Does anyone know if there is any truth to the rumour that contact with sunscreen lotions will actually damage or weaken mono lines? If so, what about super lines?
Does anyone know if there is any truth to the rumour that contact with sunscreen lotions will actually damage or weaken mono lines? If so, what about super lines?
MAte I am a pale pommy prick, so I am always covered in sunscreen lotion. I have never had a problem ever. Sounds like a load of rot to me. You need some pretty harsh solvents to damage most plastics (polymers for the techo's)
I think the rumour/story/old wives tale is more concerned with the stink of the sunscreen on the line. Not the sunscreen damaging the line.
I intend on living for-ever....so far so good
I'm always careful when applying sunscreen...I use a tissue and am careful not to get any on my hands...I reckon it cant help your chances of catching fish with that crap on your line and bait...
I'm sure it puts them off if they are being a bit finiky...
Scott
yeah - I always thought it more to do with the smell on the line/bait/hook etc - same as petrol/oil.
I also tend to avoid sunscreen whenever possible whilst fishing.. I'd hate to ruin my bait with it!
All sorts of plastics can be very resistant to a variety of chemicals, however all plasics have a weakness for some chemical or solvent.
I have done quite a bit of reading on the subject.......the books that I have detail all sorts of things that can effect the long term performance of both nylon and braided lines... cheif among them salt water and sunlight.
It is very hard to say specificaly what solvents, fats or petrochemicals are in sunscreen as a generalaity, but you can be sure something in them will at least have a long term effect on performance.
the oils and solvents in the sunscreens would be obvious culprets.
It would be safe to say that it is best to keep both sunscreen and insect repellent off fishing lines for a variety of reasons.
Nylon for instance would appaer to be pretty impervious, but it does absorb water and hyrdocarbon solvents .
Nylon line that has been stored in a hot dry enviroment can become stiffer, more brittle and less strong due to moisture loss.. according to one of the books I have.
I know my second hand mono cast net that had been stored in a dry shed was very hard and springy till I gave it the hot water and fabric softner teatment.
That to me proves the point
There are many stains that can be relativly easily removed from cotton that simply will not lift from systhetics.....the thread is absorbing the stain.
polycarbonate which is an extreemly tough plastic is very intolerant of hydrocarbon solvents.......expose a sheet of clear poly carbonate to any of the common hydrocarbon solvents or oils and it will go milky and or craze in a relativly short time...........acrilic on the other hand is far more tolerant of solvents....but disolves relativly easily in acetone.
High density polyeythelene, like they make softdrink bottles and clear plastic cups out of will happily hold a great variety of solvents in a short term, but in the longer term it will go milky and brittle.
I use disposable HDPE cups for ladleing paint and measuring solvents.
If you fill a HDPE cup with GP thinner and let it stand for a hour or so then empty...... several days later it will be found to be milky and brittle
I state the above because we take the durability and imperviousness of plastics for granted.
Just some thaughts.
cheers
I have been hearing for about 6 years from several dozen sources that DEET found in some mossie repellants does in fact badly effect some of the braids and fused superlines. I do not use these products unless absolutely neccessary so I can't conform it and im not sacrificing a load of line with overspray just in case.
Jack.
Sunscreen will lift the paint off a Tinnie quite nicely. Some can also cause your arm to become stuck to the top of an electric outboard if you leave it there for a while. My glasses are supposed to have Titanium arms, and sunscreen has corroded that. I'd keep it off the line as much as possible.
lets just think here for a minute, we apply garlic scent, we have all sorts of secret dies and smelly stuff to attract Fish, now for all we know, Sunscreen may be very appealing to Fish, so in fact, instead of scareing them away, it may entice them, now for the buggering up the Line, i would reckon Mono is made of similar material that the tube the Suscreen came in! braids and stuff may be a different story, but I doubt it.
there was a guide in Townsville that coated a live mullet with sunscreen and threw the livie into a snag not 2 minutes later he caught a 90 cm barra he did this to show us that he reckons it is a myth . proved it to me . maybe we can get mythbusters on the case
Stuie
IF IT CAN'T EAT A WHOLE PILLY I DON'T WANT IT
The plastic that the sunscreen tube is made of will be very different to the plastic that the mono line is made of.
The sunscreen tube will most likly be made of PVC.
A freind of mine manufactures furniture polishes, he uses cold cream jars for his beeswax polish because they are resistant to simple hydrocarbon solvents.....he would prefeer a clear jar but the clear plastics on offer do not have lobg term resistance to simple solvents.
Then lets talk about "clear" and "flexible"......most plastics in their most durable form are opaque and not very flexible......when you try to mak plastics ( any plastic) either clear or flexible there are compromises in both durability and sterngth to be made.
back to my HDPE cups... they are clear and definitely become brittle with solvent exposure......however many plastic fuel tanks are made out of opaque coloured MDPE... and chemicaly ver similar product.
mono line is both clear an flexible.......
Do not underestimate the solvents used in cosmetics......some of the solvents that our skin tolerates quite well and very agressive to manufactured materials.
then add aerosols to the equasion......in the past we used flurocarbon solvents such as freon as propellants, they were almost completly disipated out of the aerosol stream at the point of atomiastion..... since the whole greenhous thing we now use mostly hydrocarbon solvents in arosols as propellants..... these solvents do dont disipate out of the sprayed product nearly as fast as the flurocarbons and may remain in the dropleted product for some minutes.
A series of tests would be interesting.... but... best to keep you lines clean.
cheers
It comes in plastic bottles, doesn't it?
DEET does have a corrosive effect on some plastics so I imagine some types of fishing gear would fall foul of this too. For ages there were many rumours that DEET caused cancer or would eat your skin etc (when you see it's effect on certain plastics it does tend to make your eyebrows raise a bit) however it is harmless to skin and is a very effective mozzie repellent.Originally Posted by tunaticer
I most certainly wouldn't want to get this on any of my mono or braid and definitely keep it away from any other gear you value. For reasons already mentioned, it would seem to be a good idea to keep all this pers protective stuff off your lines and everything else.
it comes in generaly opaque PVC bottles and tubes......as I posted before PVC is quite tolerant of a variety of solvents.
mono fishing line is generaly Nylon or a related plastic braid is generaly dacron which is polyester...... three very different plastics.
cheers
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