I've Rediscovered WD-40

Haven't posted for awhile, but I still read the group at least once a week.

Ya know how when you were but a babe, maybe

20, maybe a teenager, and you discovered the wonders of WD-40? When you sprayed it here and there, it made everything work easier, quieter? I was like that. Then I discovered Usenet and this group in particular. I read how the magical fluid in the blue can was not a lubricant. That anything it did would not last. That it could cause more problems then it solved. So, I believed it all and began using other recommended sprays and lubricants. And that is the way it has been for me for years. Oh, I still used WD-40 for certain things, mostly when one of my cast iron tools would get some surface rust on it. I would spray it on, let it set a bit and then scrub with a Scotch pad. That always worked and worked well. Other than that, haven't really used it for years.

A while back, I had a sticking file cabinet lock at work. It just kept getting harder and harder to turn the key each day, but I put up with it. One day I thought I was going to break the key off. All we had in the office was a can of WD-40. From what I had learned, that was exactly the wrong thing to use. I needed some graphite! But, we didn't have any. I was frustrated and really didn't care. I took the blue can, aimed the tube into the lock and sprayed, just a little. I know how this stuff runs. I slipped in my key and voila! It turned like buttah. That was about 2 years ago. The lock still works great.

The other day, one of our screen door locks just wouldn't turn. It's a deadbolt on a little used door. It has a knob on the inside to turn it but it just wouldn't budge. I thought, "this isn't good, what if there's a fire?" There was a slight gap when I pushed on the door, just enough to get that little spray tube into, but it wasn't going to reach any part of the workings of the lock. I tried to take the lock apart, removing the screws and as much of the cylinder as I could, but that door wasn't going to open. I reassembled everything in frustration. Then I sprayed just a little WD-40 on the only part I could reach, the bolt itself through the crack in the door. I turned the knob again, and again, voila! It turned like buttah. I immediately went around to the other two screen doors and did the same and while I was there, I sprayed what I could reach and the key hole on all the locks. Everything has quieted down and turns easily. That was a couple weeks ago and I'm still amazed at how easily and quietly everything is working.

Now, back at work. We have a 60 cup coffee pot that plugs into a timer. I'm the coffee guy, mostly for self-preservation. At the end of the day, I unplug the cord from the timer so I can get enough room to wash up the pot for the next day. It has become increasingly difficult to remove the plug from the timer. I had to pull realllly hard to get it out. This has been going on for about three years. Today, I took a paper towel and sprayed a little WD-40 on it and wiped the blades of the plug. Slipped it in the outlet of the timer and, well, you get the idea. Like buttah.......

Recently purchased a couple Honda scooters, used. The lock to lift up the seat for the helmet holder was hard to turn on both of them. Pssst, psst, they work like new. The cargo door locks on my motorhome were difficult to turn. A little in the key hole and a little on the inside latch, good to go!

So, don't believe everything you hear or read. Yes, there are places where some other lubricant is more appropriate, but WD-40 has earned a spot right up front on my lubricant shelf, once again. Try it, you might like it, just like you used to.

Reply to
Phil Anderson
Loading thread data ...

Troll post attempting to recover failing sales comes up every few months.

WD-40 wrecks more than it fixes!

Spam the garbage somewhere else!

Haven't posted for awhile, but I still read the group at least once a week.

Ya know how when you were but a babe, maybe

20, maybe a teenager, and you discovered the wonders of WD-40? When you sprayed it here and there, it made everything work easier, quieter? I was like that. Then I discovered Usenet and this group in particular. I read how the magical fluid in the blue can was not a lubricant. That anything it did would not last. That it could cause more problems then it solved. So, I believed it all and began using other recommended sprays and lubricants. And that is the way it has been for me for years. Oh, I still used WD-40 for certain things, mostly when one of my cast iron tools would get some surface rust on it. I would spray it on, let it set a bit and then scrub with a Scotch pad. That always worked and worked well. Other than that, haven't really used it for years.

A while back, I had a sticking file cabinet lock at work. It just kept getting harder and harder to turn the key each day, but I put up with it. One day I thought I was going to break the key off. All we had in the office was a can of WD-40. From what I had learned, that was exactly the wrong thing to use. I needed some graphite! But, we didn't have any. I was frustrated and really didn't care. I took the blue can, aimed the tube into the lock and sprayed, just a little. I know how this stuff runs. I slipped in my key and voila! It turned like buttah. That was about 2 years ago. The lock still works great.

The other day, one of our screen door locks just wouldn't turn. It's a deadbolt on a little used door. It has a knob on the inside to turn it but it just wouldn't budge. I thought, "this isn't good, what if there's a fire?" There was a slight gap when I pushed on the door, just enough to get that little spray tube into, but it wasn't going to reach any part of the workings of the lock. I tried to take the lock apart, removing the screws and as much of the cylinder as I could, but that door wasn't going to open. I reassembled everything in frustration. Then I sprayed just a little WD-40 on the only part I could reach, the bolt itself through the crack in the door. I turned the knob again, and again, voila! It turned like buttah. I immediately went around to the other two screen doors and did the same and while I was there, I sprayed what I could reach and the key hole on all the locks. Everything has quieted down and turns easily. That was a couple weeks ago and I'm still amazed at how easily and quietly everything is working.

Now, back at work. We have a 60 cup coffee pot that plugs into a timer. I'm the coffee guy, mostly for self-preservation. At the end of the day, I unplug the cord from the timer so I can get enough room to wash up the pot for the next day. It has become increasingly difficult to remove the plug from the timer. I had to pull realllly hard to get it out. This has been going on for about three years. Today, I took a paper towel and sprayed a little WD-40 on it and wiped the blades of the plug. Slipped it in the outlet of the timer and, well, you get the idea. Like buttah.......

Recently purchased a couple Honda scooters, used. The lock to lift up the seat for the helmet holder was hard to turn on both of them. Pssst, psst, they work like new. The cargo door locks on my motorhome were difficult to turn. A little in the key hole and a little on the inside latch, good to go!

So, don't believe everything you hear or read. Yes, there are places where some other lubricant is more appropriate, but WD-40 has earned a spot right up front on my lubricant shelf, once again. Try it, you might like it, just like you used to.

Reply to
m II

snipped

Don't throw away the K-Y just yet.

Reply to
Gerald Ross

On 7/14/2011 8:21 PM, Phil Anderson wrote: Snip

It is great for removing road tar and bugs from your car paint. I also like to use it as a cologne on those special nights out on the town. ;)

Reply to
Leon

And polishing a stainless kitchen sink (also far cheaper than the "stainless" cleaners).

Reply to
HeyBub

I buy a gallon of WD40 at at time and refill a spray bottle as needed.

IME, there is nothing that does a better job of cleaning stainless steel appliances/fixtures, among other things.

Reply to
Swingman

Yes, this piece is an obvious ad for WE-40.

That being said, its a rather cute piece, which makes me wonder about those who would get upset over it.

On a related topic. My brother's tagline is "The only things you need in this world are duct tape and WD-40." He's not too far off. Back about 23 years ago, when we started building our place here in the country, it got to be a joke and a sense of amazement between my wife and I over all the uses we were finding for WD-40. Leon is right, it works well for removing bugs from the car. In addition, it is great at taking paint off your hands and the list goes on.

Of course, I live in the South with its humidity. But even back in S. Central Illinois where I was raised, we found we really couldn't get along without it. Oh, other things do a better job, in certain areas (like PB Blaster for rusted bolts) but it really just kind of the "Swiss Army Knife" in a can thing.

Deb

Reply to
Dr. Deb

Have more respect for your elders!

You guys just haven't been around here long enough. Phil Anderson (if indeed it is the same Phil, and it sure sounds like it) was a regular here at least ten or more years ago, actually maybe like fifteen years ago?.

Reply to
Swingman

That she are!

Oh, no. Town runs require something much more delicate and powerful: Eu de Hoppes #9.

-- Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace. -- Robert J. Sawyer

Reply to
Larry Jaques

I don't know, but I looked up his posting pattern and this guy definitely isn't a spammer. He may have lifted a cute anecdote or its parts for the story (or not), but 7 posts in a 10 month period doesn't seem like much of a spam effort.

Anyway, I always keep WD40 around. I don't use it on door locks, machines, and thinking about it, rarely as a lubricant. But it is dandy as its original intent as "Water Displacment formula 40" indicates.

I swab it on my pocket knife blade after using it as cleaner (blade only). I spray sheetmetal flashings to keep zinc oxide from appearing until they are used; if I have a box of nails in the back of the truck and rain is approaching, I spray the top and sides of the box to keep rain and moisture out. After sharpening my beater chisels that get used for everything (sadly....) I wipe them off with WD40 before putting them in the toolbox. My big peanut butter jar of odd screws and fasteners left from various installations gets a spritz to keep the contents from oxidizing while riding in the truck.

It works great on the ends of brass hoses to ease connects and disconnects. Ditto the hose bibb. Works great on the connections and tips for my power washer to keep them easy to connect and disconnect.

Lots of stuff to do with old faithful, you just need to remember lubrication isn't its forte.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

Well, since it is basically kerosene, you've discovered what the old timers in the 1800's knew. Kerosene can be used for a myriad of things. Including wasp stings.

Reply to
Steve Barker

I don't know, but I looked up his posting pattern and this guy definitely isn't a spammer. He may have lifted a cute anecdote or its parts for the story (or not), but 7 posts in a 10 month period doesn't seem like much of a spam effort.

Anyway, I always keep WD40 around. I don't use it on door locks, machines, and thinking about it, rarely as a lubricant. But it is dandy as its original intent as "Water Displacment formula 40" indicates.

I swab it on my pocket knife blade after using it as cleaner (blade only). I spray sheetmetal flashings to keep zinc oxide from appearing until they are used; if I have a box of nails in the back of the truck and rain is approaching, I spray the top and sides of the box to keep rain and moisture out. After sharpening my beater chisels that get used for everything (sadly....) I wipe them off with WD40 before putting them in the toolbox. My big peanut butter jar of odd screws and fasteners left from various installations gets a spritz to keep the contents from oxidizing while riding in the truck.

It works great on the ends of brass hoses to ease connects and disconnects. Ditto the hose bibb. Works great on the connections and tips for my power washer to keep them easy to connect and disconnect.

Lots of stuff to do with old faithful, you just need to remember lubrication isn't its forte. ==============================================

It was middling even as a water displacer.

I forgot the name of its main competitor a while back -- mighta been liquid wrench -- but I recall a water leak on my crappy 1/8" HR steel welding table. Part of it had remnants of WD, the other liquid wrench, and guess which part had all the rust spots and which had none?? Yup.....

The only redemption WD might have is the dissolved solids it supposedly has, left behind when it dries, but frankly, there's not too much evidence of them either.

WD but another half-assed product with a top notch marketing/distribution team, so that in the Big Box World, at least, it's all you see. Few people realize that Starbucks is over-priced middling coffee. Yet there are more Starbucks than there are liquor stores.

WD's real utility is as an overpriced tapping fluid for aluminum, largely because of its kerosene base.

Reply to
Existential Angst

a little atf on a rag works wonders on stainless also.

Reply to
Steve Barker

I too remember some other product. All I remember was that it had a C and perhaps a D in its name.

Reply to
willshak

It's main ingredients are mineral spirits and mineral oil.

Reply to
willshak

Thanks, Karl, for remembering. Yeah, probably going on 15 years with the wreck. My intent was not to SPAM, I have NOTHING to gain. My sole intent was to spread some of the cheer I felt after using WD-40 for the first time in a long time. I also sprayed an old pocket knife that belonged to a deceased relative and was badly rusted and no part of it was moving. That was a few months ago and I basically forgot about it. Found it the other day and the blades open and close almost like new! A little polishing and sharpening and it will last another generation. Like Robert, I have used it to spray over an open container of fasteners and it works slick for that.

I have a web site

formatting link
that hasn't changed in ages if anyone wants to check out my validity. Nothing is for sale, it's just a hobby site. Not even a link to anything for sale. No SPAM from me, ever...

Phil

Reply to
Phil Anderson

willshak wrote the following:

I know better, but I typed 'it's' instead of 'its'.

Reply to
willshak

Note taken. I did not know that. (johnny carson voice)

Reply to
-MIKE-

M II has realized his mistake and canceled his post. He doesn't contribute anything worth reading anyway.

Reply to
willshak

Interesting. Wonder if he'll "cancel" his post accusing me of having multiple identities.

Reply to
-MIKE-

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