What is happening to my bearings?

I’ve been using several yoyos for about two years now. I’ve never lubed them or cleaned the bearings. My Surge and my ONE bot got a little responsive, but my Shutter, Echo, Protostar and Equilateral have been quite functionable for those two years (approximatly). Recently, I have cleaned all the bearings with lighter fluid and by scrubing the inside with a small piece of paper and lubed them with YoyoJam Thin Lube. After doing this the yoyos became very responsive. I already played with them for a while, but they still are as responsive. Before they were lubed they were playing almost perfectly.

What is happening the bearings? What should I do to make them unresponsive again?

Thanks!

you probably added too much lube. Even though it is thin lube, you only need half a drop for an entire bearing. you can either throw it really hard a bunch of times and break in the lube or clean it again and start over.

Even though they are old?

The paper method, you gotta be careful with that. Wondering if a chunk of your thin paper strip got stuck in the bearing. I’d reclean it from scratch, spin dry it, then give it some thin lube (just a single droplet). I did the paper cleaning method the other day and found that a small piece got stuck in there. I usually flick the bearing before I reassemble the yoyo to see if it feels smooth or not.

I use a sewing needle to lube my bearings. You only really need to put the tiniest drop in your bearing and using a sewing needle is a good way to make sure you don’t put to much.