I need to clean and lube my baitcaster. I would like to do it today while it is storming but I am having trouble locating reel oil and grease in my area. It there a substitute that will work for each?

Any tackle shop should have it.  Even wall mart carries several kinds here. 

2 minutes ago, FordsnFishin said:

Any tackle shop should have it.  Even wall mart carries several kinds here. 

You would think wouldn't you. Just not around here.

If you have bought new reels and still have the boxes you might check them. Alot of times the company will send little sample tubes of the oil and grease. 

As for alternatives,  I'm not real sure as ive never had to use one. I'm sure someone else will chime in. 

 

Good luck

There's nothing special about "reel" oil. Marine grease on gears, 80-140 gear oil on level wind , non spool bearings and sliding parts, 3in1, Remoil or sewing machine oil for spool bearings. 

I would think any place that sells guns should have something you can use.  

Thanks guys

Order some from Bass Pro

Anything but the red crap.  Nothing but hype, and some reel servicers charge extra because it contaminates their cleaning fluid.  Sewing machine oil is designed for precision machinery, so as DVT says, it is a good choice for the areas that are appropriately lubed with oil.

2 hours ago, MickD said:

Anything but the red crap.  Nothing but hype, and some reel servicers charge extra because it contaminates their cleaning fluid.  Sewing machine oil is designed for precision machinery, so as DVT says, it is a good choice for the areas that are appropriately lubed with oil.

Really , I have the red crap . Red grease too . I got suckered again .

The best grease I've found is Superlube, which is a PTFE fortified wheel bearing grease sold in 400 gram cans at NAPA auto stores.  A can is virtually a lifetime supply for greasing gears and other internal parts of baitcasters.  It's white, has no dye, has medium viscosity for a grease, is very slick, and lasts a long time.  But you need to use a dedicated drag grease on drag disks (not all drags use grease, of course) and not regular grease.  I use Shimano ACE2 drag grease but there are others.  Drag greases need to be thicker and stickier, and are usually based on cosmoline.  Penn Muscle grease is another brand.

Hot Sauce is the "Bees Knees"

2 hours ago, thirtysixit said:

Hot Sauce is the "Bees Knees"

Save that stuff for food.

A few years ago on another forum, a material scientist ran tests on a number of popular reel oils.  Quantum Hot Sauce came out very well in the test because it maintains its low viscosity and lubricty in a wide range of temperatures, unlike many oils.  That's great if you can stand its red dye which migrates with the oil all over the inside of your reel.  I can't so hate the stuff.  Rem Oil was also good but has very low viscosity which means it will migrate more quickly out of a bearing than many other oils, requiring more frequent oiling.  3 In One was also very good but also has low viscosity.  It's a trade off between viscosity and how often you will need to oil a bearing.  The thinner the oil, the faster a bearing will spin but the quicker you will need to re-oil the bearing.