WD-40 & Silicone Spray. When is one better over the other?

[Craven Morehead]

I'm leaving now to go home, dig out the K-Y and see where that leads.

[Ether Jones]

Who told you this? They were having fun at your expense.

WD40 is mostly kerosene. There is NO kerosene in any of the major brands of silicone spray. WD40 and silicone spray are completely different chemical formulations.

[Doug Miller]

You appear unaware that there are thousands of different compounds which can be distilled from petroleum, and *all* of them can be referred to as "petroleum distillate". Educate yourself here

where you can learn about the many different chemicals that fall under the generic heading "petroleum distillate"

and here

where the MSDS for WD-40 shows that its composition isn't even remotely similar to that of Gunk Silicone Spray Lubricant.

Copied verbatim from the back of a can of Gunk Silicone Spray Lubricant, p/n AMS9-14, that I have in my garage:

"Contains petroleum distillate (CAS# 142-82-5), propane (CAS# 74-98-6), Dimethyl polysiloxane (CAS# 63148-98-6), and water (CAS# 7732-18-5)."

Doesn't look to me like silicone is "the last ingredient on the list." Maybe it does to you.

From the fifth line under "Brand Information": "Date Entered: 1996-09-03"

Do ya think that might be just a little bit out of date, that the formula might have changed some in the last TEN YEARS??

>

[Stubby]

Use "Wet Platinum". It is silicone based. Honest.

Craven Morehead wrote:

[-zero]

This is what you want. Regular White lithium grease (tube/spray) is fine also.

Don't buy it at Amazon, it's at any hardware store, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.

-zero

[glenn P]

Congrats on the best answer of them all.... But I've even used plain marine grease, and it works well also. I think maybe his hinges are captive pin, negating our answers.

WD40 "toolbox in a can"? I don't think so.....

[Tom The Great]

I use WD-40 for cleaning. That's all.

I use silicon for applying a fine layer of lube over a larger area.

As for garage door hinges, and pins, a few drops of light machinery oil lubes and adhearse to the surfaces I want to keep lubed.

This is me, I generally give my garage door a yearly cleaning and lubing.

imho,

tom @

[Richard J Kinch]

Actually, it is. Industrial chemists use various nomenclatures for the same things, in an attempt to obscure what's going on.

[Richard J Kinch]

No water on the can on my shelf, or in the MSDS. Having found a pointless counterexample, you win the prissy exception contest.

[Richard J Kinch]

Nope. Read the Gunk brand can or MSDS linked in my earlier posts. Gunk "silicone" spray is 99 percent petroleum, roughly kerosene weight, with a tiny bit of silicone oil.

[larry moe 'n curly]

But here's another MSDS, for Valvoline's Pyroil brand silicone lube spray:

It lists:

Ingredient(s) CAS Number % (by weight)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HEPTANE 142-82-5 87.0-

97.0 CARBON DIOXIDE 124-38-9 0.0- 10.0 SILICONE Trade Secret 0.0- 8.0

IOW it appears that there's nothing in the can except propellant and some silicone compound.

[Doug Miller]

Maybe *you* should read it before you post further on this topic. I did, and posted what I found. The contents are not what you claim they are.

The MSDS you linked is more than ten years old, and is not from the manufacturer. Here's a recent (21 Mar 2005) MSDS from the manufacturer:

Wrong on all counts.

[-zero]

Well MOST people draw the line at margarine, you kinky bastard! ;o)

-zero

[Jim Yanik]

"-zero" wrote in news:wbvVg.3943$ [e-mail]:

It's your own dirty mind that led you to that conclusion. 8-)

Soybean cooking oil would be a better lubricant for *mechanical things* than WD-40.(castor bean oil used to be used in autos!)

So would kerosene.

[Richard J Kinch]

It's 87 percent heptane, which is a petroleum distillate. The CO2 is the propellant.

[Richard J Kinch]

Sorry, but that's what's on the can on my shelf.

[Doug Miller]

Either the can you have is as old as the MDSD you posted the link to, or you need to look at the can again. The composition of the stuff now simply is not what you say it is.

[mm]

The only anit-seize I know is for keeping soldering iron tips from sticking to the soldering iron, and maybe to keep sparkplugs from sticking in their sockets. Etc. Thing related to heat.

Is that what you use or is there something else I don't konw about?

[Richard J Kinch]

Sez you. Reality doesn't correspond to your petulant annoyance.

Here are Gunk MSDSs from 2005 or 2006:

Looks like they may have upped the silicone from 1-2 percent to 6-7 percent. Still 93 percent petroleum/propellant/surfactant, like WD-40.

It is: paint thinner with a little silicone added.

It is not: silicone spray in the sense of a spray made of silicone.

Kind of like calling Mountain Dew "fruit juice" because it has some fruit flavoring.

[Doug Miller]

Yes, "sez me." The reality is exactly as I said: the stuff just isn't what you say it is.

Yes, I know, I read them. I posted that last one, remember?

Take a look at the MSDS for WD-40. Compare the two.

Gunk Silicone Spray Lubricant #AM914 is, according to the MSDS: aliphatic solvent naphtha 15 to 40% butane 10 to 30 % dimethyl polysiloxane 1 to 5% propane 1 to 5%

WD40 is, according to the MSDS, Aliphatic Petroleum Distillates 45-50% Petroleum Base Oil 15-25% LVP Hydrocarbon Fluid 12-18% Carbon Dioxide 2-3%

It is not.

From the MSDS for Parks paint thinner (a brand widely sold at home centers): Stoddard Solvent (percentage not given)

1,2,4-trimethyl benzene (percentage not given)

Straw man -- nobody ever claimed that it was.

And now I suppose you're going to argue with Sherwin-Williams for calling their products "latex paint" when they're mostly water?