Soaking sealed bearings in Chem-Dip is not advisable as even very small amounts of ingress can cause problems and lead to premature failure, because there are non-volatile components in the cleaner that will forever remain inside the bearing. A safer alternative would be to spray carburetor cleaner such as B-12 Chemtool Carburetor, Choke & Throttle Body Cleaner (part #0117) onto a soft, clean cloth or towel and wipe the bearing down by hand. If the bearing is too dirty for that method to be effective, you can soak it in carb cleaner, but you should consider heating it up afterwards in order to drive out any solvents that may have crept in.

 

 

What about cleaning the outside of sealed bearings by soaking them in pure Kerosene ?  Would kerosene ingress (inside the sealed bearing) cause any problem(s) and/or lead to premature failure ?