Regarding wear and tear on strings, here are a few non-fake facts:
1) The string cores are a hardened steel.
2) Initial installation of the string causes permanent deformation of the core at the bridge saddle.
3) Permanent deformation of hardened steel fundamentally changes the mechanical properties of the core, and that occurs at the bridge witness point.
Regarding the point 3, it is likely that further cyclic strain induced during playing further changes the basic structure of the steel core at the bridge witness point.
All of these aspects add up to changes in the string, which are not recoverable by boiling etc. I don't want to get too deeply into the metallurgy; but if you actually need strings to last longer, you would want to avoid the witness point damage by using a collet type of bridge point, or something like that. The other way to lessen the impact is to increase the distance between the tailpiece and the bridge point, while reducing the break angle. Of course, that also would require a substantially different body profile.
When the damage gets to the point that the string loses 12th fret intonation, the string can not be played in tune any more, and there is no way to correct that for the damaged string.
Other than that, carry on.
It's a "true fact" that strings will eventually wear out for mechanical/metallurgical reasons. HOWEVER, they typically wear out much more quickly from sweat/oil/persperation/dirt or whatever you wanna call the gunk that gets in between the windings. So, that's why we are talking about boiling or alcohol, which cleans out the gunk, and coated strings, which prevent the gunk from getting there in the first place (as long as the coating holds up).
I hate that my sweat can kill a brand new set of strings within one gig if conditions are hot/humid enough. It'll happen even if I wash and dry my hands between breaks. Mechanically, the strings are still fine -- they have simply become dirty.
Found this string-cleaning method while surfing the internet: I haven't tried it, but there might be something to it. Same as other cleaning methods it won't work on strings that are mechanically dead, but the author points out that he's performing it on strings that are fairly new but dirty.
). One of the unfortunate side effects is excessively dry skin. Which is, I suppose, good for bass strings, though not much else. As a result, I have done the experiment of pushing the strings to where the mechanical damage catches up with them. Takes me about 12 - 16 months of regular playing to get there on the G string. For my 4 string, the E gets there sooner, due to the ratcheting with the HipShot and the greater break angle at the saddle.
