WD40 alternative – any good?

[Mike BondarczukParticipant @mikebondarczuk27171]

WD40 can also be used as a bait enhancer for sea fishing. Simply spray onto your selected bait and it seems to draw fish in.

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Thank you Frank!

I've been having trouble getting the Blue, 230/240v, industrial plugs on my 3in1 machine to make contact.

A spray into socket and onto plug, and contact straight away!

Had visions of having to replace all of the sockets and plugs for others not made you know where.

Geoff – Lathe Saddle lock done with thread and photos added.

[Ed DuffnerParticipant @edduffner79357]

For my machines and wiping tools I now use Duck Oil, but a cheaper version of the Swarfega product. I tried using it for milling ally but it tends to smoke quite a bit.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Slim from the now defunct rock band The Hamsters kept a cloth sprayed with WD40 in his back pocket to wipe his guitar strings and fret board with, must help with sliding the fingers along the strings and stop damage from sweat.

Mike

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

I seem to recall that WD40 becomes hygroscopic if it's left to fester in the open air. I don't care for it myself.

Steve

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I used WD40, refreshed every month or so, when my lathe was stored in an unheated garage for seven months. I didn't get any rust, but it was April-November.

> 3in1

So shouldn't you be using 3 in 1?

> Slim from the now defunct rock band The Hamsters

I saw them many year's ago in Coventry. SPC probably rivals the late Stevie Ray Vaughan as an interpreter of Jimi Hendrix's music. Ah memories! I have a recording of the Reading Festival Set SRV played the year I went.

Neil

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

My son, who was learning to play electric guitar at the time, jokingly said he was going to get some WD40 after watching Slim play at the guitar show. Slim is certainly a talented guy, I like the part of the show when he and the bass player walk through the audience and swap instruments then he swaps with the drummer when they get back to the stage.

Mike

Edited By Michael Poole on 14/06/2014 20:26:55

[stan pearson 1Participant @stanpearson1]

When I served my time as a vehicle fitter in the late 50 early 60 we only used it to spray on plug leads, coils and distributer caps inside and out when damp, to free off and clean rust we used Plus-Gas. I think people are using it for something it was not intended for.

Stan

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Posted by Michael Poole on 14/06/2014 19:36:33:

Slim from the now defunct rock band The Hamsters kept a cloth sprayed with WD40 in his back pocket to wipe his guitar strings and fret board with, must help with sliding the fingers along the strings and stop damage from sweat.

Mike

What a horrendous thing to do, he obviously had a very understanding guitar tech!!

Lemon oil for a rosewood or ebony fretboard and fast fret to keep the strings clean and sweat free, in 40+ years of guitar playing and building, I have never come across anyone who would put WD40 or similar anywhere near a treasured instrument.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Back in the days when cars had coils and distributors, I often had to mess about with my carious car ignition systems to get them working. I used to swear by WD40's ability to deal with damp where it shouldn't be. However, the downside of using it is that it attracts and holds dust and dirt, so eventually you find you are back where you started. Now you have to clean everything but this time it's all covered in WD40. Cleanliness and keeping moisture off the critical parts is a better solution if possible.

I use it for lubricating aluminium during machining when a full flood isn't necessary or appreciated. The composition is your typical "trade secret" of course, in order to prevent the veil of apparent sophistication from falling. Probably little more than kerosene or some similar petroleum fraction.

The WD40 company now owns 3-in-1 oil. I forget the different parentages involved but both are Mercan in origin.

Murray

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

I have some 3 in 1 brand spray lube that supposedly has Teflon in it – used it once and now it sits on a shelf probably until the bottom rusts out of it as it was useless as was the white lithium grease spray they make.

For protection against rust lately I have been using Lanotec and I'm happy with it.
I was considering doing a home brew version using raw lanolin and shellite but I'm not sure it would be worth the effort.

Ian

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Neil,

I remember one of my previous bosses calling me a smart@rse for telling him what the German equivalent was for 'urgent' when he needed to get help from the Parent Company.

The whole office packed up laughing, me included of course as you just cannot take such a comment seriously, when said in jest.

Geoff – Not implying anything, but . . .

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

I sprayed WD40 on to clean paper,just for interest after reading some of these posts. One from a very old ,nearly empty can, and one from fresh can. After 3 days both look the same, a light oil deposit and no signs of any sticky deposits. I will keep it and see what happens. Of course it is mis-used, it is not the best stuff for loosening rust, but nothing works all that well. It can be used to free of knee joints but not recommended. I use sump oil for general rust proofing and hydraulic oil for general lube.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I tried CRC 5-56 ** as a lubricant on my Ross Yoke Stirling Engine, as it was a bit tight in the cold cylinder, and it worked well, and I ran the motor for an hour or so, then put it away. A few weeks later I bought it out again, it was seized solid, I dripped a bit of diesel in, and left it a while, then gradually it freed up, after that I used the diesel, no more trouble.

** similar to WD-40

Tried Bolt Looser Lubricating Spray (Chinese, $ NZ 2 per 250 ml can), and Caterpillar brake cleaner spray, both these worked OK in the motor

Ian S C

Edited By Ian S C on 15/06/2014 11:24:53

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

In 1979 I rolled my 1977 model Harley into my Dad's shed, in a damp coastal environment, sprayed the bike down with WD40 all over the chrome and aluminium parts and took off overseas.

In 2008 I got around to dragging the old bike out of Dad's shed and getting it back on the road. When I washed off the WD40 and 30 years' worth of dust stuck to it, the chrome was still good as new with no rust spots and the aluminium took a bit of polishing up with a small rag buff in the electric drill. No white crust, no acne scars.

Made a believer out of me.

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

The owners / operators of the WD40 brand have an immensely huge, massive 'war chest' of available funds for use in marketing activities because the product is mahoosively overpriced.

It's a viscious circle . . . the more it is hyped then the more it sells, the more it sells then the more funds available to hype it !

The fools that buy it cannot see that they are fools. They're 'hooked' into the hype & unwittingly become part of the machine that sells the hype.

WD40 does not do anything that commonly available & much cheaper products do better.

IMO it is dangerous in the wrong hands, it is relied upon by fools who believe the hype & pay the extortionate price.

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

Posted by Hopper on 15/06/2014 13:14:27:

In 1979 I rolled my 1977 model Harley into my Dad's shed, in a damp coastal environment, sprayed the bike down with WD40 all over the chrome and aluminium parts and took off overseas.

In 2008 I got around to dragging the old bike out of Dad's shed and getting it back on the road. When I washed off the WD40 and 30 years' worth of dust stuck to it, the chrome was still good as new with no rust spots and the aluminium took a bit of polishing up with a small rag buff in the electric drill. No white crust, no acne scars.

Made a believer out of me.

Knowing a little bit about 1970's Harleys & especially the chrome plating process they used at the the time, I'd be surprised if the results of your attempts at long term preservation were common.

[Master of noneParticipant @masterofnone]

I was interested to validate some of the claims regarding the corrosion protection provided by various products. I cleaned and coated four samples of mild steel sheet with Muckoff, 3-in-1, WD40 and Waxoil respectively. I supended the samples together with an untreated control sample on PVC insulated wire under the eaves of my workshop where they were exposed to outside conditions but not direct rainfall or sunlight.   The samples after exposure – control, Muckoff, 3-in1, WD40 and Waxoil

The results suggest that most effective treatment was the Waxoil, so I use that product for long term protection of materials and surfaces which I would not normally touch.  It requires white spirit  to remove it.  For protection of tools, there is not a lot to choose between WD40 and 3-in-1.  Even the Waxoil treated sample showed some signs of corrosion, so it would benefit from an extra coat.

I have no commercial interest in any of these products.

Edited By Richard Taylor 17 on 21/07/2022 11:50:49

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Post deleted

Edited By roy entwistle on 21/07/2022 11:53:19

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Posted by Phil P on 13/06/2014 19:48:02:

WD40 is good for the clock repair business.

People think a quick squirt into the mechanism will be good for it, initially it does free things up, but after a while it sets like a green wax and bungs everything up worse than it was before.

I have had quite a few clocks through my hands that only needed the WD40 removing and correct oil applied to get them working again.

Phil

Also very good at gluing up jukebox mech's for the same reason. It takes a while but the wonder fluid turns into paraffin wax.

 

Must read posting dates first DOH!

Edited By Dave Halford on 21/07/2022 12:13:55

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Richard Taylor 17 on 21/07/2022 11:35:43:

I was interested to validate some of the claims regarding the corrosion protection provided by various products. I cleaned and coated four samples of mild steel sheet with Muckoff, 3-in-1, WD40 and Waxoil respectively. I supended the samples together with an untreated control sample on PVC insulated wire under the eaves of my workshop where they were exposed to outside conditions but not direct rainfall or sunlight. The samples after exposure – control, Muckoff, 3-in1, WD40 and Waxoil

The results suggest that most effective treatment was the Waxoil, so I use that product for long term protection of materials and surfaces which I would not normally touch. It requires white spirit to remove it. For protection of tools, there is not a lot to choose between WD40 and 3-in-1. Even the Waxoil treated sample showed some signs of corrosion, so it would benefit from an extra coat.

I have no commercial interest in any of these products.

Nice test, even better because they match my understanding of the products:

• Muckoff or Muc-off? The latter is a cleaner rather than a corrosion protective product. Might leave a thin layer of wax, but it's for frequent use
• 3-in-1 is a general purpose household lubricant, a mixture of mineral and vegetable oils. Repels water but not sticky or weatherproof, so it's anti-corrosion properties are short-term rather than long-lasting. Best used indoors.
• WD-40 is a light oil that repels water and then evaporates leaving a thin sticky layer. Advantages: deep penetration, easily applied, and the sticky layer is equally easily cleaned off, which is often important. Good for providing temporary protection when bare metal is being worked on, discouraging corrosion inside sheet metal enclosures, and handy for drying off old-fashioned car electrics. When wet has a useful short lube effect, so can free up rusty joints. The sticky layer is delicate and attracts dirt. Good at everything, master of none. Could be the most useful misused product in the world!
• Waxoil leaves a thick, moderately tough, water-proof layer which protects for many years in favourable conditions, and does reasonably well when exposed. The layer is harder to clean off.

Other choices – the notorious 'Chicken Fat', a cheap thick sticky grease providing medium term protection in high-humidity countries. Cosmoline is a long-term protective much used to mothball guns: apparently putting it on and removing it was a full time career for some National Servicemen!

Dave

[King OlafParticipant @kingolaf13547]

Posted by ronan walsh on 13/06/2014 18:09:40:

Whats wd40 good for anyway ?

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

The Armed Services use WD40 and purchase it in 50 gallon drums, one use is on helicopters which are literally drenched in it I presume to ward off moisture particularly sea water and inhibit corrosion. It must have proved it’s worth for the Armed Services to purchase so much. Dave W

[Jon LawesParticipant @jonlawes51698]

Posted by Samsaranda on 21/07/2022 18:03:51:

The Armed Services use WD40 and purchase it in 50 gallon drums, one use is on helicopters which are literally drenched in it I presume to ward off moisture particularly sea water and inhibit corrosion. It must have proved it’s worth for the Armed Services to purchase so much. Dave W

Not that I'm aware off, they have different lubricants and protectives depending on the role. For example I think one called PX24 is used for coating metalwork that is exposed to seawater spray (well, its used for far more than just that, but that is a well known use for it).

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I have not tried XCP, but WD40 and AC90 are useful to sparingly lubricate aluminium when it is machined to prevent welding to the cutters. I find that the new type of folding long and short nozzles are a sly way to make you use more of the product than needed.

[Author]

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