What Do You Use To Clean Reels?

[dulouz]

I have been using Ardent's Reel Kleen to clean my baitcasters and I have run out. I was wondering what other people use and if there was something better. I really don't like the smell of Reel Kleen, and it is expensive for what you get. Any suggestions?

[Packard]

Armor All

[Jig Man]

Outside I use Totally Awesome from Dollar General. Inside I use paper towels and Qtips. The bearings I soak in naptha before I reoil them.

[J Francho]

Dawn or Simple Green and a tooth brush.

[dulouz]

Dawn or Simple Green and a tooth brush.

I like the sound of that! And the smell too

[trevor]

Dawn and a toothbrush, some kind of strong solvent for the bearings. Reel Kleen is really nice stuff, though.

[J Francho]

Acetone works for bearings and some particularly grimy parts. Do not get it on painted or plastic parts!

[boystcroix]

I use Dawn in an ultrasonic cleaner and put bearings in acetone in glass vial then place them in ultrasonic.

[.RM.]

Birchwood Casey.® Reel Scrubber™ Solvent/Degreaser is a good...

[James Yalem]

Liquid wrench. I soak the small parts with it for about 5 minutes or so. It removes all the old grease and oil. Then I dry with toilet paper. The bigger parts I spray with it, clean hard to reach areas with old toothbrush and then dry with toilet paper. Then I reassemble reel with new grease and oil.

[dulouz]

Thank you everyone for all the great ideas.

[Crestliner2008]

Actually, I use WD-40 to spray away all the old grease. Then I run the open reel under warm water until it's all flushed out. Then I re-grease & oil, once everything is dry. Been doing this for a lot of years with a lot of reels.

[baluga]

I use a CRC brake cleaner w/ bearing blaster to blast out those gunk.

Should look like this when preparing.

Can be used with the shielded bearings but works better when the shields are removed

[.ghoti.]

I use Dawn, hot water and a toothbrush to clean everything except bearings. Occasionally I'll get an older reel, with a lot of crud and corruption in it, in which case all the metal parts are soaked in solvent before washing.

I prefer lighter fluid (naphtha) for bearings, and remove the shields when possible.

[J Francho]

I think removing the shields is a wash. They become easier to clean, but foul much more readily. Guys that remove their shields probably clean their bearings more often, though. So, it's a wash - get it?

[.ghoti.]

I think removing the shields is a wash. They become easier to clean, but foul much more readily. Guys that remove their shields probably clean their bearings more often, though. So, it's a wash - get it?

Clever.

That's why I brought this up in a different thread. I just started removing the shields. Doesn't take near as long to get the bearings clean, but those small Daiwa sideplate bearings are a PITA.

[pitchinthejig]

I use Dawn in an ultrasonic cleaner and put bearings in acetone in glass vial then place them in ultrasonic.

I do the same, it works awesome and eliminates most of the tooth brush scrubbing!!!

[J Francho]

I do the same, it works awesome and eliminates most of the tooth brush scrubbing!!!

I disagree. I always scrub by hand before resorting to US bath. Maybe that's the hard way, but it in my eyes, it's the right way. It also lets me inspect each and every part closely.

[.RM.]

I disagree. I always scrub by hand before resorting to US bath. Maybe that's the hard way, but it in my eyes, it's the right way. It also lets me inspect each and every part closely.

Our system is from Safety-Kleen.

I agree 100% with JF.

27yrs servicing and we hand scrub every part, as it is up-close and personally inspected.

Tight Lines All!

[Skeet22]

Is it a bad idea to put a small amount of grease on the inside of the anti reverse bearings?

[J Francho]

In many cases, yes. In others, no. You should start a new thread with a question like that.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

x2 -

Simple Green

hot water

hand scrub

acetone bath for bearings

carb cleaner spray for stubborn bearings