Cleaning fly lines

[Wildfisher]

The line lubricant I have used - Snowbee line slick  most certainly does make a noticeable difference to shooting performance  and  I have not noticed any damage caused by it.

[Traditionalist]

Thanks Mike!
I guess I'm good at guessing  :
Guddler Bobbing around on top of the water is my go to method 

For most things  it's best not to use anything at all except warm soapy water. on both floating and sinking lines. Fly lines are self lubricating. They float or sink because of intrinsic properties. You can reduce friction by using some things like silicone, armor-all, and a load of other stuff which may or may not allow you to cast further, but it may well also have side effects you do not want. In the course of fishing fly lines can accumulate various stuff on their surface.  This is invariably detrimental. Cleaning in warm soapy water will maintain both floating and sinking lines perfectly for all of their useful life.  I carry dilute fairy liquid in a small container with a sponge. I use this mainly on my leaders and flies to make sure they sink.  Even a tiny amount of floatant or finger grease will prevent a leader from sinking properly. 

It is best to avoid any other stuff at all unless you know exactly why you want to use it and the possible consequences.

In some cases it is difficult to impossible to remove various stuff from the surface of a fly line. Iso-propyl alcohol will remove some stuff, but there is a lot of stuff out there that can not be easily removed if at all, and most of it will ruin your line for its intended purpose.

There is nothing you can do about plasticisers.  They migrate out of the PVC over time.  Scientists and chemists have been trying for a very long time to find a way to add plasticisers to PVC and other stuff, up to now nobody has found a way to do it. ( Not for fly lines, mainly for insulation on wiring etc. As the plasticisers migrate the insulation becomes brittle and cracks. The person who finds a way to do it will be a multi-millionare immediately).

[bibio1]

I clean my lines at least once a year and then apply armour all . It a silicone based solution and is great. I am convinced this makes lines last longer.

I get around 7 years out a good line.

Cheers

Paul

[Traditionalist]

Mike i'd be very wary of fairy liquid or any detergent, these are designed to digest oils then be be rinsed off, rub some into your hands and you can feel them drying out as they eat the oils in there, i don't think many clean lines to make them look cleaner, the aim is to keep them supple and shootable, lines have grippy tacky feel after washing in detergents that doesn't help performance, commercial high concentrate detergent removes the surface of cellulose paint if you get the dilution wrong, there are things that leach plasticisers out and detergent is one of the most effective leachers you can get! i'd avoid neat fairly liquid on Cortland lines in particular.

I am not going to argue about it. If you really want the relevant information you can easily look it up.

Detergents generally are absolutely harmless to PVC fly lines. The same can not be said of all the various "dressings" which are on the market. The properties of plastic fly lines are intrinsic. You can alter the behaviour of some lines by rubbing various stuff on them, but the alteration might not be what you want.  Silicone is especially a problem because it gets on everything and is very difficult to remove.

The ONLY thing that governs the flexibility of a PVC fly line is the temperature.  The plastic alters its behaviour according to the glass transition temperature which is designed in ( by the type and amount of plasticisers added at manufacture).  This is not alterable by any means at all.

There is no way to leach plasticisers out of PVC.  The plasticisers migrate out over time.  Anything that would remove plasticisers will melt the plastic.

You are telling people some right old nonsense here, and some will believe you and cause themselves grief as a result.

You can use various line dressings if you want but you need to know what they do.

Armor-all was mentioned. It works well but is more or less impossible to remove if you decide you want the line to behave as it was designed to do. Alcohol will work but you may have to do it a few times. I have had to do this for quite a few people who have treated their sink tips with it. If you do this the tip will no longer sink. Neither will a neutral density fly line ( slow sinker),which is cast gently, it floats on the surface film.

I use fairy liquid routinely on all my lines. Some are very old indeed and still work perfectly.

You can believe whatever you like, but if you are going to give people advice you need to know the basic facts.

[Fishtales]

Washing up liquid is recommended by some line manufacturers as far as I remember. As Mike says, plasticisers leach out over time, some substances will dry the line out and it will crack but there is no way to replace them when they are lost. All I do is rub the line with a dry micro cloth which seems to clean and makes the line slick again, to coat floating lines all I use is red Mucilin and that is very seldom.

[Traditionalist]

Washing up liquid is recommended by some line manufacturers as far as I remember. As Mike says, plasticisers leach out over time, some substances will dry the line out and it will crack but there is no way to replace them when they are lost. All I do is rub the line with a dry micro cloth which seems to clean and makes the line slick again, to coat floating lines all I use is red Mucilin and that is very seldom.

Quite true.  I think the major problem here is once again one of terminology. Plasticisers are not "leached" out of the plastic, they migrate out of it. There is no way to leach plasticisers out of PVC, they are part of the molecular structure of the plastic. They are also the reason plastic fly lines can be made at all.

The worst thing you can do to a fly line is to leave it in the hot sun or near any other source of heat. This will cause the plasticisers to migrate out very quickly and the line will dry and crack. Once that happens there is nothing you can do about it.

[Highlander]

Like Mike I have used a few drops of "Fairy Liquid" in "warm water for many years & I have not noticed any difference in the line other than it is clean which after all was the reason of doing it in the first place.
We are not talking Armour All , Pledge, Dash Wipe,or any other supposed additions to make us gain that elusive few yards. Just cleaning a cruddy or gritty fly line.
Fly line manufacturers go to great lengths to supply us with the "latest" "super" "slick" lines & charge us not an inconsiderable amount of out hard earned cash to possess the damm things. & what do we want to do?
Rub them with Armor All, Silicone, Lube Wizz or any other "little gem" that some mad man comes up with.
If you feel the need to go "great distances" get a boat or spin.
:roll:
Tight Lines

[Traditionalist]

Common Mike, i treat lines obsessively to get every inch of performance out of them, the method i use is what Rio only now recommend, i got my tips from the Scottish spey casting team, they need every inch, i just like it to be easy to cast, a couple of drops of fairy liquid in water will remove dirt, putting it on neat leaves it dry and grippy and then needs something to get it back to the condition it was in before, a quick lube through a cloth gives exactly the same result without washing.

No problem with that, you can alter the behaviour of some lines in various ways and if you know why you do it and the possible consequences then go ahead. For most people just an occasional cleaning in warm soapy water is quite sufficient. Although a regular cleaning is better.

I have spoken quite extensively with various people at RIO and other manufacturers over the years.  Nowadays many want to add to their "market share" with "line cleaners" and various "dressings". At one time practically all recommended simple warm soapy water, but it's very difficult to sell that!

PVC lines are self lubricating. You don't need to add anything at all although some products will indeed reduce friction somewhat more. Tournament casters and some "obsessives" try all sorts of stuff, and doubtless some of it achieves the results they are looking for, but the plain truth as Alan ( Highlander) described excellently, is that they are completely superfluous for the majority of anglers and indeed in many cases will be detrimental for various reasons.

You should not put detergent on the line neat.  That will remove some of the self lube ( some of the stuff that migrates to the line surface). It wont clean very well either. Use it diluted in water, and rinse and dry it after cleaning.

[east wind]

Armor-all was mentioned. It works well but is more or less impossible to remove if you decide you want the line to behave as it was designed to do.

This is what I use, if and when required. The line behaves exactly as I want it. I cast, I catch fish.

[haresear]

This is what I use, if and when required. The line behaves exactly as I want it. I cast, I catch fish.

Me too. Armorall dashboard wipes for my floating lines.
It slicks the line up pretty well, aiding shooting/hauling and hasn't destroyed any of my lines. If it is difficult to remove, then so much the better

Alex