So like most of us, I have a bunch of sun shirts.  Simms mostly but Columbia and some other random ones.  Now I have 2 problems...  1. I jump in and help too much sometimes.  Resulting in motor oil or road grime stains on these shirts.

2. I like breakfast sandwiches and they can drip oils.  The arch created by ones stomach being the usual landing place.  AKA Fat guy stains.

 

Now I don't thrown them out, they do their job and I'm not modeling very often so I just roll with it.  But today I was doing some inventory and dang like $700 worth of shirts with various stains, washed and dried for years. 

 

Enter the OG...  Lestoil.  I took the sun shirts (also Simms windbreaker, Cotopaxi and Columbia down jackets as well as 2 OG Aftco Reapers) and placed on a hard surface (or A-Jay's abs if available) and just dunked an old toothbrush in the bottle and scrubbed the stains and let sit like 5-10 min before sending through a hot wash and air dry (just to check effectiveness).

 

99% of the total number of stains are gone...  like most shirts look new.  I know how stuff is getting expensive and companies getting bought out and quality changes, blah blah you get it.  $10 on Amazon saved well over a thousand dollars in gear.  Just thought I'd throw this out there.

Good to learn! I’ve got a few in desperate need of help, and a few that my wife will not allow to come outside of the boat lockers. 
 

 

I would worry that the UPF coating would be erased, making them ordinary T-Shirts.

1 minute ago, MN Fisher said:

I would worry that the UPF coating would be erased, making them ordinary T-Shirts.

Maybe, but they're like 1"×3" spots at the biggest, most being the size of a dime.  I'll risk the funny tan 😉.  

25 minutes ago, webertime said:

I'll risk the funny tan

And the cancer?

3 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

And the cancer?

UPF 50 sun shirts are UPF 50 mostly due to the dye (color), material and tight weave (many have no chemical treatment).  Any chemical treatment to block UV, will have been washed off or damaged long ago.

And I still wear sun screen.

32 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I would worry that the UPF coating would be erased, making them ordinary T-Shirts.

The UPF usually isn't a coating on most shirts...it's a very dense weave of the fabric that does the blocking. 

 

4 hours ago, webertime said:

So like most of us, I have a bunch of sun shirts.  Simms mostly but Columbia and some other random ones.  Now I have 2 problems...  1. I jump in and help too much sometimes.  Resulting in motor oil or road grime stains on these shirts.

2. I like breakfast sandwiches and they can drip oils.  The arch created by ones stomach being the usual landing place.  AKA Fat guy stains.

 

Now I don't thrown them out, they do their job and I'm not modeling very often so I just roll with it.  But today I was doing some inventory and dang like $700 worth of shirts with various stains, washed and dried for years. 

 

Enter the OG...  Lestoil.  I took the sun shirts (also Simms windbreaker, Cotopaxi and Columbia down jackets as well as 2 OG Aftco Reapers) and placed on a hard surface (or A-Jay's abs if available) and just dunked an old toothbrush in the bottle and scrubbed the stains and let sit like 5-10 min before sending through a hot wash and air dry (just to check effectiveness).

 

99% of the total number of stains are gone...  like most shirts look new.  I know how stuff is getting expensive and companies getting bought out and quality changes, blah blah you get it.  $10 on Amazon saved well over a thousand dollars in gear.  Just thought I'd throw this out there.

I'm surely going to give this a try! 

 

I too have a couple of shirts I should have taken off before doing some work..and have a couple of stains.

 

I love little tips like these! 

@webertime, never heard of it….. I googled it. They sell it at a variety of stores too, Publix, Winn Dixie, Walmart, and of course  Amazon.

4 hours ago, RRocket said:

love little tips like these! 

Me too

A thousand dollars in fishing shirts? Say what? That's a LOT of shirts! Unless they are $100 each.

 

Not sure about where you guys live, but here in Florida high quality fishing shirts are dirt cheap in thrift stores. And I mean every single thrift store too. It may be because Florida has so many fishermen who's old clothes wind up in thrift stores, but that is where I get all of my fishing shirts these days. No need for high end retail or online purchasing.

 

And the used shirts I find are like brand new. I just bought a nice one for my 12 year old son for $3. 100% polyester- no cotton! And long sleeve with hoody and he loves the silky feel of the material. Cost $3.21 out the door all day long. And if I hit the thrift store on a sale day I can buy them for half that. I must be a real cheapskate! OK, I am.

 

The problem is I wind up buying TOO many of them because they are so cheap. I just gave my lawyer about 20 of them I never wear that were hanging in a closet untouched for years. (The button up kind in all those pastel colors I never wear) A buddy went fishing with me recently and he shows up in a short sleeved cotton t-shirt and I asked him if he would like to wear a fishing shirt for sun protection. He did. At the end of the fishing trip I told him to keep it. I don't even miss it & I still have too many. All because of thrift stores! They are wallet savers. Heck the 5 man tent I just bought my kids was $10! A like new $350 tent for $10. Thrift stores are the place!

 

A cool detail about Florida, fishing shirts and thrift stores... you never know what you will find in there. One of a kind fishing shirts and some really crazy looking ones too. Some are custom made for various organizations and you will not find them anywhere else but thrift stores. I'll post some photos. Maybe we need a new thread around here for just the crazy looking fishing shirts. Its getting as bad as golf shirts here in Florida.

 

But I do agree if you have some nice old shirts needing a good cleaning and you can get them back to looking like new is great idea. But if you have to replace one or more, check local thrift stores first. Tell them a cheapskate sent ya!

 

Found one! My latest thrift store purchase for like $3. I usually try and find them without graphics all over them. Just plain pull overs with hoodies and gotta be quick dry plastic materials too. I didn't think this one was too tacky

 

 

9 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

And the cancer?

That’s what suntan lotion is made for!

 

 

 

Don’t live your life afraid of life.

7 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

That’s what suntan lotion is made for!

 

This comment brings up a good point. Chemicals.

 

My son said he wanted to use bug spray like Off or something similar while fishing and I told him "not on my boat!"

 

To this day I will not use chemicals. No suntan lotion. No bug spray. No sun protectant either.

 

I tend to believe that these chemicals can chase away the fish and make them less likely to bite.

 

Smear some of that stuff on your skin and with it still on your hands pick up your lures and see if the fish like how it tastes or smells. I tend to believe they don't like it too much.

 

So I am sticking with just the right clothing and be done with it. Anyone else avoid the chemicals while fishing?

Apply it before you go out, at home. 
I seriously don’t feel a sent of suntan lotion is worse than all the lure lotions, reel sprays and colored markers used.
I also seriously doubt a crankbait swimming by, after being thrown 100 times is a deterrent because I put on lotion seven hours ago.

Sure lathering up your hands and then stringing on a 10” worm may be an issue, but common sense is a wonderful tool.

 

@webertime I like the Lestoil recommendation!

 

I use chemicals, drive a gas guzzling truck and smoke cigars but don’t eat processed meat or cheese.
That crap will kill ya!

I agree common sense is a wonderful tool. And what it tells me is that any chemicals I smear all over my skin will not stay in place. I am going to sweat and rub my arm or something and the fish scaring chemicals are still there, and sweating down to my hands right where I don't want it to be. All through the fishing trip. I won't be able to keep it off my hands or off my lures all the time.

 

You may be right about it washing off a crankbait, but what if a rubber lure absorbed it and it stayed with the lure for awhile, and one was wondering why the fish aren't biting today? What if the cork and foam on my rods absorb it and hurt my fishing now and down the road? I would just rather avoid it all together, and hope that qualifies as some common sense too.

 

I'm not sure that 7 hours ahead of time is going to be an effective use of any chemicals. I just rather avoid them all together if I plan on fishing.

 

And speaking of common sense, you mentioned how chemicals can kill ya and above cancer is mentioned. Is it common sense to be aware of and KNOW that certain chemicals can cause cancer and then for us fishermen to basically say we don't care & we are still going to use it anyways even if it kills us? Is that common sense? I see it right here on this forum in other chemical threads some real stubbornness about it.

 

To me common sense tells me to avoid all chemicals at all times & if I can do so consciously, I will.

 

I consider myself fortunate to have learned from my father who is deceased now. At age 55 he had open heart surgery, artificial heart valve installed, clogged arteries, on all kinds of medications. He died from self induced diabetes and congestive heart failure because of his bad choices in life. He taught me to go in another direction towards what I believed was common sense living he did not do.

 

At 61 I have no clogged arteries. No heart disease. Cholesterol is fine. And I take zero medications on a prescribed regular basis and I can still do most of the things I could do at 21 because I thought I WAS using common sense- which to me includes avoiding all that stuff that can kill ya- letting go of that stubbornness -even my lure attractant is 100% all natural. I guess its all a matter of perspective. Common sense is NOT the same for all of us is about all I can say about that.

 

I try. Its all I can do.

1 hour ago, Motoboss said:

Don’t live your life afraid of life.

I'm just trying to extend what life I have left....lung cancer is a guaranteed killer - all they can do for me is kick the can down the road a bit...and I do what I can to help that.

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

I'm just trying to extend what life I have left....lung cancer is a guaranteed killer - all they can do for me is kick the can down the road a bit...and I do what I can to help that.

We spend many hours every month at the Cancer clinic.

We all have our cross to bear

 

Sorry @webertime for hijacking your thread!

Motoboss I would not call this one a hijacking because the OP laid out a stand alone suggestion. He said if you have this, try that. End of story. Now if he asked a question and we went sideways that is another story.

 

They could have locked this thread down after the OP posted his suggestion and not allow any comments and it still stands on its own. But if he asked a question and it was not answered fully and we went off in other directions, then I would agree that's a hijacking.

 

Conversations are supposed to roll with the flow! Besides- he said " Just thought I'd throw this out there." And he did. And the rest of us were off and running. Can't hijack it when he tosses the ball out there for us to kick around! He wasn't looking for anything. So I think we are all good on this one! My .02 cents.

Well, I gave it a try today...and it did nothing.

 

Before and after, no difference.

Blue Dawn dish detergent and a brush, let sit about a half hour and wash on cold usually does the same thing. I've even used it to get stains out that were several washes old. It has to be blue Dawn.

 

 

On 8/31/2025 at 11:34 AM, MN Fisher said:

I'm just trying to extend what life I have left....lung cancer is a guaranteed killer - all they can do for me is kick the can down the road a bit...and I do what I can to help that.

I'm so sorry to hear that. 

On 8/31/2025 at 10:00 AM, FloridaFishinFool said:

 

This comment brings up a good point. Chemicals.

 

My son said he wanted to use bug spray like Off or something similar while fishing and I told him "not on my boat!"

 

To this day I will not use chemicals. No suntan lotion. No bug spray. No sun protectant either.

 

I tend to believe that these chemicals can chase away the fish and make them less likely to bite.

 

Smear some of that stuff on your skin and with it still on your hands pick up your lures and see if the fish like how it tastes or smells. I tend to believe they don't like it too much.

 

So I am sticking with just the right clothing and be done with it. Anyone else avoid the chemicals while fishing?

I've had decent luck with the lemon eucalyptus sprays. Apparently mint oil is supposed to work too. Smells better than DEET anyways. 

I'm in the no chemical club myself.

 

I absolutely will not wear any bug spray. I'll wear long sleeves and a face net if I have to.

 

Same with suntan lotion, don't like wearing it fishing.

 

Even on a hot day, I'll have pants on and a long sleeve shirt. I probably need to buy a floppy hat though.

11 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I've had decent luck with the lemon eucalyptus sprays. Apparently mint oil is supposed to work too. Smells better than DEET anyways. 

I’ll second that lemon spray. It works great. I can go most of the season using nothing but come the end of August and September the horseflies can get crazy where I’m fishing. Those bites are the worse. Killer bites. I have been lucky so far this season. The worse thing about it I don’t realize I’m getting bit that bad while I’m fishing, after I get home I realize it and then the fun starts. 

20 hours ago, RRocket said:

Well, I gave it a try today...and it did nothing.

 

Before and after, no difference.

I thought if you had a stain on a shirt and didn’t try any remover on it and washed it, if the stain didn’t come out it never will after. 

13 hours ago, Spankey said:

I’ll second that lemon spray. It works great. I can go most of the season using nothing but come the end of August and September the horseflies can get crazy where I’m fishing. Those bites are the worse. Killer bites. I have been lucky so far this season. The worse thing about it I don’t realize I’m getting bit that bad while I’m fishing, after I get home I realize it and then the fun starts. 

I thought if you had a stain on a shirt and didn’t try any remover on it and washed it, if the stain didn’t come out it never will after. 

The horse and deerflies suck. I run into them in the spring when I'm hiking mostly but they just buzz around your head for HOURS and yea the bites are painful. 

6 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

The horse and deerflies suck. I run into them in the spring when I'm hiking mostly but they just buzz around your head for HOURS and yea the bites are painful. 

I’m using the Repel Brand. Have my kids and grandkids are using it. We do a lot of the concerts at the park through the summer and I’m always bringing spares and extras of it. Not offensive in smell and certainly works. 
On the puddle jumper I have hand soap and the unscented soap on it all the time. Even rubber gloves if you want to use them. Had a buddy who suffered from Lyme disease, he always kept himself covered from head to toe and would use those rubber gloves also. He put them in the boat 5-6 years ago. He’d rather fish at night, the sunlight use to mess him up. He passed a few years ago. Smoked like a chimney. Use to roll his own. Probably with the cheapest thing he could find. I miss him, nothing I could ever say that could make him quit.
Anyway, never had a problem with soft or hard plastics. There is always spray and soap on the boat if you need to use it. 

On 8/31/2025 at 6:47 AM, FloridaFishinFool said:

A thousand dollars in fishing shirts? Say what? That's a LOT of shirts! Unless they are $100 each.

 

Not sure about where you guys live, but here in Florida high quality fishing shirts are dirt cheap in thrift stores. And I mean every single thrift store too. It may be because Florida has so many fishermen who's old clothes wind up in thrift stores, but that is where I get all of my fishing shirts these days. No need for high end retail or online purchasing.

 

And the used shirts I find are like brand new. I just bought a nice one for my 12 year old son for $3. 100% polyester- no cotton! And long sleeve with hoody and he loves the silky feel of the material. Cost $3.21 out the door all day long. And if I hit the thrift store on a sale day I can buy them for half that. I must be a real cheapskate! OK, I am.

 

The problem is I wind up buying TOO many of them because they are so cheap. I just gave my lawyer about 20 of them I never wear that were hanging in a closet untouched for years. (The button up kind in all those pastel colors I never wear) A buddy went fishing with me recently and he shows up in a short sleeved cotton t-shirt and I asked him if he would like to wear a fishing shirt for sun protection. He did. At the end of the fishing trip I told him to keep it. I don't even miss it & I still have too many. All because of thrift stores! They are wallet savers. Heck the 5 man tent I just bought my kids was $10! A like new $350 tent for $10. Thrift stores are the place!

 

A cool detail about Florida, fishing shirts and thrift stores... you never know what you will find in there. One of a kind fishing shirts and some really crazy looking ones too. Some are custom made for various organizations and you will not find them anywhere else but thrift stores. I'll post some photos. Maybe we need a new thread around here for just the crazy looking fishing shirts. Its getting as bad as golf shirts here in Florida.

 

But I do agree if you have some nice old shirts needing a good cleaning and you can get them back to looking like new is great idea. But if you have to replace one or more, check local thrift stores first. Tell them a cheapskate sent ya!

 

Found one! My latest thrift store purchase for like $3. I usually try and find them without graphics all over them. Just plain pull overs with hoodies and gotta be quick dry plastic materials too. I didn't think this one was too tacky

 

 

Ive found there are differences in qualities of polyester.  Ive got performance tops and hoodies from the Amazon to the midgrade Huk and Aftco to Solarflex and Orvis.  The material on the budget tops doesn't breath as well and feels heavier weight wise.  I've noticed that it seems to hold more moisture as well. I found about all of the cheaper stuff pills after a few uses and washes. The biggest difference IMO is how it breathes.  The Aftco stuff is probably the best dollar for dollar and Pelagic is good too.  I have noticed that pretty much all of them are good with blood, pro cure, line dye and gulp juice.

When it comes to the caped button up shirts, there the way to go IMO when its really hot.  You cant cheap out on them though.  I get free ones from subscription bonuses and stuff.  Some of them are horrible.  Your better off with cotton lol.  The Orvis and Simms button ups are great.  They weigh nothing and are double caped on the back and arm.  Any breeze goes right through it.

The water can be warm here until almost thanksgiving.  Some years I can wet wade until the 2nd week of Nov.  When the suns out at least, once the sun goes down it drops like 20 degrees and you freeze when you get out.  I just wear the heavier stuff between now and then.