Water to clean bearings, really? Well yes, some people do opt for water to clean their bearings. But won’t that just rust them? If you are careful and work with it appropriately, water should not have any immediate adverse affects on your skate bearings.

General comments on water for bearing cleaning

The Good

• Reasonably safe if you handle it appropriately.
• Environmentally friendly
• Cheap

The Bad

• Water will promote corrosion and rust in your bearings if used inappropriately. Do not leave your bearings in water for extended periods
• Safety concerns are a factor when using water to clean your bearings since you need to boil and bake them. The water, your bearings and the equipment you use for this will be hot with the potential to severely burn you.

Safety

In using water to clean you are going to be working with heat sources, hot equipment, boiling water and hot bearings. These all have the potential to cause major burns to humans and animals. Be very careful handling bearings, equipment and hot water.

Also consider that the whatever is cleaned out of you bearings could be hazardous to humans. Do not use cookware that will also be used for food. Use pots/pans/trays that will never be used for food preparation.

Ideally you should also use equipment (stove/oven) that is not going to be used for food prep either. Having a workshop toaster oven and portable electric stove is a good option for this. Please also consider the fire hazard this could cause if you do have one in your workshop. If you opt for a camping or portable gas stove you must use it outdoors only.

Using Water To Clean Your Skate Bearings

Here are some typical steps for cleaning your bearings using water: