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I will clean the outside off by pressing and rotating on a terrycloth towel and then remove shields. I will soak in solvent and spin on end of a pencil till it is free of all the grit. I let them dry on a paper towel then use a light machine oil. I usually use air tool oil as it is designed for small super high speed bearings. three in one oil works well too. One thing to note is that if you just soak a dirty bearing you may end up with a worse situation due to wicking as stated in an earlier thread. best bet is remove shields and do it right. Even new bearings can benefit from cleaning and oiling as most are packed with grease which is more viscous than oil and will cause drag. I restore a lot of vintage kyoshos and 90 percent of bearings are good even after 20 years of hibernation,

I use an rpm bearing blaster with either motor spray or non chlorinated brake cleaner.

After using a pen or pencil to see which are good and bad, I'll take the good ones and soak them in marvel mystery oil for a few days. Wipe them down, and I use a few drops of tri flow before installation

I remove excess dirt using a cotton bud.

I also use a rpm bearing blaster with WD40 or GT85.

Wipe down with tissue paper.

Then apply a drop of Hudy bearing oil.

I try an use bearings....hassle ordering and waiting...if they are shot then I bin them

Cleaning bearings sometimes seems more trouble than it's worth, especially considering how cheaply they're made nowadays and how cheaply they can be replaced. Besides, with my aging eyes and fingers, I don't have the patience to be prying out clips and dust shields anymore.

That said, I'll usually give a token effort to clean them with a blast of motor spray and re-oil them. The best ones go in the transmission, the good ones go in the rear hub carriers and the front wheels get the leftovers since those are the ones that seem to get dirtiest quickest. Anything that's too far gone gets replaced.

I will use an X-Acto knife tip to remove a rubber shield, but I won't pry up metal shield tabs, because each time you do that, you stress and weaken the metal. I agree it wouldn't be worth that much effort, but if you have a pile of otherwise useable bearings, giving them a decent soak & clean saves them from the garbage. Cleaned & re-lubed bearings work perfectly fine for runners & bashers.

Here's my procedure:
Step 1. Lay the bearing on your workbench.

Step 2. Spray with brake cleaner and nozzle.

Step 3. Scream out in agony as the brake fluid reflects directly back into your eyeball.

Step 4. Dry the bearing with a clean towel and lubricate.

Repeat these steps for each bearing, or until you're legally blind, whichever comes first.

THEYTOOKMYTHUMB wrote:Here's my procedure:

Step 3. Scream out in agony as the brake fluid reflects directly back into your eyeball.......

Repeat these steps for each bearing, or until you're legally blind, whichever comes first.

It's true.

But I throw them in an old "spice" jar and put the shaker grate top thing back on. Then blast them with some electric motor or carb cleaner with tube nozzle through one of the shaker plate holes (careful with the shields here with the carb cleaner) til they are submerged. Put the lid on and give them a shwizzle shake. Let stand. Repeat shwizzle shake. Dump. Hold inverted and rinse out with cleaner. Refill. Repeat. Air or compressed air dry. One or two drops of light oil. Spin to distribute. Pat / squeeze / wick dry on paper towel. Spin test on pencil.

Mark