Sailing things right

About a week ago, when I got dinghy delivered along with the outboard and fuel canister, I found that canister still holds a little fuel, however unusable, since it's over 3 years old.
But fuel is fuel, and its relationship with oil and grease shouldn't change a lot over the years.
So I decided to clean and grease my winches properly this time. Past time I was able to clean them only mechanically.
This time I submerged all parts into the fuel and cleaned with the toothbrush.
Got 149% better revolution ease and inertia on two winches that already got the proper service.

At the photo: amount of dirt and old grease cleaned up from these two winches.