How often do you clean your brake pads?
I am referring to disc brakes here in specific, but this would very much apply to regular rim brakes as well.
After pulling out the pads on all three of my bikes, and scrubbing them down with a metal brush, I find that the braking performance is now stronger and smoother. I will now get into the habit of doing this regularly, as all three bikes had heavily caked on brake dust/dirt mixed together which is then glazed into the pad due to the heat. I used a softer bristle brush to remove excess dust after removing the dirty layer. Avoid using a rag unless it is perfectly clean as you will just rub oil into the pad.