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Roger M
03-17-2009, 08:53 AM
WD-40




Before you read to the end, does anybody know what the main ingredient of WD-40 is?

I had a neighbor who had bought a new pickup. I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray painted red all around the sides of this beige truck (for some unknown reason). I went over, woke him up, and told him the bad news. He was very upset and was trying to figure out what to do probably nothing until Monday morning, since nothing was open.

Another neighbor came out and told him to get his WD-40 and clean it off. It removed the unwanted paint beautifully and did not harm his paint job that was on the truck. I'm impressed! WD-40, who knew?



'Water Displacement #40. The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts. WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a 'water displacement' compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40. The Convair Company bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts.

Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt you. When you read the 'shower door' part, try it. It's the first thing that has ever cleaned that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic, it works just as well as glass. It's a miracle! Then try it on your stove top ... Voila! It's now shinier than it's ever been. You'll be amazed.

Here are some other uses:

1. Protects silver from tarnishing.
2. Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3. Cleans and lubricates guitar 20 strings.
4. Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making them slippery.
5. Keeps flies off cows.
6. Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7. Removes lipstick stains.
8. Loosens stubborn zippers.
9. Untangles jewelry chains.
10. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12. Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13. Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots .
15. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16. Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17. Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
18. It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring. It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19. Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use WD-40!
20. Gives a children's playground gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21. Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers.
22. Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.
29. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31. Removes splattered grease on stove.
32. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.
36. Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37. Florida's favorite use is 'cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers'.
38. The favorite use in the state of New York - WD-40 protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.
40. Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41. WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag.
42. Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash. Presto! The lipstick is gone!
43. If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the moisture and allow the car to start.



P. S. The basic ingredient is FISH OIL.


(This info was sent to me. I am not the OP)

Twentyover
03-17-2009, 10:25 AM
Well, what's more water resistant than a fish?

Restomod
03-17-2009, 11:33 AM
Just dont use it around anything you want to paint...........

Tiger
03-17-2009, 12:29 PM
I bought a new Chrysler 300C Touring a month ago and it came with too many badges, I took them off and used WD40 to clean off the glue. worked great!

bigvegan
03-17-2009, 12:49 PM
Rustoleum IS actually fish oil based (http://www.rustoleum.com/product.asp?frm_product_id=25&SBL=1).

WD-40? Not so much. (It's still an awesome product, though, and the list of approved uses can be found at - http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/wd-40.asp)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40

WD-40's main ingredients, according to U.S. Material Safety Data Sheet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_Safety_Data_Sheet) information, are:

50%: Stoddard solvent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoddard_solvent) (i.e., mineral spirits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_spirits) -- primarily hexane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexane), somewhat similar to kerosene)
25%: Liquified petroleum gas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquified_petroleum_gas) (presumably as a propellant; carbon dioxide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide) is now used instead to reduce WD-40's considerable flammability)
15+%: Mineral oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil) (light lubricating oil)
10-%: Inert ingredients
The German version of the mandatory EU safety sheet lists the following safety relevant ingredients:

60-80%: Heavy Naphtha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphtha) (petroleum product), hydrogen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen) treated
1-5%: Carbon dioxide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide)
It further lists flammability and effects to the human skin when repeatedly exposed to WD-40 as risks when using WD-40. Nitrile rubber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrile_rubber) gloves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloves) and safety glasses should be used. Water is unsuitable for extinguishing burning WD-40.
There is a popular urban legend (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend) that the key ingredient in WD-40 is fish oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_oil).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40#cite_note-1)

HarleyR
03-17-2009, 04:53 PM
I just like the smell :)

Kenova
03-17-2009, 05:18 PM
I've always thought it smelled a bit like coconut.

Ken

WS6
03-17-2009, 06:21 PM
I thought the formula was supposed to be top secret information? Makes sense that the MSDS would have it listed though.

LateNight72
03-17-2009, 07:00 PM
LPS > WD-40



That is all. :)

MonzaRacer
03-17-2009, 07:49 PM
If you work on any government reservation with a machineshop or sheetmetal fab shop and have wd40 around your fired according to my brothers employee handbook from work.
local resevation/base here in indiana had a special antirust spray(that is actually good to keep rust away) for sheet metal, new guy in shop sprayed all sheets of sheet metal down with wd40, enter crew on new job 2 weeks later and the "miracle" wd40 let all of it get surface rust, TADA 2.4 million dollars in sheet metal junked for that building.
Oh and the now sold on every shelf wd40 has only light petroleum distillates (ie light kerosene) in it, uh sorry no fish oil in it ,and yes I have seen the chemical break down on it from when it was sent in for testing.
Absolute best lubricant,antirust,penetrant I have ever used is Cyclo "Breakaway"
WE sat a fresh bore engine block just back from tubbling, derusting and lots of machine work, then found bad spot in block, which sucked, it was "soaked" in Breakaway and sat outside in rain and winter snow and had only a few small light red rust spots from standing water/ice. None of the machined surfaces had any rust. We pulled block back in did a full block fill and its now running down track on E85.
Do not get wd40 anywhere near my equipment.

ProTouring442
03-18-2009, 04:01 AM
Interesting...

Back when living at my parent's home, I had a 1969 Triumph Bonneville that, due to a lack of space, was stored outside. Before the onset of the off-season (winter), I would spray nearly the entire bike with WD-40, then cover it with my usual motorcycle cover. For those who may not know, an old Triumph has many bare aluminum parts on it, and thus are quite prone to corrosion. In the spring, I would spend an hour or two washing the bike to rid it of the ick that was the WD-40, and when finished the bike looked every bit as nice as it did before I sprayed it down with none of that nasty white stuff aluminum tends to "grow" when left exposed to moisture.

The only down side is the smell. It seems that the smell of WD-40 is a migraine trigger for me!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

greencactus3
03-18-2009, 06:54 AM
is vaporized wd40 harmful to lungs?

MonzaRacer
03-19-2009, 01:43 AM
not good lung only supposed to intake clean atmosphere.

Mathius
03-19-2009, 10:33 AM
I see shade tree mechanics all the time using WD-40 when they should be using PB Blaster. PB is a penetrating oil. WD is mostly a lubricant.

Also, people say gasoline won't hurt your skin, but I got a nice rash all down my arm from changing a fuel filter in a wal-mart parking lot when I was about 24 years old and my camaro wouldn't start.

Mathius

MonzaRacer
03-19-2009, 11:48 AM
Well as for PB Blaster, I quit usung it when bolts were not comin out and found my Cyclo Breakaway and used that and the bolts actually came right out, the one we used PB on broke off. Old employer swore by it till I started using Breakaway out of my box, troublethere are to few sellers in Bloomington Indiana yet there is a distribution wharehouse in town!

Jim Nilsen
03-19-2009, 01:30 PM
is vaporized wd40 harmful to lungs?

Machinist who use it as coolant have been known to have a higher rate of lung cancer if that is what you were wondering. You get a white milky fluid in your lungs that forms. It's from the heated vapors not the mist, but I don't inhale so I don't worry.

Mathius
03-19-2009, 05:30 PM
Well as for PB Blaster, I quit usung it when bolts were not comin out and found my Cyclo Breakaway and used that and the bolts actually came right out, the one we used PB on broke off. Old employer swore by it till I started using Breakaway out of my box, troublethere are to few sellers in Bloomington Indiana yet there is a distribution wharehouse in town!

Trick is to spray it the night before you work on it. 'Course if its one of those emergency, I need my car fixed now, situations, that advice doesn't help.

I have a set of those bolt extractors from Craftsman that comes in handy. The kind for when you round off the head of a bolt. Only thing they don't work good for is those damn torx head bolts that GM insists on using in the most inconvenient of places. Doesn't help that every mom and pop making torx bits makes sh*t ones. We got a set of stanley's that turned out to be decent. Craftsman doesn't even carry them in the stores. Maybe you can special order them. Hardly ever deal with a snap-on or mac dealer.

Mathius

greencactus3
03-19-2009, 07:43 PM
Machinist who use it as coolant have been known to have a higher rate of lung cancer if that is what you were wondering. You get a white milky fluid in your lungs that forms. It's from the heated vapors not the mist, but I don't inhale so I don't worry.
yea we use wd 40 as coolant on our mills all the time... so i guess i'll be getting cancer lol

CarlC
03-19-2009, 08:44 PM
LPS > WD-40

Absolutely.

It's not a solvent. It's not a lubricant. Seems a bit strange to mix the two together and expect to get something better than either standing alone.

Corrosion protection = LPS3 or LPS2 (short term.)

Solvent = take your pick depending on the nature of the cleanup.

LateNight72
03-19-2009, 09:56 PM
Absolutely.

It's not a solvent. It's not a lubricant. Seems a bit strange to mix the two together and expect to get something better than either standing alone.

Corrosion protection = LPS3 or LPS2 (short term.)

Solvent = take your pick depending on the nature of the cleanup.
Or if you want something similar to WD40, but still slightly better, there's LPS1.

I pulled some Aircraft Turbine Flywheels & various other parts out of water puddles (1"-5" deep). Hurricane Wilma damaged the roof and allowed water in the storage facility. The parts had been sitting in water for 2-4 weeks before we were able to get to them. All were covered with LPS3 before storage, and all came out in perfect shape. Cleaned off the 3, wiped them down with some 1 and reapplied 3. Never had rust problems. Good thing, since only after I did the task of cleaning up the storage area did I learn those Flywheels were $20k-40k a pop. Glad I didn't drop any... :scared: