Clorox or Lysol wipes use really wet ones ..
Gentle wipe / wash … let it soak into the cork 5-10 mins
Then a rinse in hot tap water .
Repeat process 2-3 times ..
Repeat again next day …
Let rod dry in ventilated space .. keep out of bag and tube for at least a week ..
Clean/sanitize tube .
Re wash sock again.
Ditch tube and sock if needed.


I’ve also used pine sol , Zep HD citrus degreaser, and full strength simple green .
If it’s really Gnarley I’ve used Clorox cleaner+bleach spray on cork to get the smell .

Sometimes you have to let the rod off-gas so to speak in a neutral/dry environment instead of the musty tube and sock in which it came .

I had a few rods I scored locally that were awesome mint rods except they had musty odor .
Took me multiple Lysol wipe sessions and had to keep them in the garage for a good month before they were good to bring into the house .

I had to Clorox spray the cork on a Daiwa graphite rod .
Spray and let sit only a minute or 3 rinse hot water .. repeat as needed be careful.

I’ve heard some guys will clean the cork then take them by the smoke of a campfire to get the musty smell off ..

Good luck

I'm with Carlz - no bleach. Wash the rod sections soap and water, then let them sit out on a shady screen porch for the summer. Perhaps take the rod fishing. Get some fish slime on the grip. Wash and repeat.

I would wash the rod tube, inside and out, with soap and water. Maybe some OxyClean. Let the rod bag and tube air out with the rod. If the rod bag doesn't come clean, just replace it.


Tom

Wipes leave alkyl ammonium chloride salts behind. While that probably isn't a big issue, wipes are a hard surface bacterial disinfectant, not a cleaner. There's nothing that a wipe will do that dish soap won't do. Conversely, soap removes far more grease, dirt, and grime.

Bleach is a very effective disinfectant, but is very alkaline from the added sodium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide isn't good for metal or cork. Getting the bleach rinsed away is tough. Skip the bleach.

Soap and water aren't as fast as bleach, but they are safer for the gear.

If the grip still needs to be disinfected, wipe it with denatured alcohol. Alcohol evaporates without leaving a residue. The alcohol may dry out the cork. YMMV.


Tom

Try making a paste with baking soda and water and put a light coat on the cork. Repeat as necessary. Keep applying as needed. That works on many odors. Not real sure if the baking soda would harm the cork, baking soda is actually pretty gently on things. Consider wrapping the cork, with paste on it, in foil or Sara type wrap.

Try Pledge.

Bold of you, to assume I actually catch fish!

Update: I set the rod aside, in pieces, outside of the bag several days ago and had planned to test out the baking soda approach this weekend. Out of curiosity, I gave the cork a good sniff just now and the odor is essentially gone.

Looks like just letting it air out over the course of five days or so did the trick - laziness did the trick, this time.

Now if I can just get some fish slime...

+1 do not put away wet, leave tube cap off, fish it.

Thanks again all - great advice. In this instance, the rod arrived with second-hand mustiness, which is fortunately largely gone now. I will confess that I have sometimes been in a rush and put gear away without ensuring it's completely dry - definitely a habit to break!

Dave, thanks for the tip on Murphy's oil soap - was not familiar with that one, but sounds like it's worth checking out just generally