i need to clean my reel after a weekend on the water and i only have 91% alcohol to clean my reel. any other suggestions on what i should use to clean my reel?

I just use some Ardent Reel Degreaser when I clean my parts. After they've been thoroughly cleaned I apply grease to the gear, drag grease to the drag, and oil to the bearings. and spool shaft, and a few other places I think may need it.

However because you specified alchohol I assume you are talking about your bearings. I dont think its too high, but i'm not DVT, so I'll leave that to him

I just use some Ardent Reel Degreaser when I clean my parts. After they've been thoroughly cleaned I apply grease to the gear, drag grease to the drag, and oil to the bearings. and spool shaft, and a few other places I think may need it.

However because you specified alchohol I assume you are talking about your bearings. I dont think its too high, but i'm not DVT, so I'll leave that to him

no i'm just cleaning the inside of the reel, but i don't want i to mess anything up

I wouldn't use alchohol at all then

I wouldn't use alchohol at all then

then what do you recommend to get the gunk off of the inside?

Use some sort of cleanser (dawn, simple green, etc) and a toothbrush instead.

what do you mean by cleaning the inside of the reel? are you taking it apart,stripping it down & re-assembling? don't spray a "degreaser" in there and not service the gears/bearings afterwards.. you said you don't want to mess anything up,but once you open it and start stripping it down,just make sure it goes back together the way you started.

it may be overwhelming at first,but if you have the reel schematics/exploded view manual,sit down and take your time,open it up and lay the parts on a paper towel,wipe clean, and re-assemble it with some grease on the gear teeth and oil in the bearings.

better off leaving it alone and having a shop service it than just trying to clean out some old grease.there are some great shops on this site who will make it sing like a sparrow for a very fair price.

then what do you recommend to get the gunk off of the inside?

I recommend going to your nearest Gander Mountain or BPS and picking up an Ardent Reel Cleaning kit. It has everything you'll need, and they wont screw anything up.

I personally use Ardents reel service products and have been nothing but happy with it. I recently cracked open a reel that I had cleaned and lubed, after a year of using it (no cleanings), and it looked great. Just a minor bit of dirt near the pinion gear where the spool shaft rides

100% denatured alcohol would not hurt your reel but like POPRG said, the reel needs to be disassembled to be cleaned properly. Acetone is a better solvent for the bearings but you definetely don't want that to contact any plastic. You shouldn't need to clean the the reel after a weekend worth of use unless you're having problems. If you have symptoms post them I'll try to point you in the right direction. An annual cleaning should be sufficient in most cases with oiling of the bearings every 4 trips or so.