never, NEVER, it will decompose, break down and eat the inside of your aluminum or pot metal real body, on steel it can attract condensation and salt water and cause rusting. Spinning reels have lots of moving parts, I like the old Conolon Silicote Grease and oil and use it exclusively and have for nearly 40 years on all my big reels. Its somewhat expensive and you could use an ounce on a reel with lots of case and gear space. However its alot like Bulldogs favorite soup, it retains its flexability forever, temperatures between minus 70 degrees and plus 200 degrees dont effect its consistancy much, its stable and at around $10 an ounce very cost effective.
Now Im gonna worry you some, depending on if its salt water use or fresh water and the degree of use. The reels I use alot, especially Salt Water are completely taken apart and cleaned and relubricated at the end of each season. Same holds true with the line on the spools, they are stripped, put on a 3 inch PVC pipe with lots of holes drilled through, washed in warm soapy dishwater, rinsed and let dry before respooling just before fishing season. The spools are cleaned carefully and waxed with a good automotive natural wax (Carnuba it breaths not Silicone based which doesnt) Ive been fishing some of the same and some really big salt water spinning reels like the Mitchell 498 for nearly 30 years and the reels are perfect and I have the pictures to prove it. On those big guys Im fishing 50# power pro braided, and some of those tuna go 100 pounds, so they are not lightly used outfits.
Same holds true for some my medium sized outfits, I like the smaller 396 pum european model reels and using the same Power Pro but now 20# for salmon, steelhead and strippers. In the semi small stuff I use the 406 Pum with again power pro 20# just a smaller spool capacity. I also use Cajun Red for my slighty lighter leader line (20-30ft) it streaches and you can avoid shock breaks at the take because the power pro doesn't streach. On teethy fish I use shorter 18Inch to 36 inch clear coated wire leaders and dont worry about the streach.
However in all cases my 408s through my 498s all are lubricated and cleaned in exactly the same way.
Richard

Toms got it right too,I use the hot sauce grease and oil on my fly reels exclusively, but they dont take much either, however the Garcia Silicote is similiar and designed for the same fishing reel applications, its not real cheap at $10 an ounce but its a bit cheaper than the hot sauce,thats why I use it on my high grease capacity spinning reels. The Hot Sauce is great by the way on big Conventional reels, they dont take alot of grease or oil like the big open cased and muti gear setups of the big spinning outfits.
Richard

I'm not qualified to dispute anyone's advice on this subject, although I was surprised to learn that lithium grease is dangerous for aluminum, since it is widely used on bicycle mechanicals, which are mostly aluminum, stainless steel, and plastic--warning duly noted. I also didn't know that auto bearing grease (the thick red stuff, I presume) was a problem, as I've used it for decades on click/pawl fly reels, with great results. It stays in place on hot runs, doesn't absorb any appreciable moisture, and tones down noisy clickers--all things that you'd want for your wheel bearings. I've never used it on spinning or casting reels, however, as it's way too thick for finely-cut, multiplying gear drives. The stuff in Silicote, Hot Sauce, and other reel lubes must be available under other names, though. I really doubt that the worldwide production of fishing reels is large enough to encourage any lubricant producer to make even one product just for them, or that there aren't other similar mechanical applications for these products. That's not to say that reel manufacturers didn't canvass the available formulations to find those best-suited to the operation, environment, and materials of fishing reels. At $1 per ounce, though, if I needed to re-pack a lot of reels every year, I think I'd find suitable alternatives in larger containers at a cheaper rate!
-CC

What about Lubriplate #105 multi-purpose grease?

Composition:
heavy hydrotreated napthenic distillates (petroleum), 85-90%
fatty acid, 5-10%
zinc oxide, 0-5%
calcium hydroxide, 0-1%
zinc dibutyldithiocarbamate, 0-1%
sodium hydroxide, 0-1%

I've been using this on my spinning reels for several years without any noticeable adverse effects, but am open to any expert opinion.

sodium hydroxide is great for bronze and steel, but is essentially the same alkali that lithium grease can break down to to cause corrosion of aluminum

I've used many greases and Hot Sauce is the best, hands down. It always remains soft, and never breaks down to wax and acid. I used to swear by Daiwa blue, but it's waxy and stiff after a year - this never happens to Hot Sauce


With all the reels I lube - mine and other peoples' that come through my shop, I use about $20 of Hot Sauce per year.

the corrosion on the reel in this photo
http://clarksclassicflyro ... ly/110913/t/storage-.html
was probably related to rotting line, but it's kind of a no-brainer - use products that you know will be nice to your valuable vintage reels.

Amen to that, although I am guilty as charged.