Melting Old Worms

[yaquijuan]

What is the best way to microwave old soft plastic worms to make new lures? I'm planning to make my first plaster mold and I don't have any virgin soft plastic, so I'm going to melt down some oldies that have seen better days. Does anyone add salt? If so, do you need to add a softener? If so, how much? Thanks.

[Richard Prager]

The best way to melt old worms is in someone else's house! Sorry, i just had to do that.

All kidding aside, it is going to smell and smoke quite a bit, especially if you don't have any virgin plastisol to mix in. Make sure the worms are dry. You don't need to add anything to it. Melt it slow and make sure you have good ventilation.

[SlowFISH]

I'd also recommend cutting/ripping them into small pieces... seems to melt more even and faster. I usually mix atleast about 50% new plastic in with old worms... I found myself scorching them more often otherwise.

J.

[Jig Man]

Do the melt slowly if on a hot plate stirring frequently. Don't get impatient and turn it up too much or you will scorch it.

If in a microwave, do 30 second bursts with stirs in between.

If the baits contain salt you will have to keep it stirred off the bottom of your container.

[ethan3]

Cut the baits into as small of pieces as you can. If i have quite a bit in there, i will microwave for a minute, and stir, then microwave for another 30 seconds at a time. Very stinky stuff, haha

[B and D Lures]

I cut my used plastic into small pieces and melt them on a hotplate, very slowly. It can smell quite a bit, so I would have very good ventilation. I melt down a lot of used plastic and donate them to the kids fishing derbys. The kids love them. Depending on the color, I sometimes use them as well. I do not sell lures that I have made from used plastic. If you grab a lot of different colors, the final color usually comes out grey. At that point I add different liquid colors and glitters, and they come out pretty nice.