7 ms·
disclosure: I work in automotive trade craft as a diesel mechanic and I dont care to have WD40 in my shop at all for a few reasons: 0. It is a solvent, not a l
by nimbius 7y ago
disclosure: I work in automotive trade craft as a diesel mechanic and I dont care to have WD40 in my shop at all for a few reasons:
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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40
- germinalphrase 7y agoWhat is your preferred alternative?
- joecool1029 7y agoDon't wanna sound like a crazy sales guy, but I prefer Kano Kroil as a penetrating oil. A few drops of the stuff on any rusted bolt and it's friggin amazing. http://www.kanolabs.com/ http://www.kanolabs.com/ 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.
- lhuser123 7y agoTransmission fluid plus acetone is excellent for seized bolts. I wonder why.
- potentialverand 7y agoProject Farm tested 7 penetrating oils. ATF/Acetone ranked 2nd place above many specifically designed fluids. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUEob2oAKVs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUEob2oAKVs
- geraldcombs 7y agoTri-Flow. It's a lightweight oil + teflon, and doesn't evaporate like WD-40. It's marketed primarily to the cycling community, but I tend to use it where most people would use WD-40 (fixing squeaky hinges, loosening bolts, etc.)
- m463 7y agoTri-Flow is awesome. I think it gets the teflon bits into the right places. Put it on a bike chain and it become silent.
- hammock 7y agoYikes, teflon is not a great chemical to get near your body - or into the environment.
- creeble 7y agoTeflon is inert - you are probably thinking of PFOA, a chemical that used to be used in making Teflon.
- slacka 7y agoPFAS are found in the blood of every human on this planet. Google "sources of PFAS" and you'll learn Teflon products are a primary source. 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.html https://www.ewg.org/pfaschemicals/what-are-forever-chemicals...
- kl4m 7y agoYour link is mixing up the two molecules by calling PFAS "The Teflon chemical". "Teflon", the non-stick final product, is PTFE with a very strong fluorine chemical bond and no chance of reacting with the human body at normal temperatures (That's why nothing manages to stick to it, basically). PFAS were used by DuPont in the manufacture of Teflon (and recklessly dumped into the environment). PFAS are an ecological disaster; Teflon itself is not a concern.
- mattmaroon 7y agoIf you're looking for a lubricant, silicone based ones are awesome for many tasks. The brand WD40 (which now makes several different products) even makes them. 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.
- fulafel 7y agoPSA: "silicone" lubricants usually contain various hydrocarbons instead of silicone and are more health risky than the name would lead you to believe, see eg. https://files.wd40.com/pdf/sds/specialist/wd-40-specialist-water-resistant-silicone-lubricant-us-ghs.pdf https://files.wd40.com/pdf/sds/specialist/wd-40-specialist-w...
- mattmaroon 7y agoI'm assuming it contains silicone too and just doesn't have to mention it in the MSDS, but that's good to know. Thanks!
- at-fates-hands 7y ago>> it will lubricate it and loosen it up immediately, but then dust will stick to it overtime 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.
- nkozyra 7y agoDo people still like graphite? My dad worked in a metal shop his whole like and that was his go-to for most of these jobs.
- annoyingnoob 7y agoAs a lubricant I prefer white lithium grease.
- RijilV 7y agoT9 if you’re good with paraffin based product.
- senderista 7y agoBallistol (non-toxic as well).
- kube-system 7y agoIt is a lubricant, just a bad one. It is good for things that primarily need corrosion protection and cleaning and don't really need lubrication, but could benefit from it. Something like a pair of pliers. Or the outer skin of a missile. But yes, it's not good for parts where the primary goal is lubrication.
- rawoke083600 7y agoTerrible for tools.. it will collect dust and dirt like a magnet. You better of to use 3-in-1 oil or other tool specific oils
- ficklepickle 7y agoYes, terrible for any metal on metal. It's only real use is as a degreaser. 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.
- kube-system 7y agoSufficiency depends on use case. 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.
- _greim_ 7y agoHa, its properties as a solvent are the reason I keep it around. It works better than anything I've tried—isopropyl, acetone, mineral spirits—at dissolving residue left after peeling various stickers off new purchases.
- hinkley 7y agoWD-40 is so light that it can be flung off a bicycle chain just from going around the cogs, which is a hell of a lot slower than car parts. It tends to get banned among cyclists, too.
- radicalbyte 7y agoIt is fantastic for cleaning your chain before applying proper chain oil.
- effie 7y ago> WD-40 is so light that it can be flung off a bicycle chain just from going around the cogs, which is a hell of a lot slower than car parts. How do you mean? The WD-40 liquid falls of, or evaporates too quickly?
- hinkley 7y agoFor a while, decent bike tires had tan sidewalls. We noticed that some people had weird streaks on their tires that looked a lot like SpinArt. 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.
- de_watcher 7y agoChain is cleaned with WD-40 and then lubricated with vaseline. Grease is used for non-sealed bearings.
- rawoke083600 7y agoYup , can confirmed ! I sometimes use it to spray on my fireplace wood thats too wet too start. I know horrible practise ! :(
- jacobush 7y agoGreat practice. :)
- rawoke083600 7y agoafrikaans ? :D
- forkexec 7y agoHaha. Yep. WD-40 is petroleum distillates and for DIY noobs. 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/2015/12/ENGR103-WD40Alternative-FinReport.pdf 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.
- Nux 7y agoAn alternative could be transmission oil (low viscosity) + acetone, also 50/50. Here's a guy on youtube showing how to make it and a comparison to other brands (the diy turned out the best): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WuVBFTzoKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WuVBFTzoKc
- westmeal 7y agoSeconding this - this is some excellent stuff for rusted suspension nuts and bolts and things like stuck mechanisms. Just make sure to shake well before spraying as acetone likes to separate. If you have atf thats died red make sure it comes out pinkish.
- friendly_fren 7y agoI stand by tranny fluid + acetone. That and the old heat it and beat it
- King-Aaron 7y agoA mate of mine is a master mech with Nissan, and he introduced me to Forch Black Magic S411... my life has never been the same again
- lm28469 7y agoIt's pretty bad at everything tbh. All it can do is done better by other products. It's just cheap and readily available, I wouldn't use it on anything of value.
- lloydatkinson 7y agoWhat's the WD-40 equivalent for lubrication purposes?
- downerending 7y agoRe #0, growing up, one of my friends had a grumpy, old dad who was fond of yelling "WD-40 is not a lubricant!". (Let's hear it for grumpy, old dads.)