I'm about to clean my reels and reoil them, but can't find my reel oil. I keep looking around and I can't find it anywhere and I see a can of WD-40 on a shelf.

So my question is, would it be bad to reoil it with WD-40?

Its not going to be one of my high end reels. just my revo s.

wd40 is not a good substitute for oil. its a solvent

It will work great if your goal is to absolutely FUBAR the reel.

what could be a good substitute, that could be laying in my garage somewhere?

what could be a good substitute, that could be laying in my garage somewhere?

Rem-Oil if you have any guns.

sewing machine oil.

Strawbery Jelly? but not Preserves...The seeds gunk up the gears...

but seriously....never WD-40

3-in-1 oil, or any other light machine oil would be fine. Heck, even fresh motor oil would be better than WD40.

The "WD" in WD-40 stands for water displacement, which is a fancy way of saying it gets rid of water. It is not intended to be a lubricant.

Side note - A lot of guys around here, especially the saltwater crowd, swear by WD-40 as a fish attractant. They spray it on their spoons and jigs. Haven't tried it myself yet, although I may give it a shot.

Don't bother tearing down your reels, unless you have the right stuff.  Most tackle stores have Abu oil and grease.  You could also simply order some better grease and oil from someone like Reel Mech.  It'll be there in about four days.

I agree with what's been said. However, if you are cleaning your reels and do not want to disassemble every gear, I've used WD-40 as a grease and dirt cutter. I take off a side plate. Spray the gears thoroughly with it and let it sit for a hour or so. Then I wash the insides out with a hard stream of hot water from the tap. Next I use a hair dryer on it and then proceed to grease and oil. Has worked for me for many, many years. JMO!

WD40 is an excellent solvent but it 's not a good long term reel lubricant.

Side note - A lot of guys around here, especially the saltwater crowd, swear by WD-40 as a fish attractant.

WD-40 is a petroleum product and pollutes the water. it is illegal to use as a fish attractant in many states.