The History of WD-40
jalopnik.com
jalopnik.com
0. It is a solvent, not a lubricant. This is often lost on apprentices until they wear out a drive chain or blow up a firearm. WD40 does a terrible job of blurring that line. even the article touts it several times as a lubricant :(
1. it absolutely CAN NOT be used around hot work, unlike most other lubricants like ND999. cans --aerosol or not-- are treated just like a can of petrol.
2. Again, it is stunningly flammable both in and out of its aerosol form because its mostly kerosene. That means aerosol vapors floating around a powdercoat setup, an open flame, or any ignition spark, will cause it to catch fire. if your apprentice just hosed down a part with WD40 and you need to take a torch to it, youre going to have a bad time.
Penetrating oil for not hot work: 90/10 vegetable oil + acetone. Much better than commercial products and very cheap. IIRC it was tested on ProjectFarm (I maybe mistaken) and written up in a Drexel paper. [0]
Machinist's Workshop - April/May 2007 says 50/50 ATF + acetone, which requires mixing before use.
0. https://www.engineeringforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2015...
If you want to stop a squeaky hinge on a exterior gate, a very thick oil like axle grease would be best.
For indoor use, like on a door hinge, graphite should be tried first since it won't make that much of a mess.
Here's a guy on youtube showing how to make it and a comparison to other brands (the diy turned out the best):
Don't believe me? Put it on a bike chain and go for a ride. The whole thing will bind up in no time. It will also rust much faster. You can use it to strip old dirty lubricant, before applying fresh lubricant. But not as a lubricant.
I've been told this by no fewer than three people: shop teacher, bike shop owner and a mill wright. I've personally destroyed a bike chain with it as a kid, and I've seen other people destroy bike chains with wd-40.
It may have a bit of lubricant in it, but it is not sufficient.
I typically use WD40 on things that don't require any lubrication under normal operation. There are plenty of metal-on-metal mechanisms designed to work without any lubrication. For those purposes, it exceeds their lubrication requirement of zero.
If you have a use-case that typically requires a dedicated lubricant under normal operating conditions (i.e. a chain drive), then this likely exceeds the lubricating capabilities of WD40.
(Let's hear it for grumpy, old dads.)
I wouldn't use it as a lubricant though past getting seized bolts freed up, but really it's 100% replaced WD-40 for me when working on rusted and old equipment.
If you spray a lock with WD-40, it will lubricate it and loosen it up immediately, but then dust will stick to it overtime and he will end up worse than where you started. Silicone doesn't do that.
I learned this the hard way when I started lockpicking. Bought a huge box of old locks, some were really sticky and I asked online and people said, "Use WD40, it will loosen the pins right up for yah!"
Sure did and then about three months later, they were all gummed up from dust and other particles that stuck to the WD40 like velcro.
It was a good lesson to learn though.
For example[1]
> the main route of PFAS exposure for most Americans:
> Teflon and other brands of nonstick cookware are still produced with new PFAS that may be no safer.
[1] https://www.ewg.org/pfaschemicals/what-are-forever-chemicals...
PFAS are an ecological disaster; Teflon itself is not a concern.
Using teflon cookware around a pet parrot is a well-known way to kill the pet.
Teflon frying pans are supposed to be safe if you never let them overheat, but in practice they're not safe if you have birds in the house.
PTFE is toxic for humans too, but human lungs are more robust than bird lungs.
[1]https://www.paintdocs.com/docs/webPDF.jsp?SITEID=TRIFLOW&pro...
It tends to get banned among cyclists, too.
How do you mean? The WD-40 liquid falls of, or evaporates too quickly?
Someone somewhere figured out that WD-40 was causing that. And sure enough everybody with streaks said that they use WD-40 on their chains. The streaks were dirt sticking to oil. And if the oil is on your tire, it went past your rims to get there, which is very much not good.
(Yes, there's a thing called Atlas-5 that flies satellites: it's hard to see any engineering similarities between it and the original ICBM of that name; unlike the Soyuz vehicle, Which was a terrible, bad, no-good ICBM -- it took about 6 hours to fuel up and prep for launch, on pads which were 4 hours from the USSR's border as the B-52 flies -- but turned out to be a really good satellite launcher.)
That's not quite true, the evolved platforms are used but the initial R-7 wasn't used all that long.
With that disclaimer, I frequently use it as a chain lubricant for mountain bikes. You have to reapply it basically after every ride, but you're going to want to do that anyway when your chain gets covered in mud and dirt. On road bikes and motorcycles I always use a dry wax lube that lasts much longer but is difficult to clean off.
Putting wd-40 on a bike chain will remove all existing working lubricant. Triflow ftw.
As soon as you hit any speed above 5mph it'll just fly away.
He said his chair was squeaking, so I suggested lithium grease instead. Another coworker said "Are you one of those WD-40-isn't-a-lubricant guys?" I immediately replied "Absolutely".
Another good reason not to use it ;-)
Smells like marketing to me, it just doesn't need 40 attempts to come up with a simple mix of kerosene and mineral oil.
I bet the old timers used to mix their own variations long before WD-40 came on the scene.
I mostly use it to clean parts before using a proper lubricant. A much better light spray lubricant is Tri-Flow.
It's also really useful for spraying down bicycle/motorcycle chains after they get wet to prevent rusting. But it does require some fresh lube after things dry off.
Yep. I just used some to clean shipping grease from a cast iron table of a machine tool. Worked great, and less volatile than paint thinner/mineral spirits.
Likely: they mix up a bunch of batches of various proportions and test them. Either the one labelled 40 is the best, or (my bet) there were 40 variations and they thought it was good marketing.
For most general purpose use, I use white Lithium grease.
If it's metal to plastic or plastic to plastic contact surface: silicone oil/grease (mostly in 3d printed parts)
If it's metal on metal and in dirty environment: I use dry teflon lube or ceramic lube (mostly on my mountain bike and 3d printer lead screw)
If it's heavy metal on metal where it can heat significantly: MolyD grease or graphite grease
However WD-40 with its mythical backstory and ambiguous brand name can command a premium over regular household oil. This makes it work for the retailer as it no longer sells for pennies. The shop down the road that also stocks it will also have it at the same price, it is a brand that works for the retailer. People can ask for it by name and not feel they are getting conned.
This works up the retail chain with wholesalers and international distributors able to make money from the brand.
Odd that for such a beginner's grade product it comes from the cutting edge of the space age.
If you have something very dirty that you want to lubricate, say a bicycle chain, is it reasonable to apply WD-40 first to get rid of the dirt and then apply a better lubricant on the now-clean chain? Or will the WD-40 stick around long enough to prevent the better lubricant sticking? If the second, what the hell am I meant to do about my dirty chain that needs lubricating?
However, there are other cleaners specifically designed for bike chains. It's just that WD40 is often in the workshop or toolbox so it tends to get used for this sort of task.
I may be talking "old wives tales" here though so I'd like an actual mechanic to correct me please.
I know oiling bearings which have grease in them is a no-no for just the reason you describe - will loosen the grease and so ultimately damage the bearing.
Then my wife repurposed them as decorative elements.
https://www.nulon.com.au/products/aerosols/start-ya-bastard-...
https://foxpeakoutdoorsupply-com.3dcartstores.com/Hawbakers-...
I wonder how hard it would be to duplicate the formula if one had a spectral analyzer. Study the plots, make a best guess batch, test its plot against the original, adjust, rinse, repeat...
(Same with KFC. I could profit off the President if I can get him the same thing at a discount. He's a volume customer. I confess, I also like KFC. Despite the rumors, it doesn't make one's skin orange, just chubby.)
This is what the Rocket Chemical Company figured out how to make:
a coating for Atlas missiles that prevented rust and corrosion.
I have almost acquired an affection for the scent of Ballistol, which is marketed as having "No Carcinogens", but does quite well on the many things that are and ain't (carcinogenic). I sincerely recommend it.
I can't speak for Ballistol, but I probably like that too.
https://io9.gizmodo.com/debunking-the-myth-of-the-fake-banan...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/artificial-banana-flavor_n_31...
Ballistol is... something of an acquired smell. I don't mind it, but some people absolutely detest the odor. It's been likened to a combination of Pine-Sol mixed with any or all of the following: Dirty gym socks, licorice, mint, and plastic glue. This is most likely due it containing anethole (and the MSDS indicates it's mostly medical grade white mineral oil, various oleates, and alcohols). If you don't mind star anise or licorice, you probably won't find Ballistol repulsive either.
Similar to other lightweight oils, Ballistol acts as a creeping oil. It's not an especially great penetrating oil, but it works surprisingly well on a lot of things. It's usually joked about as "German WD-40" because of its lineage, although it's a lubricant first and foremost.
Interestingly, because it contains anethole, it can readily form an emulsion with water. Due to this and the other ingredients it contains, it's used by black powder enthusiasts as a cleaner and neutralizer ("moose milk"). I'm not sure how effective it is in the cleaning department, because it does a pretty subpar job at cleaning modern smokeless powders, but the neutralizing effect on black powder residue may actually be true (it has a pH around 8.5 to 9.5).
Amusingly, when I clicked on the comments here, the first thing I did was search for Ballistol. eth0up didn't disappoint!
In fact, I've used Ballistol to clean up and lubricate rollers on sliding doors that were previously gummed up from excessive use of WD-40!