6 ms·
WD-40's advantage is that it's not terrible to get on your skin when you're out working, and it's cheap. The people who use it are looking for cheap, mostly.
by Loughla 9mo ago
WD-40's advantage is that it's not terrible to get on your skin when you're out working, and it's cheap.
The people who use it are looking for cheap, mostly.
Source: farming. We have many different lubes and penetrating products for when we're in the actual shop, but in the field, nothing beats wd-40 for getting back to work fast, or unsticking some shit when all you have is a hammer and you just know when that fucking bolt comes loose it's going to throw rust and dirt all over your face.
- sidewndr46 9mo agoI'm unsure what your definition of "cheap" is for WD-40 but I find it to be very overpriced. If I need a universal lubricant that is readily available and cheap, I just use used motor oil.
- interstice 9mo agoIsn’t that carcinogenic?
- sidewndr46 9mo agoIsn't a pretty wide range of products you'd use for this? I guess vegetable oil isn't and it works fine. Fluidfilm I don't think is either. I wear PPE for this reason however.
- AngryData 9mo agoIf you want a clean cheap petroleum oil, chainsaw bar oil will work. Generally I prefer the generic Tractor Supply bar oil because it seems a lot stickier than walmart's version which seems more like hydraulic fluid to me. But either way it is cheap because in a chainsaw 95% of it is just sprayed all over the place anyways.
- sidewndr46 9mo agoThe last time I bought chainsaw bar oil I think it has added sulfur or something like that. I'm not really sure. It's actually worse to work with than used motor oil. Used motor oil starts out clean & is constantly being filtered in a normal motor.
- AngryData 9mo agoMight just depend on the brand and luck. Ive always suspected that bar oil was either extra of whatever oil product didn't sell at the time, or an oil product that didn't technically meet spec for another application like hydraulic or transmission or engine oil.
- legitster 9mo agoOnly if it's used and only if it's ingested. Clean motor oil is not actually that harmful if swallowed - it only carcinogenic because of all the metals and carbon it builds up when in the motor.
- umvi 9mo agoI thought WD-40 was more a solvent than lubricant
- steve_adams_86 9mo agoYeah, it mostly evaporates and only leaves a thin film behind. It's better than nothing if there's no lubricant in place, but will actually make things worse if there is a functional lubricant in place.
- Telemakhos 9mo agoThe WD in WD-40 stands for "water displacer." It makes water go somewhere else. Secondarily, it is a solvent, and it's great for dissolving glues, like the glue used to affix government-issued tax licenses to automobiles. It's not really a lubricant, but in a pinch it can temporarily function as one. I like Swiss army knives, but they collect lint and gunk from my pockets. I use WD-40 to dissolve gunk, and to drive out water after an ultrasonic bath, but I lubricate with the light machine oil used for barber's clippers.
- littlestymaar 9mo ago> It's not really a lubricant, but in a pinch it can temporarily function as one. That's wrong. WD-40 is a literally a lubricant mixed with a solvent that makes it very fluid so it can enter small interstices, the solvent then evaporates quickly, leaving the lubricant in place. There's not a lot of lubricant in there compared to a pure lubricant, because the solvent takes a significant share of the volume, but it's still a lubricant once the solvent dries up.
- sitzkrieg 9mo agowd40 is not a lubricant.
- coatmatter 9mo agoOne (not recommended) way to test this statement is to spray some on the kitchen floor and see what happens later.
- Scoundreller 9mo agoMotor oil doesn’t spray too well. (Yes, you can buy bulk wd-40 liquid and put into a branded or unbranded sprayer)
- bluGill 9mo agoSparying oil is bad - it just collects dust. Oil what needs oil only
- Scoundreller 9mo agoI’m okay with dust on the overspray. Keeps the salt off.
- ungreased0675 9mo agoUsed motor oil isn’t sold in aerosol cans with a little red straw for precision application. You aren’t just buying the liquid.
- cucumber3732842 9mo agoOn the other hand I can't dip a pin or whatever in an aerosol can like I can a bucket.
- mattmaroon 9mo agoNot with that attitude you can’t!
- sidewndr46 9mo agoI just bought a little bottle I can squeeze from harbor freight. One drop is usually enough. If I need to I can give it a big squeeze and get a bunch out.
- jabl 9mo ago> If I need a universal lubricant that is readily available and cheap, I just use used motor oil. Why? Used motor oil is, well, used. It contains metal particles from the engine and combustion byproducts, which is why it was replaced in the first place. Granted, most lubrication applications aren't the marvels of precision parts moving at high speed that a modern engine is so can probably make do with poorer oil, but still. You can buy industrial lubricants in bulk for pretty cheap so that unless you use huge quantities of it, it shouldn't make much difference. As an aside, my aunt's husband worked more or less his entire career in a heavy truck repair shop. And he had an oil burner heating his house (you can see where this is going, eh?). So he got used engine oil for free, the shop was happy to get rid of it as disposing of it properly cost money. I think burning used engine oil was illegal already back then due to the pollution, and nowadays I think they have some government mandated accounting system to ensure that the same amount of oil is sent to proper recycling as comes in.
- sidewndr46 9mo agoYou're right about getting industrial lubricants in bulk for cheap. But I don't need 55 gallons of lubricant. I'd never use it all nor do I want to store it. Used engine oil isn't really suitable for lubricating an engine anymore but it's fine for a temporary lubricant of a drill bit, some random hinge on a gate, or stubborn bushing on a piece of equipment. Engine oil is only really replaced on an engine because at some point it degrades enough that things like oil film bearings in the crankshaft would start to fail. A bushing on something like a small dump trailer doesn't rotate at 2300 rpm.
- jabl 9mo ago> You're right about getting industrial lubricants in bulk for cheap. But I don't need 55 gallons of lubricant. I'd never use it all nor do I want to store it. Well, the corollary to that is that if it's just small case usage then if you buy a 1L bottle of some general purpose lubrication oil for, say, $5, then it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things that the price/L is a lot higher than if you buy an entire drum of the stuff. ;-) > Used engine oil isn't really suitable for lubricating an engine anymore but it's fine for a temporary lubricant of a drill bit, some random hinge on a gate, or stubborn bushing on a piece of equipment. Engine oil is only really replaced on an engine because at some point it degrades enough that things like oil film bearings in the crankshaft would start to fail. A bushing on something like a small dump trailer doesn't rotate at 2300 rpm. Fair enough. I guess I just don't see the benefit here vs just having some bottle of cheap unused lubricant. Except if used engine oil is the only thing you happen to have at hand.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- torginus 9mo agoBefore I got serious with fixing and building things at home, WD-40 was a catchall panacea you sprayed on stuff to make it work.
- steve_adams_86 9mo agoIt was, but it still is, too
- Xerox9213 9mo agoNot only does WD make something work, it makes it smell good, too!
- _kb 9mo agohttps://smellslikewd40.com https://smellslikewd40.com
- knowitnone3 9mo agosprayed on motherboard and ssd. didn't work at all
- cratermoon 9mo agoIf it moves and it shouldn't: duct tape If it doesn't move and it should: WD-40
- giancarlostoro 9mo agoThe caveat is use the right one for the right job. There's a meme that if its not moving but its supposed to you need WD-40... well you need Silicone WD-40 or any silicone based oil like for a garage. If you use regular WD-40 in a garage it is a degreaser essentially, and your squeaking goes away momentarily, and then comes back. After I learned this, you have no idea how much silicone WD-40 I had to put in my garage to make the squeaking stop for good.
- ILoveHorses 9mo agoThe diversity of expertise on this 'SW/tech-focused forum' continues to amaze me
- cbolton 9mo agoIn many cases I think Ballistol is better: great lubricant, food safe, works as solvent in many cases, relatively cheap. It does have a funny smell.