Didn’t mean flick spin, I meant throwing the yoyo and it sleeping 30 seconds. Sorry for the confusion.
Also, not trying to start arguments or be hostile. I have a lot of experience with bearings and cleaning methods etc. and thought I could add something to this thread and possibly correct some misinformation, that’s all. Sorry if I came off as a troll.
Oh, makes a lot more sense. Do you clean with solvents? Try using dish soap and water, then blow out.
Who uses the lighter fluid method?
Most people? ???
How the bearing spins when you flick it means just about nothing.
There is a correlation between flick spin time and sleep time, but it’s probably a pretty loose correlation when used to compare bearings. I’d wager .2 < p < .6 where p is the pearson correlation coefficient.
Somebody send me a couple hundred high end bearings and I’ll test the correlation coefficient scientifically 
I don’t. I want my bearing quiet and smooth, and 70% of my bearings fells my test after 10 months. I do use mineral spirits btw.
Speedsolving is way way worse.
Steve Brown hasn’t been with yyf since February so he has nothing to gain promoting the gold ct. I’d take his word on this one.
wait…wait… WUT Steve Brown is gone off team?
I don’t think so, to be honest. That video of him with a Shutter that just popped up does say Steve Brown-YoYoFactory.
Maybe, though. I don’t know anything. I guess EYYC was in February so things may have changed.
Steve said so on Instagram. He is currently with out a sponsor.
Gosh you guys are really obsessed with steve, i just wanna talk more about bearings.
I will find the ultimate cleaning and lubing method!! Future testing to come
Speedsolving was one of the worst forums I’ve been a part of, and their IRC was always itching for a fight. YYE is a dream compared to this.
I got some advice from Frank Difeo a long time ago concerning the cleaning of his bearings and what he told me is what I have been doing for quite some time with great success.
I use Simple Green in an UltrasSonic Jewelry cleaner with my bearings for 5 minutes. Shields off of course. The simple green can be diluted 50/50% with water if you want. I then rinse them off with acetone & blow dry them with canned air all while spinning them at the end of a wooden chopstick. This works with bearings that are really gunked up as well as just lightly dirty. I’ve even saved some bearings that were heading for the trash using this method.
To finish up, while still spinning dry on the end of the chopstick, I put a half a drop of VM4 in the spinning bearing and hit it once more with the canned air to evenly disperse the lubricant.
Not saying this is the best way to clean bearings, I’m just saying this is what I do to clean bearings and I’m quite pleased with the results.
Do remember though that the YoYoFactory Gold Center Tracks Do Not get lubed.
I used to skateboard for years. It seems like I tried all the methods of cleaning precision bearings that there are. Some worked better than others, but when the lubrication breaks down - usually earlier and earlier - the time and energy spent on this type of maintenance becomes somewhat self-defeating in that the more time you spend cleaning them; the more time you WILL spend cleaning them.
The most efficient method I have found so far, is to just throw old ones away and put a new one in. I mean; how valuable is your time? If you truly get a thrill out of bathing in potentially toxic chemicals and wasting your time mucking about with simplistic machines like bearings; then by all means have at it. But to me; this is just not a good way to spend an afternoon. I would rather be yo-yoing instead
Is all of the materials/effort worth 4 bucks?
$4.00 ??
Who the heck uses $4.00 bearings ?
I invest my time because the bearings have value that make the two or three minutes I invest in cleaning them worth my time.
If you wish to use equipment that you do not value in that way,…Fine by me.
I place the bearing in a small glass bearing jar with watertight lid, filled with acetone. Then I put water into an ultrasonic cleaner. Then I place the jar filled with acetone + bearing in the ultrasonic bath and run it for about 5 minutes. Then I remove the jar, remove the bearing with tweezers and blow out the acetone/debris with a compressed air can with a nozzle.
It’s the best method I’ve tried and I’ve tried a lot. There are probably better methods but the better you want it cleaned, the more equipment and chemicals you need, plus time. At a certain point there’s diminishing returns.
Lab grade ethanol would be better than acetone, then rinse with isopropyl before drying. But 100% ethanol is hard to find without additives and super expensive.
Lol I have an account there but I haven’t even posted there because of all the arguments and hate that I’ve seen on there.on there.