New Favorite Dubbing Wax

[Tabasco-Joe]

I recently picked up a book by Al and Gretchen Beatty on dubbing techniques.
They mentioned using toilet ring wax for dubbing.
Being unhappy with the waxes I had and having a few rings in my plumbing repair stock, I figured I'd give it a try.
Best dubbing wax I've ever used.

Now to figure out how what kind of applicator to use.
I bought a cheap pack of empty lipstick containers on Amazon.
Just pressed the containers into the ring of wax and cleaned the outside.
Works great.
And a lifetime supply of wax for a few dollars.

 

[laszlo]

Also pure lanolin, very sticky and easy to use

 

[Bamboozle]

I recently picked up a book by Al and Gretchen Beatty on dubbing techniques.
They mentioned using toilet ring wax for dubbing...

Speaking of Al and Gretchen Beatty, have you ever tried THEIR dubbing wax called BT's?

They have Tacky and a Super Tacky version. It may just be toilet ring wax in disguise but after Overton's, it is my favorite dubbing wax.

BTW - I have no idea what it is called but in the pre-digital age when newspapers still pasted up pages, they used a very tacky wax to "glue" the page articles to a master sheet. When I was in college, the school paper had some of this wax which was almost clear.

I still have a piece that I used as dubbing wax for years before discovering Overton's.

 

[nfrechet]

a toilet ring would be way too much for me for the time i have left on earth

a half inch chunk would probably last for years

 

[salmo]

I bought a wax toilet seal ring about 6-7 years back. I have the whole ring still in the plastic container on my desk. When I’m gone my son can use what’s left to reseat his toilet 😏

 

[Kms]

Got this for $2 from a local shop. It’s the same stuff as SortKwik, which goes for about $2.50 at Staples. I can’t compare it toilet wax, but a very light coating seems to do the job and so it should last years. For thread wax (I need it for gsp, that stuff is slick) I’ve been using cold water surf wax, a tiny bit of which would also work well if you think you really need a lot more grip.

 

[Bamboozle]

Before I was privy to good information, I was trying to flush out a good dubbing wax. My friend John who was the head of our fly tying group gave me the poop and told me toilet ring wax was a $#!++y substitute for the real deal... 🙄

 

[dudemanspecial]

Before I was privy to good information, I was trying to flush out a good dubbing wax. My friend John who was the head of our fly tying group gave me the poop and told me toilet ring wax was a $#!++y substitute for the real deal... 🙄

Was that John Crapper? Anyhow yeah, sound like flushing your money down the toilet.

 

[poopdeck]

If you want to be really thrifty you could use the new wax ring for the toilet and keep a couple or more pinches of the old ring for your tying needs.

 

[Kms]

If you want to be really thrifty you could use the new wax ring for the toilet and keep a couple or more pinches of the old ring for your tying needs.

That suggestion aligns with your handle, lol

 

[Broodstock]

I’ve switched to the danco perfect seal rings. They do have some wax on the bottom but the top is a rubber/polyethylene flexible flange that allows you to drop/lift the toilet more than once if you need to reposition it. After setting a dozen or so toilets these are all I ever use.

Am I missing out by not waxing my dubbing? I just split the thread if I need more grip.

 

[dudemanspecial]

Am I missing out by not waxing my dubbing? I just split the thread if I need more grip.

I don't use it either. I have an old *** tube of Orvis wax that just takes up space on my desk.

 

[tomgamber]

A long time ago I had what looked like a ChapStick tube with dark wax that i just ran up and down the thread that worked very well. I may still have it but I don't use it any more.

 

[nfrechet]

wet your fingertips when applying dubbing and usually no wax will be needed

dubbing loop or split thread for the unruly dubbings

 

[afishinado]

I rarely use wax for dubbing except when tying a fly with the "touch dubbing" technique used by Gary LaFountaine on his ESP and DSP caddis patterns. Sticky wax, like the "toilet" wax mentioned above, is best used for this purpose. There are several FF companies sell tacky wax for this purpose.

Touch Dubbing

Touch Dubbing is a valuable technique to make your flies look buggier. The Touch Dub technique was promoted by Gary La Fontaine in the 80s. Gary spent thousands of hours researching caddis flies, including countless hours scuba diving. His research led him to discover that hatching insects...

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