I'm in need of some suggestions. My fly rod was stored for 7 months in a damp basement, shame on me. I've never had an issue with the rod, metal never tarnished, epoxy just fine for 11 years! However, I just pulled the rod out of the tube and the metal reel seat hardware is tarnished as well as a few guides. In addition to that, a couple, not all, wrap finishes have a bright white layer of buildup on them. I'm headed out to use the rod soon and was curious if anyone here has suggestions for cleaning/shining up the tarnished metal. Apparently, I'll be stripping and re-wrapping the rod this coming winter, so I'm not worried about the guide wraps.
Thanks in advance,
Matt

In the Navy we used Never Dull (google it). It sounds like it would be perfect for that....tough enough for brass, but gentle enough that my mother used it to polish her silver.

Hello Matt.

CLR is about the best thing i've found for cleaning hardware, usualy if it can't get it clean it can't be cleaned.

Happy Cleaning.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Thanks fellas, much appreciated
Matt

I'd second the Never Dull. You can control where it is applied and it works great. I've used it to remove rust from chrome wheels and bumpers.

WHat kind of fly guides are tarnished? And that bright layer of white will probabyl go away once you take the rod outside.

The tarnished guides are the two stripper guides, and they also have the white layer on the epoxy. I'm mostly concerned about the reel seat hardware, everything else I can replace without a headache. Sounds like it should clean up fairly easily.
Thanks again,
Matt

The white on the epoxy is called "blush" from being damp. Often can be corrected by using heat gun or hair dyer carefully.

Sounds like the rod was Road hard and put Away Wet Then the tub was sealed tight and it had no way of drying out

Bill - willierods.com