All I ever use is wheel lead. I've never had a problem with them and I pour buzzbaits, spinnerbaits and jigs which all have a lot of inserts. I feel the key to success is temp. I allow the mold and inserts to heat up. So IMO I would give them a shot. I woudnt wash them at all.. Just melt them and skim off all the slag. I also flux my lead. This is done by adding a small piece of paraffin wax to the hot lead. It causes all of the impurities to separate out and then you can skim them off the top. A word of caution, The wax will flame up briefly so doing this out side is a must.