U40 cork sealant

[Afrayedknot]

I just bought another st. Croix, an avid, and decided I wanted to seal the cork. The cork was very high quality and felt almost soft. Clean and light in color too.

Ended up ordering some u40, and I put it on the day I got it in. I followed the directions exactly, and had high hopes. Let it dry for almost an hour and when I went back to check on it, I was utterly shocked.

The cork turned much darker and more brown almost like cardboard as opposed to the light tan/white color it once was. The texture had also turned to cardboard. It about gives my hand a rug burn if I grip the handle pretty hard and try to twist the handle. It is no longer soft at all.

Anyone else have this type of experience? I am pretty p*ssed off to be honest, but I have a feeling that this is something that is unavoidable when sealing cork and I never got the memo.

[vinnieb729]

I've used it quite a bit and it does darken the cork and filler stands out more. I usually apply it and let it sit for a few minutes then dab off the excess. I never noticed it feeling much different though. It will wear off with use or you could lightly sand it with very fine sandpaper and it should look like you never applied it. In the future, for untreated cork, use a Magic Eraser when cork starts to darken...makes it look like new with minimal effort...infact, I would try rubbing the Magic Eraser on your Avid's cork before taking sandpaper to it.

[angry john]

I have used the product on many croix handles and dobyns. I used a very light coat and had no such issue. It did darken the cork a little but made the dobyns cork look much more rich. It is a coating so there will be change, but it will wear off over time or you can lightly sand it as stated previously.

[smalliesteve]

The sealer will really emphasis filler in the cork. I say this because you mentioned that the rod had clean cork before. In my experience the cork they're using on Avids is pretty rough, are you sure you weren't looking at well-applied filler?

As mentioned before, the sealer will wear off. I'd try some fine to extra fine steel wool if you want to accelerate the wearing.

[Afrayedknot]

I honestly don't know much about cork so I couldn't tell you whether it is filler or what. I sanded it lightly just a few mins ago and it is getting better. I am going to try the steel wool too.

[USA-RET]

Stuff goes on like water so there is a tendency to over-apply. I usually apply one light coat and do so under a light so I can see the wet sheen for areas I've done. The U40 dries in a few minutes and darkens the cork about once shade. IMO it actually makes the cork look a bit richer to my eye.

One light coat will last a season under normal use.

[uljersey]

Stuff goes on like water so there is a tendency to over-apply.

Amen to that. When they say one thin coat, they're not kidding. I apply it with an ultra soft makeup brush hijacked from the wife.

It does it's job well, I'll take the slightly darker shade as a trade off towards protecting my handles.

[FrankW]

Don't sand cork or any raw wood with steel wool. Shards will break off into the cork and will rust over time. It will appear as little black spots. If you must use steel wool get some brass wool. It will still break off but it won't rust.

Frank

[Koldkut]

Unless it's one of the "exotic" corks, I don't bother sealing them, cork is a closed cell medium, you can't even dye it, so a sealer that just is an outter coating doesn't make much sense to me. I have never noticed a difference in the amount of time it takes before I re-hit the grips with some 400 grit to brighten them up, so I stopped using it.

[MTBF]

I too bought a pack of Mr Clean Magic Erasers and cleaned half my rods, I was shocked to see the cork like new again. However, I took a small paint brush maybe 3/4" wide and was very slim on coating my rods with U40, light coat kept twisting the rod so there were no lines or dripping. To be honest The cork went a shade darker but the colour and look of the cork is more appealing. With the NRX's there is the composite cork in spots, the dark spots are almost black, very sharp looking.

I'll finish the rest today and take a picture in the Show/Tell section. Was very happy, this should avoid the dirt and such from sticking I assume.

One question, when the rods get dirty again do I still re apply U40?


Cheers,

MTBF

[uljersey]

One question, when the rods get dirty again do I still re apply U40?


Cheers,

MTBF

Just do the whole process over again - Magic Eraser, air dry overnight and one thin coat of the U40. It's an annual ritual for my rods.