Dawn soap to clean and degrease

[niiickboy]

I was reading on some older forums about people using Dawn Dish Soap to degrease and clean the insides since it’s safe in plastics/ degreases, but i read that people said to use non-detergent ones? And is Dawn safe on magnetic brakes? And if i’m not mistaken for magnetic brakes you don’t oil or anything (just keep clean and dry) since it uses pulls of the magnetic and nothing rubs? 

Overall, is it okay/ good to use Dawn and does anyone use it for cleaning? 

[swhit140]

I usually use acetone or 90% alcohol to clean inside reels to remove old oil/grease in bearings/gears. I use old toothbrushes & q-tips. I use oil in bearings & grease on gears.

If my reels become dusty or scummy throughout the season on the exterior I use a damp cloth on the exterior and give it a couple sprays with Meguiar's detailing spray on the exterior and wipe down with micro-fiber cloth.

The only reason I would use water/dish soap would be to clean the exterior of the reel that was covered in mud before you do a complete teardown/service.

 

[Russ E]

Dawn will leave a sticky residue behind unless you rinse it with water.

I use ardent reel  kleen. It is made specifically for cleaning reels. And dries clean.

 

[niiickboy]

On 12/6/2020 at 11:04 AM, Russ E said:

Dawn will leave a sticky residue behind unless you rinse it with water.

I use ardent reel  kleen. It is made specifically for cleaning reels. And dries clean.

 

this? 

So i just spray it on and then use a toothbrush and wipe off with a cloth?

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Ardent_Reel_Kleen/descpage-ARRK.html?from=bshop&msclkid=fb46d74a9c1f1aa84ccb8887ac0ce539&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping - Fishing Accessories&utm_term=4580084407167486&utm_content=Shopping%3A Reel Care, Covers, Maintenance %26 Components

[iabass8]

Use a 50/50 mixture of Simple Green and hot water to soak internal parts and degrease them. Rinse /w warm water. 

[MN Fisher]

18 minutes ago, iabass8 said:

Use a 50/50 mixture of Simple Green and hot water to soak internal parts and degrease them. Rinse /w warm water. 

S.G. is what I use for all my cleaning - though I do a soak-and-swish in alcohol to get any remaining S.G. after...just to be sure.

[niiickboy]

Simple green is safe on plastics/magnetic brakes too? Also how do i clean magnetic brakes? just wipe down? And no oil/grease

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, niiickboy said:

Simple green is safe on plastics/magnetic brakes too? Also how do i clean magnetic brakes? just wipe down? And no oil/grease

Just make sure to dilute it - when I was 'fixing' scale models that needed re-work, I'd strip the paint off using Simple Green full strength. Drop the model in, let it sit for a couple days, and the paint would almost just slide off with no harm to the styrene.

 

Diluted and rinsed off fairly soon, it shouldn't do any damage to any part of the reel.

[Jigfishn10]

1 hour ago, swhit140 said:

If my reels become dusty or scummy throughout the season on the exterior I use a damp cloth on the exterior and give it a couple sprays with Meguiar's detailing spray on the exterior and wipe down with micro-fiber cloth.

And I thought I was the only one that used Meguiar's on my reels... ?

[Russ E]

1 hour ago, niiickboy said:

this? 

So i just spray it on and then use a toothbrush and wipe off with a cloth?

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Ardent_Reel_Kleen/descpage-ARRK.html?from=bshop&msclkid=fb46d74a9c1f1aa84ccb8887ac0ce539&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping - Fishing Accessories&utm_term=4580084407167486&utm_content=Shopping%3A Reel Care, Covers, Maintenance %26 Components

that is what i do

[iabass8]

1 hour ago, niiickboy said:

Simple green is safe on plastics/magnetic brakes too? Also how do i clean magnetic brakes? just wipe down? And no oil/grease

Yes, it's safe to soak plastics in. I don't personally use it anymore but it's fine to use. You don't need to do anything to clean magnetic brakes as long as there isn't an abnormal debris visibile on the inner rings. You can simple wipe them clean /w a qtip or swap and you're fine. I have a swap cut to size for various ring widths and wipe around the area to make sure it's clean. That's all you need to do. 

[GreenPig]

I use Dawn & a toothbrush to clean the plastic parts of my reels. Rinse the parts thoroughly with the spayer. All metal parts gets dropped in the Ultrasonic cleaner in a bath of acetone. Mag brakes I clean with a Q- tip or TP.

[Michigander]

Generally, it's considered highly dangerous to use flammable solvents in an ultrasonic cleaner unless the machine is designed to handle those low flashpoints. I have a cheap Harbor Freight one and would not use flammable solvents in mine as I rather like having a house.

[Johnbt]

I use a half a drop of Dawn in an ultrasonic cleaner I bought on Amazon for $35 two years ago. My wife thinks I bought it to clean her engagement ring.    

It's good for parts:   interior dimensions of 5.4" L x 3.6" W x 2.1" H

 

Magnasonic MGUC500 is the model.

[Bankc]

I use Dawn and an old toothbrush.  I have an ultrasonic cleaner, but I don't mess with it for anything on fishing reels other than bearings.  The advantage to an ultrasonic cleaner is it gets inside hard-to-reach places.  Once you've disassembled a reel, there's not much that's hard to reach, other than the insides of bearings (and even some of them can easily be taken apart, if you so desire).  

 

I do a lot of work on things like clocks and camera shutters.  Fishing reels aren't delicate and precise instruments.  You don't need to get crazy with cleaning them.  They're made to be abused, and the ones that aren't are cheap and made to be thrown away.  A Rolex demands you be thorough in your cleaning.  A Shimano will cut you a lot of slack.  So there's really no need for specialized tools, chemicals, and lubricants unless you're entering into a casting competition, and every fraction of an inch matters.  Otherwise, do the best you can with what you have, and that will likely be more than good enough.  

[txchaser]

I'll just point out a rookie move I made the other day. Mostly failure in attention to detail.

 

The acetone goes in a jar in the water, not directly in the ultrasonic unit.

 

[MassYak85]

Acetone for bearings THAT DONT HAVE PLASTIC CAGES FOR THE BEARINGS. And simple green for everything else. 

[papajoe222]

On 12/6/2020 at 2:13 PM, niiickboy said:

Simple green is safe on plastics/magnetic brakes too? Also how do i clean magnetic brakes? just wipe down? And no oil/grease

Just wipe them down with a damp cloth if you feel the need to.

[ike8120]

I know this thread is three years old,  has anyone ever used LA's Totally Awesome available from the dollar store. I know it works great around the house.

[MiceNReets]

On 12/6/2020 at 1:25 PM, niiickboy said:

 

Overall, is it okay/ good to use Dawn and does anyone use it for cleaning? 

yeah Dawn is pretty good.  I use it to wash my dishes.  Does a good job.