As a general rule of thumb, I make sure that before I put a yoyo away, it has a nice clean bind and no knots are kinks in the string. That way it is good to go when I want to pick it up again. No one likes a surprise yoyo to the face.
Yeah, I do the same, although sometimes when I get a knot I just put the yo-yo down and pick up a new one. I leave the string unwound so I can see the knot.
This only backfires when my girlfriend thinks the unwound yo-yo “looks messy” and winds the string around the knot - So I get to test my reflexes every once in a while haha.
Yea in humid areas I’ve seen (pictures) of rust forming around the bearing when stored with the string on the yoyo.
Thankfully, living in the middle of California, I don’t have that issue.
Def always make sure the bind is clean and no knots.
As a general rule of thumb, I only stop using a yoyo when I get a very unpleasant knot. That way… every single spinning object I own is a disaster waiting to happen.
I like to make sure the last bind is clean and relaxed. Not a fast or hard bind. I do not want it to be overly tight as I have developed a belief that my strings last longer and stay healthier (slowing of string getting thinner over time) than those that I store long term (more than a week or two) with a super tight bind.
Putting it in neutral tension before hand is a good idea as well but I have never done it deliberately before storing one bag in the bag.