I have used oven cleaner in a spray can on furniture. Spray it on and leave it for an half an hour or more and then wash it off with a hose, always did this outside and then leave the furniture to dry out in the sun. It strips old varnish off and is cheap enough from pound shops. I used to sand and re varnish and end up with a fairly decent looking bit of furniture. Paint strippers were quite expensive and you didn’t get a lot of it for your money and as I was doing up quite a bit of furniture at the time it saved me a bit of money. Whether it’s any good or safe enough to use on a fishing reel or rod I wouldn’t know but possible I suppose, however, a warning, oven cleaner is a bit lethal so gloves, outside and up-wind was always best when I used it on furniture but maybe not too bad on a small item like a fishing reel or rod. But, as I say, never tried it on either so what the effect would be on carbon and split cane for examples I wouldnt know.
Coca cola and vinegar is used to clean up old coins although often best left alone but anything with acid in it works; whether it would actually strip paint I don’t know but again cheap to use. However, if dettol works it sounds like a gentler option. I believe oven cleaner has caustic soda in it as well but probably more of it so it might be quicker than dettol.