WD-40 use / don't use...

Wyszrd said:
I'm curious...after having been stored for so long, how did you know that it was the WD40 that was doing the gunking and not some other product or by-product? Not singing the praises of this product by any means, but having used it for decades as a cheap and expedient lube, water displacer, label remover, and adhesive dissolver (most recently when I was cutting skins for my skis, my scissors were a mess!) on items as varied as firearms, bicycles, locks, and knives I have yet to see varnish. I don't use it for much these days, but I haven't found a reason to badmouth it either.
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From personal experience and from customers. When I enlisted in the Air Force in 1963 I hosed down most of my guns with WD-40 and put them away. 4 years later, they were all a mess.
My S&W revolvers were so gunked up that the hammers wouldn't fall. I soaked them in gasoline to dissolve the varnish.

We have had a number of revolvers brought into the shop with the same problem. Every one was coated with WD-40 and stored for a few years. One that really stood out was a Browning
O/U were the owner squirted WD-40 into the action and put it in his gun cabinet for several years. He managed to open the barrels, but it wouldn't fire. There are many more.

I have used Break-free and TriFlow for over 25 years with no problems and there are many newer lubes on the market now that are probably better. It's true that WD-40 is a lot cheaper,
but would I risk a $1000 firearm to save $4?
 
Personal experience suggests that it isn't a particularly good lubricant or rust preventative, so I don't really use it much.

I'm reasonably impressed by Breakfree CLP, though.
 
had wd40 varnish up on a few swords of mine. got kinda sticky & the attracted dust particles started some pin-prick rust spots. cleaned it off with mineral spirits and figured if it's 15% mineral oil, why not use 100% mineral oil. worked a treat. no more sticky dust magnets.

y'all back home in the states can buy it in the drug store real cheap & it's food grade too. over here i buy baby oil which is the same, but smells like baby powder. they don't sell the unscented edible laxative version y'all can get, which is the most purified.

i have a hard time finding my preferred lube - ballistol, which is also food grade. the strong licorice (anise) smell you either love or hate. i love it myself (i also like ouzo). ballistol works on just about anything. if you can get it. i hear the US formulation is a bit different than the original german flavour we have over here in the ECC though.
 
Thumbs down to WD40. Maybe 40 years ago when there wasn't much else. I have found for outdoor rust preventive it is not good. As a lubricant, not good either.

I am a fan of Ballistol for cleaning handguns,knives, and some other stuff; seems to work and like that it is low toxicity.

Several years ago I bought a couple of cans of Fluid Film and started using for farm things like barn door tracks,rollers, hinges and other hardware and also as lube for farm machinery. I like it so much, I now buy the gallon can.

Also tried it on some knives and handguns and it works well.

Fluid Film is made from lanolin it is used in the marine environment. I read on a Jeep forum that it can be used as an under coat for the winter season, to keep rust and salt damage at bay.
 
kronckew said:
had wd40 varnish up on a few swords of mine. got kinda sticky & the attracted dust particles started some pin-prick rust spots. cleaned it off with mineral spirits and figured if it's 15% mineral oil, why not use 100% mineral oil. worked a treat. no more sticky dust magnets.

y'all back home in the states can buy it in the drug store real cheap & it's food grade too. over here i buy baby oil which is the same, but smells like baby powder. they don't sell the unscented edible laxative version y'all can get, which is the most purified.

i have a hard time finding my preferred lube - ballistol, which is also food grade. the strong licorice (anise) smell you either love or hate. i love it myself (i also like ouzo). ballistol works on just about anything. if you can get it. i hear the US formulation is a bit different than the original german flavour we have over here in the ECC though.
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Ah, if only I could lubricate my gear with Ouzo! My favorites at this time are Slip 2000 and Eezox. I have an acquaintance who likes to rabbit hunt with his old Remington .22lr Targetmaster. Unfortunately, we live in a very rainy part of Alaska and most of the blueing is gone on the rifle. Once he started using Eezox to protect the metal his maintenance became much simpler as he didn't have to worry about rust as much on multi day trips. He sang the praises of it to me enough times to try it and I love the stuff, though the smell (reminiscent of furniture polish) I'm sure will polarize folks into love/hate camps.
 
@PowerNoodle:

All I know is this: after spraying locks as a kid with WD40, they would eventually dry out and stick. I have had much better results with other lubricants. While you're right, WD40 does contain mineral oil, I only recommend it in a pinch, and would not characterize it as a lubricant. It may have lubricating properties, but hell so does synovial fluid in my joints....doesn't mean its good for the materials we're working with.
 
I've been using WD-40 and 3-in-one oil for most of my metal, but I also like Tri-flow for more precision. The reason I use WD-40 then 3-in-one is because I dont have an air compressor any more. I used to use carb cleaner then blow the part off with compressed air, but I went to WD-40, then add actual oil because of plastics (that carb cleaner eats some plastics). I've seen all sorts of lubrication being an aircraft tech, but the simple stuff works great on 80% of things. I go with "oil is oil" I'd rather see someone fill their automotive engine with all-in-one oil than run the engine out of engine oil.
 
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brizbane said:
Thumbs down to WD40. Maybe 40 years ago when there wasn't much else. I have found for outdoor rust preventive it is not good. As a lubricant, not good either.

I am a fan of Ballistol for cleaning handguns,knives, and some other stuff; seems to work and like that it is low toxicity.

Several years ago I bought a couple of cans of Fluid Film and started using for farm things like barn door tracks,rollers, hinges and other hardware and also as lube for farm machinery. I like it so much, I now buy the gallon can.

Also tried it on some knives and handguns and it works well.

Fluid Film is made from lanolin it is used in the marine environment. I read on a Jeep forum that it can be used as an under coat for the winter season, to keep rust and salt damage at bay.
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Yes, it can. I use the hell outa this stuff. It smells as well. It is made from squeezing sheeps wool under high pressure. I just bought the Fluid Film undercoating aplicator & did my truck.
 
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