Some tips & tricks to prolong your soldering tip's life.

• Choose proper soldering tip.
  The largest possible for the application. Always use the biggest possible tip out of the offering. Biggers tips give a better heat transfer. Use tips with heavy iron plating.
  Typically the common shapes include pole sharp type, all round type, screwdriver type and chisel type.
  Select the proper soldering tip shape can save a lot of time and protect the components.
  
  
• Temperature Should not exceed 725? (385?). 
  Lead-free solder does not require a higher soldering temperature. The wear rate increases significantly. Flux is worn out fast and black residues remain on the tip surface. Lowering the soldering temperature reduce oxidation and reduces splashing of flux.
  Conservatively speaking, the ideal soldering temperature is 340?~360? - the temperature and the tip's life gets best performance.
  however, many operators prefer high temperature because the solder can be melted much faster.
  
  
• Choose the right solder alloy (SAC (Sn/Ag/Cu) or Micro additive if possible and flux to reduce wear of soldering tips.
  According to many experiment results, lead free solder affects more to the life. due to the higher melting point and oxidization.Coping with this situation, the main soldering tools manfacturers produces lead-free soldering station to solve this problem.
  
  
• The right, powerful soldering tool with optimal temperature control, can in most cases do the job at a lower temperature.
  
  
• Dry cleaning with the Soldering Tips Dry Cleaner keeps the tip wettable for the longest time. Wet sponges cause thermal shock, remove the tinning and don't remove flux residue.
  
  
• Always take to properly tin the tip to prevent oxidation.
  Never clean a soldering tip right before putting the tool in the holder without applying solder to the tip.
  Recommended: After soldering, use the solder sponge or tip cleaner to clean the tip, and then tin the tip with fresh tin. This can avoid it from oxidizing.
  
  
• Use all functions and accessories to reduce the tip temperature (standby, auto off, stop and go holder) or switch off the soldering tools during breaks.
  otherwise, not only waste the power, but also burn the tip faster.

Form a good habit

Some bad habits will reduce the soldering tip's life. For instance, force heavy strength on the tip, never prepare the soldering iron before use, never clean & tin the tip after use.

Conclusion

According to the comment above, in order to prolong the tip's life, the solderer should soldering at low temperature and do everything to avoid oxidization.