# Reel Cleaning After Trip ??



## Revelation (Sep 19, 2012)

When I get home from each trip I like to initially rinse lightly with water then dry off. later I like to pull the spool and clean then drop a drop of oil on the bearings and worm gear. 
Is there any spray I can use to help clean it further with out building up oil or grease to trap more dirt or grit ?? Hope this makes sense

Thanks


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## teeroy (Oct 1, 2009)

Revelation said:


> When I get home from each trip I like to initially rinse lightly with water then dry off. later I like to pull the spool and clean then drop a drop of oil on the bearings and worm gear.
> Is there any spray I can use to help clean it further with out building up oil or grease to trap more dirt or grit ?? Hope this makes sense
> 
> Thanks


Experts claim spraying water on the reel pushes more salt into the inside of the reel. It's not like spraying water will clean the insides, where the important stuff is.

I take my spool out and wipe the reel down real good. I clean hard to get spots with a q-tip. I typically use a 50mg and don't want it to corrode.

I would be careful about spraying it down with water. You can just wipe it down and use a q-tip and it'll be as effective.

Be sure to clean the ends of the spool off. The tolerances where the spool fits into the bearings are tight! No room for sand, salt, grit or oil. The spool spins best with dry and clean spool ends.


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## Hawglife (Mar 9, 2014)

teeroy said:


> Experts claim spraying water on the reel pushes more salt into the inside of the reel. It's not like spraying water will clean the insides, where the important stuff is.
> 
> I take my spool out and wipe the reel down real good. I clean hard to get spots with a q-tip. I typically use a 50mg and don't want it to corrode.
> 
> ...


We, nor shimano recommend spraying your reels off when your done. You can use a highly dilute solution of salt away and water to wipe down the exterior, some also use windex/water solution too. I learned to Maintain mine based off Shimanos website, what I do is what works for me, and may not work for some. I wipe the outside off with either water or the salt away solution, take a qtip and clean off hard to reach areas, take other side of q tip and remove most cotton then remove the spool and Get inside pinion to clean that up and give it a bit more shine if possible, drop a drop of oil on my two (or three) spool bearings, take a qtip and put a drop of oil on it and run it through the brake drum, and also put a drop of oil or dab of grease on the worm gear (level wind gear). I do this every trip or every three trips at least, depending on how the trip went. I never spray my small bait casters off, now If we're talking offshore gear then I'll spray those down gently and wipe them down, because they don't seem to be as finicky as the smaller bait casters due to the larger tolerances that they are usually built to.

-Joey


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## Chuck06R1 (Apr 7, 2015)

How often should you have your reels professionally cleaned?


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## Drundel (Feb 6, 2006)

Chuck06R1 said:


> How often should you have your reels professionally cleaned?


If you ever dunk it or feel it get really geary or doesn't cast worth a darn anymore.


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## Hawglife (Mar 9, 2014)

Drundel said:


> If you ever dunk it or feel it get really geary or doesn't cast worth a darn anymore.


x2, some of Brandi's customer's bring im in semi annually, anually, quarterly, it depends on how often you fish them, and if they get dunked, etc.... I would say Drundel nailed it though, it really is your preference, if you feel like it should be smoother, quiter, and cast further, then it is probably time for a cleaning.


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## Brandi @ ReelDeal (Mar 11, 2015)

Hawglife said:


> We, nor shimano recommend spraying your reels off when your done. You can use a highly dilute solution of salt away and water to wipe down the exterior, some also use windex/water solution too. I learned to Maintain mine based off Shimanos website, what I do is what works for me, and may not work for some. I wipe the outside off with either water or the salt away solution, take a qtip and clean off hard to reach areas, take other side of q tip and remove most cotton then remove the spool and Get inside pinion to clean that up and give it a bit more shine if possible, drop a drop of oil on my two (or three) spool bearings, take a qtip and put a drop of oil on it and run it through the brake drum, and also put a drop of oil or dab of grease on the worm gear (level wind gear). I do this every trip or every three trips at least, depending on how the trip went. I never spray my small bait casters off, now If we're talking offshore gear then I'll spray those down gently and wipe them down, because they don't seem to be as finicky as the smaller bait casters due to the larger tolerances that they are usually built to.
> 
> -Joey


@teeroy
@Drundel
@Hawglife

Yall nailed it! While you may think you're doing a good deed by rinsing your reels, you're ultimately flushing in a wealth of problems. Joey (Hawglife) gave you an example of our maintenance but as he stated, it works for us and may not work for everyone else. I'll also toss in that just because he's my husband, doesn't mean I clean his reels when he wants lol... so the routine maintenance he listed above gets him by until I can finally get to his reels for an overhaul. They're always in great shape when I break them down. If you want the best advice, go straight to the reel Gods lol Shimano. You could find an endless amount of baitcaster maintenance tutorials by Shimano on YouTube and pull some great tips from them.

Good luck!

Keep it reel,
ReelDeal Cleaning & Repairs
Brandi Saadeh-Moen
(832) 316-6460


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## Dan Thorburn (Dec 18, 2013)

You can use a hand spray bottle with a little bit of Windex and the rest filled with water. Maybe 10% Windex. This will help neutralize the salt. It also doesn't have enough force behind it to push salt inside the reel. 


If the reel is submerged it will have to be taken apart to clean it correctly. 


The rest of the tips posted are solid.


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## Cwedge (Oct 4, 2011)

*Cleaning Reels*

Send your reels to Brandi after every 6th or 7th trip. Unless you submerge a reel in the saltwater, then send it after that trip.

She knows what she is doing, does it promptly and does it at a fair price. Some things are just better to be outsourced. Cleaning reels is one of them.

Cliff


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## austinbrown504 (Aug 11, 2015)

i fish saltwater and after every trip i wipe my reels down with some soapy water, let them dry, and then wipe a very light coat of wd-40/marvel mystery oil mixture. and twice a year i take them apart completely, soak all metal parts in carb cleaner, then apply fresh shimano grease to everything and fresh reel-x to the spool bearings, worm gear, and brake drum(on my modern shimanos). its worked great for me


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