other things to use to clean a bearing?

i dont have acetone or mineral spirits, and i was considering using hydrogen peroxide or isopropl or ethel alcohol to clean it.
anybody use these before? i would prefer some people with past experience before i try this.

I would not recommend using the others you have listed. But there is another substance that works very well that you probably have.

Lighter fluid.

Works just as well, drop the bearing into a cup of lighter fluid for about 10 seconds, dry, add a drop of thin lube.

Done. Simple, and works great!

J.
:slight_smile:

I prefer mineral spirits, then dried, then acetone, then dried. Repeat. Then Terrapin X treat the bearing. Replace the shields, never look back!

I do not recommend the alcohol methods or the hydrogen peroxide.

I’m not a fan of lighter fluid, but it works great.

There’s this electrical contact cleaner spray that supposedly works good but in my experience it’s not all that great.

thanks, but it turns out my mom is making a trip to walgreens later and she said she would rather buy me acetone then let me break open a lighter. shell use it for her nail too!

maybe i could use soy sauce! :wink:

I use Carb Spray.

Don’t use acetone intended for cleaning nails. It contains stuff for treating the nails and it leaves that crap in the bearing.

She can use the Lowes/Home Depot stuff, or even WalMart:


http://www.lowes.com/pd_148711-78-QAC18_0__?productId=3377954&Ntt=acetone&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=


http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100144922/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=acetone&storeId=10051

The same brand makes the mineral spirits as well.

I would not recommend soy sauce. The problem is you’ll play for a while and be satisfied, then you’ll want to play again 30 minutes later.

Busting open a lighter is not wise anyways.

You want this:

What’s in a lighter is most likely butane, which can be a bit more flammable. You don’t want to bust that open.

im joking about the soy sauce studio its from a youtube video!

Me too. I saw the same video quite some time ago.

how’s that working for you? I got some at home.

I do too and it works great

Carb cleaner or brake cleaner works. I like Ronsonol lighter fluid. As Studio42 says, you don’t get lighter fluid from breaking open a lighter. Skip the drugstore acetone, it’s got other stuff in it that is not good for bearings

Electrical contact cleaner works.

I tried that stuff. I really didn’t find it helping as much as good soak in mineral spirits and acetone would provide for me.

I took a new bearing, and then cleaned it using the electrical contact cleaner and even after thorough drying and spinning, it wasn’t spinning as well. I went back to my normal methods to get it spinning as it did new again.

The other thing is that this stuff is useless with greasy bearings that come new in some yoyos.

All I will say is that it didn’t work out for me. It may work well for others. For me, I’ll stick with what I know works for me.

I have both a bottle of brake cleaner and electric contact cleaner. Both have a strong odor but work excellent on cleaning out the bearing. I’d probably refrain from using them indoors and refrain from using it outdoors on a breezy day (or atleast do with caution/use goggles/do it where overspray is blowing away from you).

Very well, in my opinion.

Its all I use. Make sure to get the “no residue” formula.

No soaking or shield removeing required. I just throw it spray it while spinning and the results are almost instant. Its safe for plastic and hasn’t hurt any pads or sili jobs. 1 can can last 4 to 5 months.

But don’t use it on any Terrapin X bearings. Test results were very poor on them.

Heed all label warnings.

I would suggest not using peroxide our alcohol. Neither work well at removing grease /oil and that is not there intended purpose. From my experience acetone works very well but so dies using simple dish soap and water followed by a very thorough drying with compressed air or a hair dryer set on low heat. Dish soap is formulated to remove and break down oils and the only caution is that you have to really dry the bearing well to avoid rust.

Typically I use acetone and a sonic cleaner but the dish soap method works well too.

Why don’t you just tie a string on a bearing an then open up your car’s gasoline can, dunk the bearing inside for a few times, let it dry, and then put it in your yoyo.
I’ve been doing this for like the last 2 years I think (literally, I use motorbike gasoline though), no problem at all, I’ve never bought a single new bearing so far.
I used to use petroleum oil though, and most people around here used either lighter oil (zippo) or paint thinner.

Air in a can works great, i think it’s called dust off, deshield the bearing, put the red straw near the ball bearings, press the can, and move in a circular motion over all the balls of the bearing. After that can you choose to reshield the bearing, or place a drop of thin lube in the bearing, whether you leave decide to reshield it or leave it deshielded is up to you, it’s all personal preference

I use my air compressor. Running 100 psi through it really cleans it out well.