Found a couple of squarebills at the lake the other day.  The hooks are rusted out but I can easily change them.  The only thing is that they're really dirty.  It's like they're stained from mud and grime.  The last couple of times I was in this situation I just used a rag and some hot water/dish soap and it worked alright but took a while and a lot of elbow grease.  I was just wondering if anyone had a better way.

Hey Tuckahoe.  Congrats on the find!  I've found quite a few lures on the bank and when lakes have been drawn down or even when a lake's dam has broken and the water receded until it was just a creek.  Anyway, what I have always done is change all the components as you said you have done in your OP, and then use some steel wool to clean up the hook hangers.  Then go to the dollar store and grab a cheap toothbrush and use either hot water and dish soap or abrasive toothpaste and get to scrubbin'.  This works real well to clean the bait and restore the color and the cool thing is, usually these baits are dimmed down and the color isn't as bright and that can result in you having a killer lure with a color that the fish haven't seen.  Quite a few pros will take their baits and put them on the dashboard off their trucks to take some of the shine off the bait so it isn't as flashy underwater.  The mud coated baits kinda do the same thing.

 

Now for cleaning up the bill, I've never been able to get them back to their original quality but that doesn't seem to be a big deal to the fish.  I clean the bills the same way as the rest of the bait.  

 

Hope this helps and good luck!!

i've found 'chartreuse' crankbaits that were no longer chartreuse.

they were more like 'Clear Sexy Shad'

bass didn't mind

Fl. saltwater guides swear by giving hard lures a go over with a Scotch Brite pad to dull up color.  It works well at getting off the dried up fibrous algae that clogs up my local waters, that stuff dries into concrete.

Joe, if you know someone that reloads, see if they will run those dirty lures through their brass tumbler.

Have any Reel Magic sitting around??

First remove the rusted hooks and split rings.

Soak over night in a mixture of white vinager, baking soda and warm water; 1 part each vinager and baking soda to 4 parts water.

rinse and scrub with a tooth brush.

If this doesn't clean them, then hang them in you dish washer using standard dish washer soap in cool water setting, not the hot setting.

Should be clean and ready to hang new hooks.

Aviod scrubbing with anything that removes the original finish.

Tom

Thanks for the suggestions guys.  I'll give a few of them a try and see what works best.  Gonna post some pics after I get the cleaned up cuz I need to get an ID on them.

From using scents I notice my lures can get sort of smelly plus my tackle box can get foul oders too. I wash everything with the mild dish soap the lures and tackle box. I wash my lures and tackle box mid season and the end of the season.