GK Potentiometers - Question

[Scotius2001]

I have a GK 1001RB II that I purchased used. It was showing signs of dirty pots so I cracked it open, did some disassembly and cleaned the problem pots with contact cleaner. Everything seems to be fine and all trouble pots are now noise free. What I notice though is that now the pots I cleaned have a much "looser" feel to them. The pots I didn't touch have a bit of resistance in their travel that I lost on all the pots I cleaned. What I'm wondering is
A) what causes the pot to feel "stiffer" or "tighter" in the first place (which IMO gives it a higher quality feel)
B) did the contact cleaner somehow remove whatever subatance gave the pot it's tighter feel and
C) have I degraded these pots in any sort of functional manner that may be a problem down the road?

[WingKL]

It's the grease that got cleaned out by the contact cleaner. Faderlube may help. If the contact cleaner has it's own lubricant such as PPE like in some contact cleaners then in my opinion, you should be good to go even with a different shaft feel.