Based on this description, it sounds like maybe it has nothing to do with your bearings. I’ve never had unresponsive bearings make my yoyos responsive, but new pads and a thick string combined with a non-perfect throw often results in the yoyo coming back unexpectedly.
If you’ve never used Permatex Ultra Gray instead of standard pads, you might want to give that a try. It could be that your unwanted responsiveness isn’t due to the bearing. I have several hundred yoyos and have only thrown away about 5 bearings. I’m just stating that for perspective, as my cleaning routine sounds a lot like yours, but I only very rarely have to throw away a bearing. And I’ve bought dozens of extra bearings, from the cheap Az ones to NSK and Pixels.
For me, at least, a small portion of the new yoyos that I buy are often a bit too grippy for me (I guess I’m on team slippy!) If they’re still that way after a few hours of play, I rip out the pads and apply the Permatex. I’ll often set some yoyos aside, then do the Permatex in batch mode and do several yoyos at the same time. That’s always fixed the problem of a yoyo being too grippy to the point where it accidentally binds on me. Additionally, that gives me more leeway with which types of string I can use with it. That’s another big bonus, as then I can use fatter strings with it, but it still plays well with thinner strings.