dry overnight on a paper towel.
Doesn’t ruin the materials. Doesn’t effect the colors. It does work really well, though. So if you want your deer hair bugs to absorb some water and get that mushy ‘ploop’ sound that a waterlogged bug has, don’t use this stuff. It’s really permanent, and flies treated with it don’t absorb water, even after hours of use (fish slime will still sink dries, but a decent wash/rinse/dry and they’ll float like new again).
By the way, I’ve tested Rain-X. All reports to the contrary, it does NOT work on flies. Actually the reverse.
Ever since I read “Dry Flies That Really Float” by George Emanuel in the “Tying Tips” section a few years ago (probably the article that you were referring to, Popperfly), I’ve been using the Angelus liquid silicon. It works very well and doesn’t hurt the flies at all. I still wouldn’t put CDC flies in it, though. I think it would gum up the barbs.
You do need to ‘saturate’ the fly. You can do this by spraying it, but it’s messy and wastes quite a bit of material. Concentrating it into a container seems to work best for me.