WD-40 again

[opos]

For a number of years I've restored antique farm hit and miss engines..many are "frozen" solid with rust and crud from many years of sitting under a tree or in a barn....The main thing I use is Kano Kroil for all things stuck, rusty, cruddy and just in need of help...I don't use WD40 for anything at all....I used to fish in salt water a lot and guys would ruin perfectly good reels using WD 40 on them....it displaced the water but left the metal "exposed" with no protection and simply soaked the drag washers making them unusable...

I have cleaned up a boat load of old Mosins and Makarov pistols over the years....I use a product called Smith and Wesson gel...they have it in aerosol cans (too much waste) and small squeeze bottles (think they are 4 oz)....I bought a case of the small bottles long ago and really like it for anything that is the least bit stubborn...it can stay in a bore over night with no harm...I've been known to use a stainless steel tornado brush on bad bores...have brought back many sewer pipes with it...then some Kroil with elbow grease and then CLP as a final clean/lube.....anything but WD 40 on my stuff....and I live in San Diego where it was invented for the Aerospace industry.

[44man]

I always keep a can or three around. Never used it as a protectant though, mostly to loosen up lightly rusted screws and nuts. Though I have not personally tested it, the WD-40 Specialist is said to be a great protectant. It rated up in the top five in a field test if I remember right.

http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

http://www.amazon.com/WD-40-Speciali.../dp/B0083V8JP6

Not the normal everyday WD-40. They actually have a super product that works but I have not found any.

[dragon813gt]

Like most here ive tried everything under the sun at one time or another.

"Hey, you tried frog lube? They use it on the space station!"

I like ballistol and use it but ive yet to beat plain old Hoppes 9 and Rem Oil for guns. Kroil works great for sticky stuff and swabing a barrel before chore boy

No frog lube here. I maintain my firearms and don't need a new wonder product. I will use Hoppes if there is a good bit of fouling. But it's a solvent and you have to watch what it touches. The great thing about Ballistol is that it's safe on every surface. It's not the best cleaner, lube or preservative. But if you routinely maintain your firearms it's hard to beat. Except when it comes to the odor department

[whisler]

Have to agree on Ballistol; works great, smells terrible!

[wmitty]

I worked with millwrights in chemical plants who used it to clean the faces of mechanical seals in centrifugal pumps. We also found it useful in cleaning our hands. Fairly good to start a fire with, but not much else.

[jonp]

Not the normal everyday WD-40. They actually have a super product that works but I have not found any.

There is or was a special on all of the WD40 Specialist products. I saw a display at Lowes of them and bought the Lithium Grease to keep in my semi for stubborn sliders. The cans had a coupon on them for a full refund of the product. Free stuff! Never tried them before or even seen them but free is free.

[smokeywolf]

I use G96, LPS, Ballistol and Kroil on rifle, pistol, fishing gear and other sporting goods and mineral or camellia oil routinely on my straight razors which are high carbon steel and go into the shower with me.

As I understood it, WD-40 was mostly #1 diesel fuel with an aromatic added and a few other little chemicals. Just like when diesel fuel dries, it leaves a yellowish brown crust behind which does little to protect the surface on which it was deposited.

Haven't owned a can of the stuff in decades.

[44man]

Did you know jet fuel grows bugs in it and airplane tanks need cleaned now and then?

[labradigger1]

I liked the older version of wd-40. You could run a 2 stroke engine on the old formula. I myself am a fan of wd-40 and I use it for what it is made for, a penetrating lubricant, water displacement and bug spray. If I get my gun soaked when hunting it gets sprayed with a coat of wd-40 then stood in a corner to dry a bit. Wd-40 is not a lubricant and should not be used as one. Some people claim it removes the blueing from guns, my guns may be some super metal because they are still like new in regards to the blu.
Lubricating gun parts I fall suit with garand procedures. Light grease for things that slide, oil for things that rotate.

[Nueces]

Hokay, here are photos of my Smith New Century Triplelock 44 Special. You can see remnants of the skin ailments, but there are still large areas of pristine century old blue. It boasts a 3 digit serial number. I like it!

[xd45forever]

A friend of mine is a shop foreman at a factory where they recondition the machines they build. His guys swear by a 50/50 mixture of heptane ( brake cleaner ) which they buy bulk and ATF they swear it's better than any penetrating oil you can buy! May have to give it a try.

[dragon813gt]

50/50 Acetone and ATF came out on top as the best penetrating oil in a scientific test.

[singleshot]

I use wd40 in the winter to start my tractor and to clean my hands. It's good starting fluid for diesels and a cleaner, but not a lube or rust inhibitor.

[daniel lawecki]

LPS solvents and wipes our sales rep knows I shoot. The other day he brought in gun wipes and asked if I would try they. Well there still on my reloading bench. I have never use WD-40 in the 31 years building machinery for very large companies in North America and South America. I'll stick to Shooter Choice, Rem oil and such.

[mongoose33]

I have a particularly good use for WD-40. We put out our garbage at the curb in plastic garbage bags. On garbage day animals/birds will sometimes tear holes in the bag to get at what's inside.

Now what I do is add one squirt of WD-40 to the insides just before I close up the bag. Whatever is poking at the bag to get what's inside doesn't like WD-40, and the odor inside drives them away.

[randyrat]

But wait there is hope for WD40 (Specialty) it works real good. But, it is tough to have a black sheep in the family called WD40 which is more of a solvent/ cleaner/ water displace but worthless as a lube .

[Bayou52]

For my reloading presses I just use 3-in-1 oil.

For my reloading presses, I find that Marvel Mystery Oil is a superb lubricant with very high detergent qualities. The stuff is extremely high detergent - the reason it works so well in gasoline engines. The high detergent in the MMO really cleans out powder residue in the press joints and on the ram. Works very well. I just put a little in a drop bottle and apply a few drops to the area. Let it set for a while, and you'll see the powder/carbon residue flowing out of the affected area.

Bayou52

[lightload]

I don't like my neighbor's cat, and spray him with WD-40 at every opportunity. The dear animal recently had his 19th birthday so the stuff must be good for him. He gives me ring worm.

[wmitty]

lightload

that cat's a combat veteran! spray him with the water hose and see if the water is dispersed by the WD...

[leadman]

Been awhile since I looked at the MSDS sheet for WD40 but it is/was about 90% Stoddard Solvent (mineral spirits). The flash point of the original solvent was 100 degrees but government got involved and and they had to change to 140 degree flash point to reduce vocs.
At one time they used propane as a propellant, until a guy got his can stuck on the battery post of his starter and it blew up. Last I knew they were using a form of Freon, possiblity 134a as a propellant. This could be the residue that is being left on objects now.