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Old, unknown silk line in decent condition - what now?

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herl	Old, unknown silk line in decent condition - what now?		Lead	[-]
Posts: 96 05/07/2009 14:41	Tags : None I've been trying to avoid it, but at last I've been pushed into the final frontier of classically styled angling (presuming gut leaders are out of the question) - I bought a reel with an old silk line on it. The line seems to be in pretty fair condition - no excessively worn sections or rot. It is however, a bit on the dry side. Not sticky at all. It appears to be a light salmon line with slight DT (.035" at the tip and .050" in the middle) that works out to about a modern 7.5wt. I have read up on a few past threads regarding the refinishing, and normal care, of silk line. I feel like my line falls somewhere between needing refinished and being ready for dressing and fishing. Is there an in-between? Would it be possible/advisable to give it a soap and water cleaning and apply a single coat of varnish/linseed oil/turp - then, dry, dress and fish? or must I strip it first? Also, I have stripped the line out onto the concrete floor of my dark, damp basement and it has occurred to me that this may be how lines acquire fungi.. It may end up that I do nothing with the line for quite some time. Should I clean it before prolonged storage to guard against mold? Would soap and water even be effective at preventing rot? Thank you in advance, Eric
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16parachuteadams		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 330 05/09/2009 08:32	It certainly won't hurt to wash it in a gentle soap and water bath, followed by a thorough rinse and COMPLETE drying. Moisture left in the line is what causes mold and rot. Loosely coil the damp line and leave it in a dry place for a day of two, then store still loosely coiled. Reapply Mucilin dressing when line is completely dry and before fishing. If you decide that you need to strip and recoat, it's no big deal, just takes a little time and patience. Regards, 16panee
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herl		#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 97 05/11/2009 11:38	Thanks for the help gentlemen, I am still wondering if it is ever advisable to add a new coat of varnish/oil to a cleaned, old one, without first stripping the line. Say, if the old varnish seems to have worn too thin? Thanks, Eric
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mac7x		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 851 05/12/2009 08:31	Eric, Do not presume so easily. If you feel a need to venture into what you refer to as "the final frontier", I could probably dig up a suitable gut leader for you.
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herl		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 98 05/12/2009 12:43	Thanks again for the suggestions - I guess I expected that the easy way would not be the advisable one. One final question: If I clean and dress the line 1st, then find that it really does need to be refinished, will the mucilin make the finish-stripping job any more difficult? In other words, if I expect that I'll have to refinish it, would I do best to avoid making more work for myself by coating it with mucilin? And Mac7X - I know it is somewhat ludicrous to refer to the use of 100 year old implements as any kind of "frontier", but such is my trajectory in the sport... And I thank you for the kind offer - but for now I am going to pretend that all the gut leaders have gone the way of the dinosaurs, and I'll have to make do with these monofilament impostors Eric
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