I shouldnt tell this little trickbut Im going to anyway.
When youre going through your old tackle and you find packages of opened (or unopened) plastics that have started to release their oil and deteriorate into the bottom of the package (you can tell this by the slime they create and/or the color running to the bottom of the package).Do the following to restore them to like new:
1) Empty the plastics from their original bag and place them in a strainer.
2) Rinse them thoroughly giving them a COLD water bath for about 15 minutes per 15-20 worms. A good portion of this time should be spent running water directly over the baits.
3) Take them out and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel.
4) Spray a LIGHT (very light) coat of WD-40 over the worms.
5) Wipe the worms dry again. Pat/wipe them (really good!) until their color stops fading onto the paper towel. At this time, most of the WD-40 has been removed. The tiny bit that may be left on the surface will evaporate. Wipe them individually. You can NOT pay too much attention to this process. Its not a wipe and go kind of thing. If you dont wipe each and every one of them down separatelythe color will fade to the rest of your box. Youll have to trust me, the result is worth the time.
What happens is the water bath removes the bulk of the stuff off the baits. The WD-40 stops the chemical breakdown of the plastics and restores them to like new.
What youll end up with is one sweet, shiny package of baits. HOWEVER, do NOT USE the original package!!! Simply put them into a new Ziploc baggie. Placing them into the old bag will encourage further deterioration.
(Disclaimer: Do NOT try this on power worms, gulp and the like...not a good idea
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