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Interesting to read: This is what the Rocket Chemical Company figured out how to make: a coating for Atlas missiles that prevented rust and corrosion.

by cat199 7y ago

Interesting to read: This is what the Rocket Chemical Company figured out how to make: a coating for Atlas missiles that prevented rust and corrosion. since WD-40 is popular among gun enthusiasts (if not others) specifically as a cheap alternative to using other oils for rust prevention..

eth0up 7y ago
I'll claim no membership among "enthusiasts", but either way, the most glorious lube for me is Ballistol. Good on nearly everything, including that mentioned. To me, since childhood, WD-40 has always had a loathsome aroma. I first discovered it, as a youth, in my pa's garage, where I'd spray it over the flame of my lighter to excessive satisfaction, and onto many things with minimal discretion. Always made me nauseous, combustion or not. 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.
- mod 7y ago
  Weird, WD40 is one of my favorite smells. It's the best chemical smell I can think of. I can't speak for Ballistol, but I probably like that too.
  - DonHopkins 7y ago
    It's the delicious bouquet of banana ester! WD-40 is Edge Body Spray for nerds. https://io9.gizmodo.com/debunking-the-myth-of-the-fake-banana-flavor-1629459201 https://io9.gizmodo.com/debunking-the-myth-of-the-fake-banan... https://www.huffpost.com/entry/artificial-banana-flavor_n_3148882 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/artificial-banana-flavor_n_31...
  - joecool1029 7y ago
    I do greatly prefer the smell of Kroil or CLP Break Free to WD40, but WD40 isn't bad.
  - Zancarius 7y ago
    (Disclaimer: I really like Ballistol and use it on a lot of different things.) 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!
Zancarius 7y ago
I wouldn't use WD-40 on firearms except maybe as an emergency rust preventative, and that's only if my favorite products weren't already available. There's just far too many better (and affordable) products, and there's just as many stories of WD-40 polymerizing and gumming up delicate parts as there are alleged uses of it. You'd almost certainly have to soak the guns in another cleaner or oil (like Ballistol, as eth0up suggests) before you could ever use them again... 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!

by cat199 7y ago

eth0up 7y ago

I'll claim no membership among "enthusiasts", but either way, the most glorious lube for me is Ballistol. Good on nearly everything, including that mentioned. To me, since childhood, WD-40 has always had a loathsome aroma. I first discovered it, as a youth, in my pa's garage, where I'd spray it over the flame of my lighter to excessive satisfaction, and onto many things with minimal discretion. Always made me nauseous, combustion or not. 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.

mod 7y ago
Weird, WD40 is one of my favorite smells. It's the best chemical smell I can think of. I can't speak for Ballistol, but I probably like that too.
- DonHopkins 7y ago
  It's the delicious bouquet of banana ester! WD-40 is Edge Body Spray for nerds. https://io9.gizmodo.com/debunking-the-myth-of-the-fake-banana-flavor-1629459201 https://io9.gizmodo.com/debunking-the-myth-of-the-fake-banan... https://www.huffpost.com/entry/artificial-banana-flavor_n_3148882 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/artificial-banana-flavor_n_31...
- joecool1029 7y ago
  I do greatly prefer the smell of Kroil or CLP Break Free to WD40, but WD40 isn't bad.
- Zancarius 7y ago
  (Disclaimer: I really like Ballistol and use it on a lot of different things.) 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!

Zancarius 7y ago

I wouldn't use WD-40 on firearms except maybe as an emergency rust preventative, and that's only if my favorite products weren't already available. There's just far too many better (and affordable) products, and there's just as many stories of WD-40 polymerizing and gumming up delicate parts as there are alleged uses of it. You'd almost certainly have to soak the guns in another cleaner or oil (like Ballistol, as eth0up suggests) before you could ever use them again... 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!