Clean Skateboard Bearings CORRECTLY

BEARING CLEANERS AND LUBRICANTS I RECOMMEND AVOIDING:
WD-40 and similar products
ALL Cooking oils
Soaps with citrus scents/fragrance
Dish soap
Hand soap
ANY Wood polish, Wood oil, or Wood cleaner
Acetone
White Spirits
Paint thinner
Turpentine
Laundry detergent
Bathroom cleaners
Kitchen cleaners (anything that is not citrus cleaner
Orange Soap (too thick, diluting won't work)
Pine Cleaners
Teflon
Silicone

HOW TO CLEAN SKATEBOARD BEARINGS:

Remove Bearings Covers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXmZhfvH9y0

In this video you'll learn:
How to clean skateboard bearings
How to make a skateboard bearing cleaning kit
How to lubricate skate bearings

To remove skateboard bearing shields or seals watch the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXmZhfvH9y0

Before you begin cleaning skateboard bearings it is best to see if the bearings are worth cleaning first. Sometimes bearings get too damaged and are better off replaced than trying to clean them.

Tools:
Bearings Cleaning Kit
Solvent. We use citrus cleaner.
Hair drier
Cooking tongs (not necessary)

You can throw bearings in an empty plastic bottle with some cleaner but this method is not as effective as a kit.

Bearing Cleaning Kits
The easiest way to clean bearing is with a bearings cleaning kit. I recommend the Oust kit because it's compact and comes with cleaner inside.
The Bones bearing cleaning kit is OK and available at most shops, but you can make your own for less money. Read below for instructions.

Cleaners and Solvents
We use citrus cleaner as our solvent/cleaner for cleaning skateboard bearings. It's typically less than $5 for a bottle.

We highly recommend staying away from dangerous cleaners that people use carelessly in other tutorials. These dangerous and hazardous solvents are turpentine, acetone, mineral spirits, gasoline, butane, paint thinner, kerosene, etc.
Your chemicals can be absorbed through your skin and get into your blood stream.

If you have to resort to this stuff to clean bearings, your skate bearings are obviously too corroded to save.

Why citrus cleaner
The majority of citrus cleaners are safe. Most of them have no warning label for health hazards. They usually say to avoid contact with the eyes (of course), and that it might irritate the skin.

Citrus cleaners are made with orange oil and it works by using a natural solvent called terpenes. This hydrocarbon is mostly made of about 90-95% d-limonene. D-limonene does the work of dissolving stuff.

Parts for a bearing cleaning kit:

1/4" x 6" rod coarse thread (or whatever fits the length of the bottle inside).
1/16" OD x 1/4" ID x 3/32 O-Ring (this is the black gasket/ring. Basically 1/4" ring as thick as a toothpick)
1/4" Washer
1/4" Nut, coarse thread
1/4" Spacers cut from a ball-point pen
1/4" Wing-nut, coarse threads

Steps to assemble a bearing cleaning kit:
1. To assemble the bearing kit start by cutting a small hole in the lid/cap of the bottle. The hole needs to be just big enough for the 6 inch rod to go through.
2. Put the gasket/black ring on the rod.
3. Put the rod through the lid/cap of the bottle.
4. Put the washer on.
5. Tighten the nut down to the bottom of the lid/cap.
6. Cut 1/4" pieces of a ball point pen sleeve for spacers.
7. Place bearings on the rod with 1 bearing spacer between each bearing. (remove seals or shields first).
8. Hand tighten the wing-nut until the bearings are nut on the rod.
9. Fill the bottle 1/3 with citrus cleaner.
10. Place the bearings in the bottle and tighten the lid.

Directions for cleaning with a kit
1. Remove bearings shields/seals first. See how here (link).
2. Wipe off dirt on the bearings and shields/ seals.
3. Assemble kit.
4. Fill the container about 1/3rd of the way with cleaner.
5. Insert bearings.
5. Shake the kit for a couple minutes.
6. Takes the bearings out (leave on the rod).
7. Tap the bearing on a hard surface to remove contaminants.
8. Repeat shaking for couple minutes (repeat steps 5,6,7 if needed).
9. Since bearings off in very hot water (keep them on the rod. This removes the cleaner. IT IS PERFECTLY OK.)
10. Immediately blow-dry your bearings to remove all the water. Use cooking tongs if bearings are too hot to hold in your hand.
11. Lubricate each bearing with about 1-2 drops of thin lubricant. We like electronic oils and sewing machine oils.

Some people have their own cleaning methods. In our experience these are the tools, methods and products that we believe work best.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Cleaning skateboard bearings
• How to Clean skate bearings
• How to
• skateboard maintenance
• skateboard repair
• skate bearings
• skateboard wheels
• bearing lubricant
• bearing lubricating
• bearing lube
• fixing skateboard bearings
• fix bearings
• rusty bearings
• bearing cleaning kit
• bearing kit
• Abec 1
• abec 3
• abec 5
• abec 7
• abec 9
• ceramic bearings
• Oust bearings
• oust cleaning kit
• Bones bearing kit
• WD-40
• citrus cleaners
• rusty
• bearings

[24ARDAcubs]

i rusted my bearings by cleaning it with water and then a blow dryer not knowing it will rust, then when i figured out it rusted i put wd 40. it made it better but when i ride it, it seems a little restricting when i ride it and feels weird. if u think u can help me make it normal again please tell me, Thanks and please reply.

[skateboardtech]

@24ARDAcubs Well, now you know first hand that water and steel don't mix well. WD40 won't fix bearings. Sure it can remove some rust on the surface but it won't take away the damage that rust already caused. Of course the bearings are going to seem a little "restricting" because WD40 is not a lubricant. At this point the only thing to do is put in some good lubricant. This won't fix the problem completely because the bearings are already ruined.

[alex123455916]

can u use wd40

[skateboardtech]

@alex123455916 read the description or go to RatVisionDOTcom and click equipment under info.

[game4life12]

acetone gets the job done better than citrus cleaners. even bones bearings website says to use acetone

[skateboardtech]

@game4life12 Yeah you're right acetone can do a good job. You also didn't notice that Bones' website also says, "Solvents we recommend are Acetone, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Citrus cleaner, and Denatured alcohol." Did you see citrus cleaner in there? MEK is no longer sold in the USA, and everything else is a dangerous chemical that I don't recommend kids using. Citrus cleaners work perfectly and are very safe for a kid at almost any age to use. Most are so safe that a child could drink it.

[skateboardtech]

@johnyboypotter97 I don't do anal, but from what I have heard you need a lot of it. For bearings use Astroglide instead. And wear protection. Personal lubricants are completely different.

[jacobcurry14]

Can i use fishing reel oil

[thowell33]

I tried to clean bearings once but with water.

[skateboardtech]

@egorja With a comment like that you appear to be under 20 because everyone older is usually thought of to be in their 40's. I'm 32.