Using hot water and a toothbrush should do the trick for cleaning the reels.
The thing with sticky reels is that friction gradually increases as you spool the film.
The chemicals all dissolve perfectly in water, so there's no need to soap-up the reels and tanks. Besides, after the final rinse, don't you think enough water has flowed in the equipment to get it clean?
As for the drying agent, I started doing what one of us once posted about (it could be Peter's trick, I don't remember). I dilute ,in a spray bottle, the photo-flo with distilled water. To make sure there's no bacteria left, I rinsed-out the bottle first with alcohol and let it dry a bit. So far, no bacteria seems to have grown in the mix.
When I'm finished washing the film, I take the reel out of the water, give it a little tap to remove the excess and put the film on the clips. Then, I drizzle the film with photo-flo. I use my fingers to squeegee out the excess. So far, not a scratch to be seen.
As for the tank, you can seal it with black silicone. You could also use a piece of aluminum duct tape. This stuff is pretty much indestructible!
