Many of us hang up our gear during the winter months (ya ya ya I know about the endless summers some of you have
)
I have summarized how I clean my rods and reels during the year and year's end
Any suggestions as to what I might do differently or what I might have missed
THANKS and Happy New Year
If you drink, please take a taxi or ask a sober friend for a ride . . . we want to see you next year
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My rods are Chaos ST-50-100's and are equipped with rollers and an aluminium butt. My reels ate Shimano Tiagra 50 LRS wide two speeds.
For DAILY cleaning after fishing, the following takes about 5 to 6 minutes per rod
Lightly rinse the rod and reel with a very light low-pressure spray of fresh water . . . push the drag down a bit as it will prevent any water from going between the drag washers . . . this is a problem with some of the reels out there
Mix a very gentle liquid soap with lots of warm water. I prefer Dawn dishwashing soap as it is very soft on the hands and it is bio-degradeable . . . dry soaps like clothes washing soaps are granular and may scratch your gear, so I dont use them
Use a car washing mitt like the ones that look like they are covered with lambs wool . . . this will not scratch the rods and reels and will protect your hands against nicks etc . . . these mitts also hold lots of soapy water and makes washing easier
Rinse off the soap twice, once immediately after washing the rod, and then a second time about 3 minutes later (after washing the nest rod) . . . the double rinse ensures all soap is removed
Dry off the rod with a very very soft towel . . . make sure there is no grit or sand on the towel
For PERIODIC cleaning, after going fishing 3 or 4 times, the following takes 15 minutes per rod
Disassemble the rollers and quickly clean them with Corrosion X or a similar product . . . I remove as much of the Corrosion X as I can off of the exterior of the rollers
Remove the reel and butt and make sure everything is clean and corrosion free
I do not like the feel of Corrosion X and WD-40 and other similar products on my rods and reels, it is a personal thing so I protect my rods and reels with a layer of Woody Wax, I use a very soft cloth to do this
For ANNUAL cleaning, the routine I started this year:
Remove the line from the reel . . . discard any mono you may have on the reel . . . if you use spectra as a I do the line is good for many years, so save it and re-spool it after you have finished cleaning everything
Remove the reel and butt from your rod and disassemble the rollers on your rod
Clean the reels using the methods described by THTers like alantani . . . every reel is different . . . I remove the line so that I am sure that the spools are corrosion free
Disassemble the rollers and clean like stated above
Clean the reel seat, threads and nuts that hold the reel, rod and butt together
If you use spectra you can now re-spool your line but follow the recommendations to ensure that the line is wound on tight . . . if you use mono, wait till a later date to respool as your line will be fresher
Apply a generous layer of Woody wax on everything and store in a clean dry area
Year end cleaning of rods and reels 
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