I have always been fairly reasonable at soldering but I learnt something really useful by reading a old radio service instruction book and decided to try it out.
I always realised the importance of using Flux but didnt know to coat the iron tip with Flux after use and before you use it.
So after reading about it I decided to give it a go.
Now I'm getting a much longer life out of them ( 2 -3 months ) and I don't have to clean it as much as before. Are there any other useful tips you guys can think of.

I was taught from a young age to leave the tip coated in solder to prevent oxidation.

Another way to lengthen the life of tips is to use brass wool rather than a wet sponge.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/goot-soldering-iron-tip-cleaner/p/TS1510

The tip has to be kept tinned to make soldering as easy as possible. I've been told by a few purists that the iron should never come directly into contact with component leads but doing things this way (melting solder onto the tip and then sweating it across to the joint) just results in overheated components and the risk of a dry joint in my view.

I don't see the need to use an external flux source in soldering of electronics. Flux is corrosive and will eventually eat the tip away and there is already plenty of it in the core of standard rolls of solder. The corrosive properties of flux is what allows it to clean the surface of the area to be soldered and makes the solder take quicker.

Some iron tips here on the big irons date to 1968 and other irons can run double shifts for weeks on end. I use the jex type pad nothing else.

The big irons are for solder blobs & chassis work, albeit there is a jewellers oxy, an industrial oxy, for all occassions. One of the things you may find with older dirty solder blobs, is to scrape, or wire brush them and to get good contact you may need to actually add solder.

An effective tactic to be done with care, with solder blobs, is to arrange the set so that the solder, when melted, drops down onto the iron tip which is under the blob. "Care" is to know where the solder goes, when it runs off of the tip.

The best thing, is to clean the wires, component leads, the tags or the pads you are soldering, a brass wire brush and washed with isopropyl alcohol, you should not need any extra flux. good to wipe the solder with the alcohol, as the acids and grease and dirt on you hands, can make contaminate the solder, I had to work on NEC RF assemblies, and they had a zero flux requirement, flux is hygroscopic, and will absorb moisture and can cause issues with the joint in the future, due to corrosion. and it can change the resonant frequencies in RF assemblies.

One of the things recommended for jointing of dissimilar metals, is to coat it. I will make a point of using circuit board lacquer on jointing inside an RF can.