tar on cork grip

FAOL Community Fly Anglers Online
1

I was crawling out of the steelhead river and grabbed a telephone pole that was cut off so that I could get up the bank easier. I then grabbed my fly rod before I noticed that I had tar on my hand. Now my pretty new cork looks like, well you get the idea. I don’t mind a little fish slime patina or look to a used cork, but this is just not right. Before I make things worse, any ideas on how to take off the tar without messing up the cork? Gas or some other chemical will probably work great at getting the tar off but I don’t want my fishing equipment to smell like gasoline. Open to ideas from yet another wonderfully dumb move on my part.

Thanks for ideas in advance,

Rick

2

Goo Gone. That’s the name of the stuff it works very well, won’t mark the cork. Takes off tree pitch too. Get it at WalMart, Kmart, etc. in the cleaning supplies.
…ModocDan
Get it offa there, Bro. like you said that ain’t right…

3

WD40 will most likely cut that stuff, too. Some use it as an attractant. :rolleyes: You could call it your Gaylord Perry rod. :P:cool:

4

What’s wrong with a little gasoline smell? Nobody will ever want to steal it.

Just kidding. I would try the WD-40 first.

Joe

5

Thanks for the ideas guys. Do you think that the WD40 will soak into the cork? I know some the salmon fisherman use it as a cover up scent / attractant.

Rick

6

Mineral spirits will dissolve it without chemical damage to the cork

7

What’s wrong with a little gasoline smell?

Nothing, its the cigs that cause the problem, KABOOM!

The best I have heard is to freeze it and the Tar chips right off. Use a solvent to remove the stain, then detergent.

Send us a pic of the freezer if you elect to use this method.

8

Please let us know what you did and how it worked.

9

What ever you use, get it off!

It is more than likely coal tar creosote which has been determined to be a carcinogenic at worst, a skin irritant at least.

I agree with the Goo Gone or WD-40 followed up with a good old scrubbing with Dawn dishwashing liquid & water on a sponge.

10

That’s coal tar creosote. Goo Gone should work and WD-40 will take it off of your car but may stain the cork on your grip. I would try the Goo Gone first.

Freezing will probably have little effect on coal tar creosote and may have a detrimental effect on your rod grip or blank.

11

We keep a container of hand cleaner (GoJo, Fast Orange of similar product) with out laundry supplies for grease and oil stains. Dry cleaners use it for the same purpose.

12

I don’t know what effect this would have on a grip…I suspect none…but Brake Cleaner [not carburetor cleaner] is a wonderful cleaner/solvent…and dries with out a residue…I’ve used it for years mostly on guns.

13

I’d have a tendency to go with the goo gone, or another orange solvent. If the orangie odor is too much after the cleaning, a bit of Soft Scrub would take care of that.

14

First, I thought that I had some mineral spirts, but I didn’t. Then I was going to go shopping and buy something and finally I just put some WD40 on a cloth and rubbed a little and it was gone. Looks great and the WD40 didn’t soak into the cork or stain it. Thanks for the help guys, worked like a charm. Not that the rod is a $2K cane rod, but the ST. Croix, Legend Elite is still a nice rod and I wanted to keep it looking like I at least tried to take care of it. I plan on using it for many years, not just a season or two.

Thanks again,

Rick

15

Glad it worked for you. WD-40 is amazing stuff. And the fish like it, too. :smiley:

16

Clay, Glad you got it off. For what it’s worth, I’ve had great luck removing tar stains with lighter fliud. Not charcoal lighter, but regular cigarette lighter fluid, like Ronsonol, or Zippo. Squirt a little bit on a clean rag and wipe it off.
Tom.