I'm becoming more partial to Calhouns lately. It just seems more consistent batch for batch. Dead On Red Label has been good for me so far. Im interested in Lureworks Pourasol Pro. SDG seems to like it...but it's pricey.

Quote from: HowitzerBaitCo on Jan 13, 2026, 04:31 AMI have some Calhouns, BP, and Dead On Red Label to go through. I may try Barlows and Lureworks next. Ozarks I wasn't a huge fan of but I'll give it a 2nd shot just to be sure. I didn't get along with DoIt Essentials, haven't tried Crystal Clear yet.

Your direct experience with any plastisol is always welcome here.  I don't have any personal loyalty to any brand as long as it works. 

I have used the Crystal Clear and its okay.  I have a few gallons to use up.  I have heard other less than enthusiastic feedback on the Essentials.  Not bad, just not great.  I guess that may be a function of price. 

I have some Calhouns, BP, and Dead On Red Label to go through. I may try Barlows and Lureworks next. Ozarks I wasn't a huge fan of but I'll give it a 2nd shot just to be sure. I didn't get along with DoIt Essentials, haven't tried Crystal Clear yet.

I do not like the dead on black label at all.  None of those formulas.  They routinely stay sticky for a long time and they break easily.  I've had a few people. Tell me well, you should try their red label. It's a lot better, but I have a hard time with that idea, because they tried to blame customers for the quality of their black label for a long time.  They would say you weren't mixing it long enough. Or you weren't heating it hot enough. So I took a full brand new fresh one gallon jug chucked it up in my lathe and let it spin at a slow speed for forty five minutes.  Then while it was still freshly off. The lave I cooked up a couple of cups well. A couple of three and four cup cups to 3 hundred and ninety to 4 hundred degrees measured, and it was still sticky for a week.  And the baits were still more fragile than just about any other plastic I have ever tried.  Well, I'm not gonna go out of my way to trash. Or tear down dead on plastics. I don't think I could ever recommend them to my customers. 

When I tried them I bought several gallons of different formulas for a full price retail the same plastic as anybody else.  Same thing I do for every other plastic I try.

I actually mentioned in a previous post that the. Reason I haven't tried the barlow's soft sinking at is because i'm cheap, but when I am testing plastic, I'll buy several different formulas from the same manufacturer just to see how they perform.  I have newbie mold customers all the time who ask me what I use.  I don't actually make recommendations anymore, but I'll tell them about my experiences with different plastics.  I don't usually mention dead on unless somebody asks me about them. My response is always. "I hated the black label, but some people are reporting better results with the red label."

Bait Plastics is generally okay.  I bought two of their every plastic sample packs and worked my way through it.  Generally, the properties are pretty close to what they claim, but I've experienced a few oddities.  I haven't run any of it long with to isolate those things. So I generally tell people who ask about them. You just have to look at the properties and get one that's close to what you like. And try a small amount.

I still use salt in the heavy plastics, I use for myself. after nearly 20 years.  It's not just about weight.  At least not for me.  Salt doesn't tear up injectors. It does make a difference in bait retention during the bite, and it's dirt cheap.  I suppose if I was selling baits instead of molds I might offer custom bait customers the option to have salt or glass beads, but if you're making a big backstock of inventory, you have to make that call up front.

And yes, I am aware, it looks a little hypocritical about qualities when I was a past fan of the Mf plastics.  They have one property that ruined it for a lot of people. And that was that oily finish that just seemed to keep beeching oil forever.  It doesn't really matter, though. Since jeff seems to have completely stopped making plastic. 

Calhoun has been around for a long time.  Chamionics is also one of the other old brands that I remember.  I think Polysol still around, but I'm not sure they're directly marketing soft plastic baits plastic under their name.  Polysol was just breaking into the market. Under that name, when I was only a year or two into making soft plastics.  I think their big market was things like screen printing ink. 

I've been using BP 142/242 mostly. The Dead-On Red jug is ok, the rest Im not a fan of. For sinking I use BP's crushed glass.....doesnt fog up or create voids in the baits like salt does. FGF uses Calhouns blends and is a decent all around plastisol.

Quote from: Blind Squirrel on Jan 09, 2026, 04:32 PMI have moved on.  The only plastic MF had that I still used was the soft sinking, but I like the Barlows mush better when I want a sinking plastic.  This one: https://barlowstackle.com/barlows-liquid-plastic/  Its heavier than water too.  Its a little smellier cooking it up, but its not so oily, so I guess I like it better than the MF plastic.  I tried Dead-On and hated it.  Do it Crystal Clear is decent for everything that I prefer a slightly buoyant plastic for.  I might buy some color or glitter from MF, but I tend to just buy what I need from all one source when I can. 

You are the second customer who has said they are using the Barlow's Soft Sinking Formula, and the second one who has commented on how smelly it is when you kick it over. 

I have been meaning to try it, but I am currently running out a blend of two different sinking plastisols to get rid of before trying it.  The blend with a little softner is pretty good, but there is no point in sharing it.  One I didn't like by itself, and the other you can't get anymore.  I have also started adding just a little softner to the soft for my heavy salt baits.  It's just a tiny bit more flexible that way than regular soft sinking, but not as fragile as super soft.   

I'm looking forward to trying the Barlow's but I'm cheap.  I'm going to run out what I have first. 

I have moved on.  The only plastic MF had that I still used was the soft sinking, but I like the Barlows mush better when I want a sinking plastic.  This one: https://barlowstackle.com/barlows-liquid-plastic/  Its heavier than water too.  Its a little smellier cooking it up, but its not so oily, so I guess I like it better than the MF plastic.  I tried Dead-On and hated it.  Do it Crystal Clear is decent for everything that I prefer a slightly buoyant plastic for.  I might buy some color or glitter from MF, but I tend to just buy what I need from all one source when I can. 

I don't know. Last time I talked with Jeff he called me at the wee hours of the morning to yell at me. I hung up on him, and went back to sleep. That was months ago. I haven't seen any progress on his website or heard any first person news since. One of my buddies who follows a couple of the YouTube/Instagram bait makers had said one of the tackle suppliers had driven to Oklahoma to pick up colorants and was selling some of Jeff's OG colors, but I don't recall which distributor / reseller. Last I heard there was still no estimated date for Jeff to resume selling plastic. I've been sampling other plastics to see what I like instead. I've always liked everything about MF plastics except for the oily finish. For my own use I didn't care and neither did the fish. I get customers ask me all the time what plastic I use, and for now I am experimenting. I for years I sent people to MF, but I can't do that anymore. I bought several plastics from Dead-On to try, and I bought the sampler pack from Bait Plastics. I think next I'm going to order some Essentials from Do-It molds to try next, and just use softener and hardener to get my own exact recipes. For now I am not recommending any plastic or stating any plastic I prefer.

Any news?  Anythign at all? 

Not that it matters much anymore.  I've found all the colors I wanted and have a new source for plastic. 

No problem.  Just heard he wasn't filling orders even for stuff you could order. 

He guys.  Let this be your warning.  You can update that somebody isn't shipping or other practical useful information, but no trash talk.  Even if you think its deserved. 

I bought a lot of stuff from him because Bob reccomended him, but no more.  He used to be good.  Stuff shipped quick and the product was always as expected, but he seems to have had a melt down.  I couldn't order anything I needed for a while.  I called a couple times and finally got ahold of him and he proceeded to just for no apparant reasons tear into me.  In fact he tore into a lot of people for no good reaosn.  It was like he was having a raging temper tantrum.  I hope he gets over whatever is wrong with him, but I'm not going to buy anything else from him any time soon.  Honestly I wish him well.  Obviously something is wrong, but I wouldn't hold out much hope of getting any orders fulfilled in the forseeable future. 

Haven't heard a word about MF except one of my buddies claimed they aren't even getting colorant shipped out now. 

I just checked their website and there is a lot of obviously broken listings.  55 gallon drum adds to the cart for $50.  Obviously not.  Colorant adds to cart at $0.00.  Also, obviously not.