I have had to start cleaning my bearing about once a week because I keep losing spin time.
Is that normal?
It’s an older bearing, but it still seems like that is way to often.
Also, I don’t keep it shielded, but I don’t open it up that much either.
That’s not normal; one cleaning should last over a year if you keep the bearing away from dirt and grime.
You should just be able to clean it in mineral spirits, add a drop of lube, and it’ll be good to go.
Otherwise, you might just need a new bearing.
Yeah I was afraid of that.
At least it’s not my yoyoing 
I would love to know how to make a bearing cleaning last a year. I keep my stuff clean but I end up cleaning at least twice a month.
Mine spin fine and it’s been almost 2 years. I just never unscrew my throws I guess.
I rarely clean my bearings more than once a year. Usually when I get them and seldom after that. If a yoyo hasn’t been used in a long time it will probably get cleaned and fresh lubed. Lube as required.
I think people obsess over bearing cleaning and “care”.
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Well this bearing is a couple years old. But it really hasn’t seen a lot of action.
I don’t know that a bearing lasts a year for me without cleaning. Mostly because I’m not satisfied with “it sounds like crap but seems to be playing OK”. I need my bearings quiet and smooth-sounding in order to match them up with my lifestyle (ie. playing yoyo around my wife). If they start to sound crunchy, it’s lube time… and that crunchy sound is often from some small debris that would probably be “worked through” but I don’t bother. I just clean it and lube it. Takes all of 5 minutes to do a single bearing. If I’ve stockpiled a few (which I tend to do) it’s the same amount of time distributed across X bearings. A clean and quiet bearing is worth a minute of my time.
Even with this “regular maintenance” approach, a bearing goes for many months between cleanings. Not mere weeks.