Hello,
So I recently have gotten back into yoyo-ing after 2 years. However, my cascade and halo are much louder now. Should I just clean the bearings with lube or are mineral spirits necessary? Or should I replace them?
You can clean the bearings in mineral spirits, being sure to remove the shields. I’d also give them a drop of lube each after they dry before playing them. (There’s no such thing as cleaning with lube, it’d just thicken the bearing up and make it responsive haha 
)
You could always just purchase a couple new bearings if you’d like as well.
Yah, I’d definitely clean it with Mineral Spirits and then do some Thin Lube action to it. Especially if the Yo-Yo was exposed to the Elements and collected dust or dirt particles, that can really affect your Yo-Yo’s performance.
As mentioned above, if all else fails you can just get a new C Bearing. The YYE has Golden Plated Center Tracs, now. ;D
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Also, does the OD Thin Lube expire? I’m not sure if the one I had from 2 years ago is still good for use.
BTW, the yoyos and lube have been sitting in a box during the 2 years. I have only opened it once during that period.
I’ve had my OD lube for more than 2 years and I still use it. It works fine. You can try lubing the bearing without cleaning it. Most of the time, cleaning the bearing isn’t necessary.
Even in a box, if untouched for 2 years it’s possible there’s some tiny amounts of pitting on surfaces in your bearings; either the races or the balls.
If you have the solvents on-hand, nothing wrong with trying a cleaning first. But you may need to replace.