Blog · 2026-05-21

Your bearings are not dead

Almost every set thrown away for being slow was simply full of grit.

A skateboard bearing is a steel race, a set of balls, a cage and a shield. Nothing in that list wears out quickly. What kills a bearing is contamination: dust, sand and water get past the shield, mix with the lubricant into a grinding paste, and the whole thing seizes into something that sounds like a coffee grinder.

Cleaning them is fifteen minutes. Pop the rubber shields off with a pin, drop the bearings into a jar of isopropyl alcohol, shake the jar, and leave them a few minutes. Dry them completely, because any water left inside will rust the races within a day. Then two drops of oil each, no more, and press the shields back on.

Use oil rather than grease. Grease lasts longer but drags noticeably, and a bearing packed with it will never feel fast. Two drops of a light oil will get you a month of hard use and takes seconds to top up.

The exception is a bearing that has already rusted or lost a shield. Once the race is pitted, no amount of cleaning brings the speed back, and you are better off replacing the set. That is what the Daily Steel set exists for.