WD-40

Shop WD40 products in our eStore

I managed to make it three decades before discovering the wonders of WD-40 first-hand. The bathroom door in our aging Boston apartment was unbearably squeaky, so my husband immediately prescribed WD-40. Skeptical, I doused the hinges with it one night...to no effect! But by the next morning, the door was completely silent. What a miraculous product!

So I ask myself, what in the world did people do before WD-40?

Invented in 1953 by a scientist at a company named Rocket Chemical Company trying to prevent corrosion on aerospace equipment, WD-40 was named for its invention process: water displacement (WD) experiments that worked on try number 40. While this petroleum-based product was originally used to protect the outer surface of missiles, WD-40 soon became a common household item and is safe for metal, rubber, wood and most plastics, according to the WD-40 website. In fact, WD-40 was so popular that the company was renamed in 1969 for what was then its only product. Everyone has their favorite use for WD-40, or WD40 as some people refer to it. For some, it's silencing that squeaky door hinge, protecting tools from rust, or getting gum off a carpet.

According to the WD-40 manufacturer's website, the potent potion has five basic uses:

• WD-40 cleans away dirt and adhesives
• WD-40 displaces moisture to help dry out electrical sockets
• WD-40 penetrates rust
• WD-40 lubricates moving parts
• WD-40 protects metal from corrosion

Devotees of WD-40 have come up with thousands of specific uses, however. Plumbers use it to seal tape on pipe threads, while painters use it to clean brushes and remove adhesives from glass, according to a WD-40 tip site for professionals. On the home front, according to 2000 Uses for WD-40 (http://www.twbc.org/wd40.htm), WD40:

• removes stains of paint, rust, lipstick, coffee and tea from various surfaces
• removes gum and melted crayon parts
• lubricates everything from roof ventilation turbines to hamster wheels and doggie doors
• prevents rust on forklifts, pitchforks, metal table legs and helicopter blades

Another WD-40-oriented website compiled by Reader's Digest notes that WD-40:

• can shine and protect shoes
• keep wooden tool handles from splintering
• ward off roaches when sprayed on windowsills and door screens

According to the Wacky Uses website http://www.wackyuses.com/wd40.html, WD-40 can:

• attract fish
• free tongues frozen to metal

Those looking for more ways to use up their supplies of WD40 are invited to join the WD-40 Fan Club
(http://fanclub.wd40.com/) to receive a daily tip on how to employ this miraculous fluid.

WD-40 has also been the subject of several books, including the appropriately-named book The WD-40 Book by Jim Berg and Tim Nyberg (Bad Dog Press, 1997), which offers the advice that "if it's stuck and it's not supposed to be, WD-40 it." Note that here, WD-40 is used as a verb, which is another sign of success. When a product or service that started as a noun becomes a verb, then you know that the product is used by a lot of people a lot of times with reliable results.

Since 1995, the WD-40 company has been steadily adding to its product line after relying solely on its signature blue, yellow and red cans of WD-40 for almost 40 years. Some of WD-40's other products include the 3-In-One Professional line, Lava heavy duty hand soaps and X-14 mildew remover. In 2005, global sales of WD-40 and 3-In-One products were up 10 percent, with the greatest growth in the US, according to WD-40's annual report.
		You can buy WD-40 from Cox Hardware in sizes ranging from 2 oz to 5 gallons. We also carry the new WD-40 no mess pen for smaller projects and the WD-40 Smart Straw aerosol can. Large-scale use of WD-40 involves purchasing the 1- or 5-gallon sizes and using the WD-40 applicator. Volume discounts are available, contact our store manager at 713-923-9458. Commercial accounts are available for qualified commercial customers.
WD-40 is a lubricant in the Lubricants, Contact Cleaners class of our Auto, Truck, Marine Supplies Department. So if you are browsing for it in our Virtual Hardware Store, you would want to click on the Automotive Department and look for the Lubricants class.

By Alix Stuart
Active Lightning Specialist