I could use some help with "stains" on a new rod blank. It did not come from the factory this way, I somehow have small grease-like marks on various parts of the blank. It looks like I ate potatoes chips and didn't wipe my hands clean, and then handled the blank. I did put the reel seat on and wiped away the recess epoxy immediately, so I do not think this is the culprit. I used 91% isopropyl alcohol to wipe the blank down and the stains remain. Would Acetone work? Appreciate the help. Dave

I would try Toluene, try it on a small section on the butt before it is applied to the rest of the blank. Toluene is a good solvent to remove silicone and other oils.

Use PPE ( gloves, eye cover, etc.) and use in a ventilated area.

Have fun

John

If the alcohol, or dish soap won't take off the shine it sounds like you tracked some epoxy onto the blank. Very easy to do. I don't even have acetone in the house, so I wouldn't know about that. But if you have it, try it.

You may have to "scrub" the blank with a fine Scotchbrite pad to get the shine off and get the whole blank looking the same.

Don't do anything really aggressive until others have a chance to chime in. They may have better ideas.

Dave,
Did you notice the “stains” / “greasy spots” BEFORE or AFTER mounting the reel seat? If BEFORE = it may just be simply a greasy residue but I would think isopropyl alcohol would remove it; acetone is the next best solvent (and safer than toluene ) but if that does not remove the stains, you will probably not be able to simply wipe then off. If AFTER, Michael is probably correct = you inadvertently had some epoxy on your hands from mounting the seat which made its way onto the other parts of the blank. If that is the case, the Scotch Bright approach may be your only solution…. Hope you like the dull appearance. GOOD LUCK.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Scotch Brite Green and grey, The {Gray} Scotch Brite Ultra Fine Pad will leave a nice shiny sheen use it Up & Down. And they will and not damage the blank. I use maroon, green, then grey with alcohol when I don't want a painted blank. Their simply No reason in my eye's to paint a blank, And most people I build for Agree. If I build on a Rainshadow immortal Titanium Chrome Finish That's what gets done if they don't want paint. And most Don't want it. I don't use Citristrip. If you want more shine use white. [www.pinterest.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2022 06:30PM by Jay Dubay.

My Grand kids and all the girls in my family love painted blanks. From pink/black, red white and blue, to red and black metallic to blue and teal, purple/lavender and on and on. Be careful with epoxy, it'll be a bugger to get off if left to dry on a painted surface. Heat may help to remove.

If it's just grease I would use plain old dish detergent. Some grease solvents also dissolve stains, paints, and clear finishes - the kind of stuff you see coating new rod blanks.

One can use acetone to remove troubling marks on a rod blank.
But, pretest the use of any product on a part of the rod blank that will be hidden when the rod is complete.
Acetone, Toluene, and Xylene are all excellent solvents that are effective as a solvent for uncured epoxy.
But, those same solvents can remove some finishes that have been applied to a rod blank. So, be sure to test first before using.

By the way, for simple stains and grease marks - Windex window cleaner is a very good general purpose cleaner that I use in the rod shop all of the time.
It is actually much more effective for some types of stains that denatured alcohol is and has no side effects.

On the same vein, you can use pure ammonia for an even stronger, generally non reactive cleaner for marks on rods.

By the way, for cleaning cork guides and blanks in general - the use of "Simple green" and or "Jungle Jake" green cleaner and a tooth brush work very very well.
These are my gl to cleaners any time that I want to clean a rod, - rod grip, reel seat, reel, guides and rod blank. Also the use of a wash cloth and water for the final rinse leaves the rod clean like new with no hard scrubbing.
If after an effective cleaning as listed above, you find that you have some blems in the cork grip that you would like to eliminate, the use of Elmer's Pro golden oak wood filler that is water proof and suitable for use out of doors makes an easy job to take care of any blems in the cork. Slightly before fulling curing, I will do a wipe down the grip with a rag that has acetone or xylene in it and the excess filler will be wiped off the grip. Let the grip dry for several hours and then just use 400 grit sand paper to give a nice smooth grip that looks like it was just made.