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Uses for WD40

PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:12 pm
by JimWol
I recieved the following as an email and thought I would share it with everyone as there are some interesting uses for WD40 which I would never have thought of, perhaps they can be confirmed or as true or false and maybe added to.

Jim Wolstenholme
____________________________________________________________________

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

Don't lie and don't cheat. WD-40. Who knew?


I had a neighbor who had bought a new ute. 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 =
Ahis 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=
0
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 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 jewellry 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. _____

Re: Uses for WD40

PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:55 pm
by rcraven
There's no mention of fish oil in this data sheet http://www.wd40.co.uk/media/adobe/2/0/WD-40_aerosol_MSDS.pdf :roll:

Re: Uses for WD40

PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 7:33 am
by paddy
Snopes dispels the fish oil rumour:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/wd-40.asp

Paddy

Re: Uses for WD40

PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 6:22 pm
by SADLOTUS
Back in the year... 70s ish, I used it as a brake and clutch cleaner, used to burn off quick with the first couple of brakes or clutch uses - on a motorbike that is - Bit more reticent to do that nowadays.

Re: Uses for WD40

PostPosted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:02 pm
by handi_andi
Well given it is mainly white spirit as far as i remember then most of the list are probably true.

Andy

Re: Uses for WD40

PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:12 pm
by Spyder fan
Item 17 : Lubricates door hinges etc has made me a load of money over the years.

I'm an architectural ironmonger and we sell door hinges that have ball bearing races fitted to prolong the life of the hinge at the knuckle joints, these races are packed with grease at the factory and generally require no maintenance. We state in our maintenance manual that 'Ball bearing hinges are sealed for life and generally require no maintenance, in the event that the hinges require lubrication due to them becoming noisy or squeaking they should be re-greased using a proprietary spray grease:**** on no account should a solvent type lubricant such as WD40 be used as this will strip the remaining grease from the bearings which will drastically reduce the life span of the product******

Old plain bearing hinges used to require a 6 monthly or yearly dose of 3 in 1 or castrol LM to stop them squeaking, when we started selling the new improved ball bearing items, no one thought to stop the maintenance program for them on commercial buildings with the result that good old WD40 was sprayed liberally by maintenance operatives and janitors throughout the land who mistakenly thought that such a thin oil would actually have lubricating properties suitable for an extreme pressure application such as a hinge knuckle........... you wouldn''t put the stuff in your diff now would you?

Good fun list though and some correct uses as well.

Regards

Alan

Re: Uses for WD40

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:20 pm
by sneadd
Interesting discussion on WD40.
I am a pathologist with an interest in Lung pathology. When aspirated into the lung oils of any sort provoke a nasty reaction referred to by pathologists as lipoid pnuemonia. Historically the most common cause used to be cod liver oil inflicted on children by well meaning adults. I share this with you all because I came across a case a long time ago of a patient who developed lipoid pnuemonia secondary to using WD40 in the mistaken belief spraying it on their joints would ease the arthritic stiffness. I would urge great caution in using WD40 for this purpose! (See use 33 below)

JimWol wrote:I recieved the following as an email and thought I would share it with everyone as there are some interesting uses for WD40 which I would never have thought of, perhaps they can be confirmed or as true or false and maybe added to.

Jim Wolstenholme
____________________________________________________________________

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

Don't lie and don't cheat. WD-40. Who knew?


I had a neighbor who had bought a new ute. 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 =
Ahis 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=
0
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 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 jewellry 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. _____

Re: Uses for WD40

PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:21 pm
by summerinmaine
sneadd wrote:Interesting discussion on WD40.
I am a pathologist with an interest in Lung pathology. When aspirated into the lung oils of any sort provoke a nasty reaction referred to by pathologists as lipoid pnuemonia. Historically the most common cause used to be cod liver oil inflicted on children by well meaning adults. I share this with you all because I came across a case a long time ago of a patient who developed lipoid pnuemonia secondary to using WD40 in the mistaken belief spraying it on their joints would ease the arthritic stiffness. I would urge great caution in using WD40 for this purpose! (See use 33 below)



That reminds me of the DMSO craze, which may still be rampant for all I know.

When I was a researcher at Salk, we were doing some pretty interesting work with myoblast fusion cycles and some of it involved the application of cytochalasin B, a cell-permeable mycotoxin that inhibits cytoplasmic division by blocking the formation of contractile microfilaments. The only thing that we could use as a solvent for it was DMSO, and great care was required. I once touched a drop of straight DMSO with my finger, and could taste it in my mouth within seconds.

Ahh . . . good times! Good times!

Remind me one day to tell you about the protein lab where we consumed 250 millicuries of 131 and 125 Iodine per month.

Re: Uses for WD40

PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 7:28 am
by JJDraper
Not strictly WD40 related, but I remember a friend who suffered from asthma who was of the opinion that the best treatment for a slight tightening of his chest was a lungful of smoky 2 stroke fumes out the exhausts of his bike. Mind you it was a Kwaka KH500, so he was a nutter..

Jeremy