# Water Cleaning Beaings **URL:** \ **Category:** Yo-Yo Mods and Maintenance\ **Created:** [January 20, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033 "2012-01-20T05:04:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NoobTryingHard55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@NoobTryingHard55](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/NoobTryingHard55)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/1 "2012-01-20T05:04:17Z")
What kind bearings are stainless steel? Here are a list of the bearings: just reply yes or no to each one One drop 10 ball Center trac Konkave (Not ceramic) Spec Crucial grooved ---
**Author:** ![jhb8426](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/jhb8426/32/631_2.png) [@jhb8426](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/jhb8426)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/2 "2012-01-20T05:30:22Z")
Quite a few of them are. Doesn’t matter though because SS will rust too, just not as fast as plain carbon steel. ---
**Author:** ![anonyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@anonyo](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/anonyo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 7:19am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/3 "2012-01-20T07:19:12Z")
True. All steel. Ideally, don’t clean it with water. I know some people use hot water and Dawn to clean bearings. I just don’t recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![PlasticWhip](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/plasticwhip/32/896_2.png) [@PlasticWhip](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/PlasticWhip)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/4 "2012-01-20T13:01:36Z")
It works if you force the water to evaporate faster than it does normaly and make sure you play it for about 30 min afterwords… ---
**Author:** ![YoYoExpert](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/yoyoexpert/32/71258_2.png) [@YoYoExpert](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/YoYoExpert)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/5 "2012-01-20T13:11:14Z")
All of those should be stainless steel. But we would not recommend cleaning them with water. Water does not actually ‘clean’ a bearing very well… ---
**Author:** ![skitrz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/skitrz/32/849_2.png) [@skitrz](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/skitrz)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/6 "2012-01-20T13:57:32Z")
Many bearings come with oil already applied. Oil and water don’t mix well at all. Even if you discount the rust issue there are better options for cleaning a bearing. You want to use something that can easily remove old oil residue as well as the contaminants in it. This will more effectively clean the bearing with the added benefit of reducing the chance of rust. I would highly discourage the use of water to clean a bearing. ---
**Author:** ![fjh123](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/fjh123/32/325_2.png) [@fjh123](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/fjh123)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/7 "2012-01-20T22:12:51Z")
When doing a bunch of chrome steel bearings I wash them first with dish soap and water It gets most of the oil off without polluting the other solvents ---
**Author:** ![yoyospirit](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/yoyospirit/32/219875_2.png) [@yoyospirit](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/yoyospirit)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/8 "2012-01-20T22:20:00Z")
Never wash a bearing with soap and water. I don’t know what kind of treatment fjh123 gives his bearings after but never attempt to use soap and water on stainless steel or regular chrome steel. This is coming from experience, I’ve broke around 3 bearings using soap and water, 2 were stainless steel. ---
**Author:** ![Justin77](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/justin77/32/950_2.png) [@Justin77](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Justin77)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/9 "2012-01-20T23:12:44Z")
I would use lighter fluid; it works great for me! ;D ---
**Author:** ![scyshc](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/scyshc/32/658_2.png) [@scyshc](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/scyshc)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/10 "2012-01-21T00:23:51Z")
if you want to use a chemical thats not as dangerous as mineral sprits try using a nail polish if you go to walmart or any other places they have those ones that have tiny amounts of water and lots of alcohol use it as you would use mineral sprits but some kind of lube is a must and play with it for a little while ---
**Author:** ![fjh123](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/fjh123/32/325_2.png) [@fjh123](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/fjh123)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/11 "2012-01-21T02:11:38Z")
> [@yoyospirit](#): > > Never wash a bearing with soap and water. I don’t know what kind of treatment fjh123 gives his bearings after but never attempt to use soap and water on stainless steel or regular chrome steel. This is coming from experience, I’ve broke around 3 bearings using soap and water, 2 were stainless steel. It is just the first step. I have done thousands of bearings… ---
**Author:** ![genji](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/genji/32/1027_2.png) [@genji](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/genji)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/12 "2012-01-21T13:04:37Z")
The closest thing to water, that even just has a very very tiny bit in it, would be Isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) and you can clean your bearings with it, but get the 93% or 99% (99% obviously having the least amount of water in it) and I would use a very small drop of thin lube, just because it’s not mineral spirits. It still does the job in cleaning a bearing. Also, some people swear by Electrical Contact Cleaner, there is a whole thread on it somewhere on here. ---
**Author:** ![jhb8426](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/jhb8426/32/631_2.png) [@jhb8426](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/jhb8426)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 6:25am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/13 "2012-01-22T06:25:09Z")
> [@fjh123](#): > > It is just the first step. > I have done thousands of bearings… OK, then enlighten us. You’ve been preaching this all over, now give us the details so we can quit asking this silly question over and over, and save you from posting that you do it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![agentone001](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/agentone001/32/535_2.png) [@agentone001](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/agentone001)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/water-cleaning-beaings/34033/14 "2012-01-22T06:58:33Z")
Cleaning a bearing with water is an utter mistake. I remember I had a Markmont Project beater and I traded it for a mint Torrent II (great deal isn’t it?) at a yoyo meet in Santana Row. At the place we were throwing at, we had a fountain nearby. I got the idea of walking the dog over water because of a yoyoing picture I saw a while ago. When we walked it over water, it lost a lot of spin time. The person I traded with ended up changing the bearing.