Alright so I know keeping a yo yo in good shape can be kinda tricky without lube or the specific yoyo lube like yoyojams that you think you can only us that. This is false there are some great alternates that great to use just around your house. here are some of my favourite that are my favourite to use instead of a small bottle of that yoyojam lube stuff.
sewing machine oil- singer especially is great to get a yoyo bearing unresponsive again. However a con is it does not quiet down the bearing which some of you like a quiet bearing. But do not sewing machine oil in a bearing with no shields it will mess up how fast it plays. On the bright side the stuff is dirt cheap at Walmart and get a huge bottle for it. Used it on my YYJ inspire and it works amazing.
Blue Juice trumpet valve oil- valve oil is so a trumpet can move smoothly this is great if you want more response in a yoyo if your new at yoyoing. Also If you use a different brand it will either be thicker or thinner depending on it.
gun oil- if you do shotgun or something you know it is important that your gun doesn’t jam. this helps yoyos as well as a yoyo bearing to be unresponsive.
mineral spirits, acetone and lighter fluid- all very common in the yoyo world. all work great but it can be hard sometimes to obtain these if you don’t know where to look That and aren’t usually sold at stores. These are not lubes they just help keep our bearing clean.
if you have anything to say let me know or want to add something let me know.
Unless you are 100% positive that you can completely dry your bearings, using water is a terrible idea. Patting it dry will not remove all of the water. If you don’t remove all of the water, it can rust your bearings. It’s better to just avoid water altogether.
Bones reds longboard/skateboard lube is sold in a 6oz bottle for 6 bucks it has the same viscosity as thin lube and has six times more for the price.
Hope that helps
I personally just use a bottle of V4M, its not that expensive, and one bottle will last me years, for me its easier to just get some of that while getting strings then to travel to a music store for trumpet valve oil, or to try to find sewing machine oil etc. YMMV
“Getting a bearing unresponsive again” isn’t the intended purpose of lubricating. In most cases, lubrication will make your bearing responsive at least at first, unless you use very small amounts.
You would clean your bearing to help get it unresponsive again. It’ll be at its most unresponsive when it’s dry! However, many of us prefer lubing for a variety of reasons, and view the “responsive” phase (doesn’t take that long to break in) as an acceptable trade.