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Has anyone ever had there plastics get a pale milky color?
While ice fishing I noticed my plastic grub jigs have appeared to loose some of there color and now have a milky tint to them. Especially the transparent ones.
I am thinking they got wet and had the water trapped in the box for a while. I am now trying to dry them out hoping there color will come back. Is there anything else I can do? (beside going to the tackle shop and replacing them?)
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nope.....[:/]
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I've been pouring/dipping soft plastics for years, soft plastics like tubes and grubs absorb water which causes the milky look to them. No big deal, allow them to dry uncovered for a day or so and you'll find they go right back to original
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I haven't had that particular problem but I do know that if soft plastics of one color are allowed touch plastics of another color for an extended length of time, both colors will start to "bleed" into each other. I always keep my plastics seperate by color.

Also, one other thing (that is not an answer to your question) that buggs me recently ... the color "pearl white" by Fresh Water Basics is not the pure pearl white it use to be. For some reason, these days, it looks like a tinge of brown, or rusty molds, or old base, or something is causing their pearl whites to be sub-standard.

Sorry for hyjacking your post a bit.
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The "bleed" factor is due to the use of colorant containing alot of oil when the lure is produced. Red is bad but in MHO chartruse and motor oil are worse.
Recently however far better colorants have come on the mark that bleed far less..
On the flip side of the coin, some like the fact they can combine say a white or pearl with a chartreuse tube and get a cross bleeding between soft plastic lures.

Another fact one might want to consider pertaining to the fact soft plastic does absorb water is that scent can be added to water and the plastics can be stored/soaked in the mixer for a period of time which allows the scent to be absorbed into the plastic also.
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Thanks for your reply. That is a big relief to hear they will dry out. [cool] Since you pour your own plastics I want to ask. There is usually a oil film on new plastics out of the bag. What is this? An added oil or is it part of the ingredients of the plastic?
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That is interesting. I might have to try soaking some jigs in crushed crawdad.

Or soaked sucker[Wink]
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I am not sure so someone can correct me but I was told they added that oil coat to keep them from sticking together in the package. Foe all I know it could just be a mold release agent.
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Yes its added after the lure has been created and its sold as "worm oil" but I dont know what the actual oil is.. I rarely use it
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Yes, its to help prevent the lures from sticking together, and to the packaging.
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lol, I havent tried sucker or mud bug but I know those that have. The jury is still out..
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Yep that did it.[Smile] The brown cutters are still a bit pale
but everything else is back to there perdy selfs.
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Glad I could help.. [Smile]
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I've tried dunking some plastics in the tub along with my Gulp minnows, leeches. That juice they've got is pretty "flavorful" - i.e, stinky and sticky. Don't know that the absorb like the gulps do, but they can at least get coated.

Had wondered about the oil also. If you take plastics OUT of the bag, and toss them in a plano - can you/should you drop some oil in too?

My nephew told me he's got lures that are covered with a sandy coating - so they scrape across rocks, and sound like dads-a-dragging. Haven't seen those.


Dry Rice in a ziplock - I've heard can dehydrate anything - even fogged up camera lenses, or binocs. I'd expect it'd work for plastics too.