Brad Hanson
07-31-2005, 08:08 AM
Last weekend I went through and began the long but exciting fun of getting my gear in shape for the upcoming season. As I pulled out my GHG hunter series canada dekes I remembered the abusive manner in which I stored them after seasons end. The last day of our season turned max nasty with 60 mph gusting winds and sleeting rain. I had been a very lazy guide that night, believed the weather gu-ru's and left my dekes on a hilltop covered in three inches of snow for the next day. Needless to say the snow turned to mud overnight as the gu-ru's were once again wrong! The dekes with footbases on faired well in the wind but the ones on motion stakes had taken nose dives into the mud leaving big cakes of crud on the flocked heads. Here is how I cleaned them with VERY minimal damage.
1. Gently removed the cakes with my hands.
2. With a mid pressure jet setting garden hose soaked the head concentrating on the heavier mud areas. I stress mid pressure, do not use a high pressure or power sprayer.
3. LET THEM TOTALLY DRY. I let mine dry in the sun all day and all night in garage until the next day.
4 I then took a soft brush, soft enough so it wouldn't bruse peach skin, and gently brushed the remaining dust until the head was clean.I know some have used toothbrushes, but as I mentioned earlier I can get lazy sometimes so I looked for quicker way. I used a brush that I use to brush frost off on late fall mornings. Go to the cleaning area at any discount store for $1.99 look at the brushes.Rub the bristles on the side of your neck,if it hurts, it will do damage and look for a softer brush.
5. Dekes ready to kill more birds!
I hope this helps. I know from expeience that if you dont abuse the flocked heads you wil get many seasons of use out of them but if you get lazy as I did try these tips.
1. Gently removed the cakes with my hands.
2. With a mid pressure jet setting garden hose soaked the head concentrating on the heavier mud areas. I stress mid pressure, do not use a high pressure or power sprayer.
3. LET THEM TOTALLY DRY. I let mine dry in the sun all day and all night in garage until the next day.
4 I then took a soft brush, soft enough so it wouldn't bruse peach skin, and gently brushed the remaining dust until the head was clean.I know some have used toothbrushes, but as I mentioned earlier I can get lazy sometimes so I looked for quicker way. I used a brush that I use to brush frost off on late fall mornings. Go to the cleaning area at any discount store for $1.99 look at the brushes.Rub the bristles on the side of your neck,if it hurts, it will do damage and look for a softer brush.
5. Dekes ready to kill more birds!
I hope this helps. I know from expeience that if you dont abuse the flocked heads you wil get many seasons of use out of them but if you get lazy as I did try these tips.