People who know the formula for WD-40

https://www.wsj.com/business/the-secret-society-of-people-who-know-the-formula-for-wd-40-e9c0ff54

by fortran77 • 6 months ago

205 311 6 months ago

wsj.com

Gift link: https://www.wsj.com/business/the-secret-society-of-people-wh...

hurricanepootis2• 6 months ago

Couldn't WD-40's formula be reverse engineered using analytical chemical techniques? GC-MS, NMR, etc.

5424582• 6 months ago

Related, somebody recently did this for Coke. There's a video on YouTube (I'd link it but my anti-procrastination filter is on).

But yes, I strongly suspect a motivated party could use analytical chemistry to work it out.

pogue3• 6 months ago

Ha! ;)

throwawayq3423• 6 months ago

I imagine the "what's next" is the same for replicating Coke or WD-40, you have a similar product and none of the name recognition or ad spend.

Not worth much.

pogue3• 6 months ago

The guy on YouTube who just recreated the formula of Coca-Cola with HPLC & etc should take a crack at it

Perfectly Replicating Coca Cola (It Took Me A Year) by LabCoatz https://youtu.be/TDkH3EbWTYc

xeonmc• 6 months ago

Instructions unclear. Taste-tested WD40.

cryptoz• 6 months ago

The title is clickbait though, he admits near the end it is not in fact a perfect replication. I could feel this of course, long before even starting to watch it. Still, upsetting because otherwise it’s an entertaining video.

Tiberium• 6 months ago

Coca-cola's "secret formula" is also just marketing.

dang• 6 months ago

Discussed here:

Perfectly Replicating Coca Cola [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543509 - Jan 2026 (219 comments)

Scoundreller7• 6 months ago

Sorta, it’s a mix of mixtures of molecules so you also need to consider the makeup of whatever compound it’s made with (but it’s probably something dumb like kerosene).

Reality is you’d want to make something with similar physical characteristics and call it a day. Kinda like how we don’t bother with hplc on gasoline, you just fill your car with something that meets the specs and get on with life

p0w3n3d• 6 months ago

  kerosene

Like in Grog

loosescrews• 6 months ago

To some extent. There are limitations on the technique, including, but not limited to, not determining the relative concentrations and not detecting all components. The WSJ article actually links to an older Wired article about doing gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy on WD-40 and the results: https://www.wired.com/2009/04/st-whatsinside-6/

hurricanepootis2• 6 months ago

You could use techniques like HPLC to determine the concentrations within the sample if you know what's in it.

dylan604• 6 months ago

Trying to come up with that would result in WD-38, WD-41, etc.

Can't read the paywalled article, but Water Displacement formula 40 seemed to be the best of the formulas for being a lubricant.

daedrdev• 6 months ago

Knowing all the molecules in it might be only a minor step towards actually making it, especially since some inputs of production might not be present in the final product.

IshKebab• 6 months ago

It probably wouldn't be that hard. This mystique is mostly marketing. I mean it's not like WD-40 has no competitors on the market. It might not even be the best.

krackers• 6 months ago

The components are on the MSDS (albeit only the CAS codes not the specific chemical), only the percentages seem to be a trade secret? Basically a light carrier oil mixed with kerosene-esque solvent. I almost feel the secrecy is part of the marketing ploy, since w-40 in particular isn't the "best" tool for any job (there are better standalone degreasers and penetrating lubricants). No one who cares enough about the exact composition would bother using wd-40 in the first place.

CamperBob24• 6 months ago

It requires a special key, nondisclosure agreements, passage through a bank vault and, typically, an executive title. The drinks don’t flow, members don’t rub elbows with notable people and chefs aren’t filling plates with tasty bites. The only perk is knowing the secrets of the world’s most famous lubricant. And yet, for those in the know, there’s no greater privilege.

In other news, WD-40 is not a lubricant.

nodesocket2• 6 months ago

Agree fundamentally WD-40 is a cleaner, but it does offer some lubricant outcomes.

CamperBob24• 6 months ago

Yep, there are lubricants listed in the ingredients, but the stuff it actually leaves behind when the volatiles are gone is mostly good at displacing water (as the article points out.) Very little in the way of friction reduction.

It also makes a superb bug killer, especially in combination with a barbecue lighter.

5424582• 6 months ago

It is absolutely a lubricant - it is a combination "lubricant, rust preventive, penetrant and moisture displacer". Whether it's the correct or best lubricant for many applications is iffy, but that doesn't mean it isn't a lubricant!

CamperBob24• 6 months ago

Point being, if you're using it as a lubricant, you're using the wrong stuff. What it leaves behind isn't very useful as a lubricant... unlike, you know, an actual lubricant.

Scoundreller7• 6 months ago

My recent trip to the ground was sufficient proof to me that even water is a lubricant.

coredev_• 6 months ago

Is it? Please explain and provide sources. Just because it feels like a lubricant and maybe advertised as a lubricant it might not actually be a lubricant.

b00ty4breakfast3• 6 months ago

From personal experience, I can count on one hand the number of times that wd40 (edit: at least the canonical formulation) has been the best lubricant for a given application.

cortesoft• 6 months ago

The WD-40 website says that is a myth, and it is a lubricant

https://www.wd40.com/myths-legends-fun-facts/

Myth: WD-40 Multi-Use Product is not really a lubricant.

Fact: While the “W-D” in WD-40 stands for Water Displacement, WD-40 Multi-Use Product is a unique, special blend of lubricants. The product’s formulation also contains anti-corrosion agents and ingredients for penetration, water displacement and soil removal.

rpcope1• 6 months ago

Yeah and water and gas are maybe a "lubricants" too. It's a pretty shitty lubricant.

CobrastanJorji• 6 months ago

"WD-40 Multi-Use Product is a...blend of lubricants"

How does the author of that fun facts page know this for sure? I just heard that only executives get to see the ingredient list. Is this fun fact author an executive?

Modified3019• 6 months ago

Sure, and sand is a lubricant in the right scenario. This of course completely misses the point.

Anyone who actually use wd40 will eventually notice it not only has poor ability to stick around under load, but also likes to oxidize, forming a varnish or horrible goo depending on how thick it was left on. While this doesn’t matter (or is even desirable) for loosening a bolt, it’s a poor choice on tools, hinges, etc.

If long term lubrication is needed, then people should just use an appropriate grease or a non-oxidating* oil meant for staying around and lubricating.

*Plant based oils generally contain high amounts of polyunsaturated fats, which love to oxidize. Great for seasoning cast iron, but bad for other things. The goo/lacquer you get on kitchen pans and around the oven is oxidized fats linking together. There are rare exceptions to plant based oils being a bad idea for lubrication, involving genetic modification to produce mostly monounsaturated fats and further processing, like with alg’s “go juice”.

zzless• 6 months ago

I am not sure why you are being downvoted but you are absolutely right: it is even in the name (WD stands for 'Water Displacement'). My reaction to this article was a huge: 'why?'. WD-40 is at best mediocre at everything it is used for. Wurth makes much more capable compounds for the came purposes. Their penetrating oil is unmatched. I guess as part of the popular culture, WD-40 has its value but I am not sure its chemical properties are all that unique.

copperx• 6 months ago

It IS a lubricant, although not a very good one.

PyWoody• 6 months ago

3-in-1 is the best bang for the buck lubricant. I use it everywhere. Well, not for that, but for everything else.

caminante2• 6 months ago

It's definitely a lubricant.

See their old school ad campaign

Do you have tight nuts or a rusty tool? [0]

[0] https://thedutchluthier.wordpress.com/2016/09/13/tight-nuts-...

CamperBob24• 6 months ago

The line below the pic says it was a hoax.

notpushkin• 6 months ago

Gift link

I think it’s okay to share the gift link as canonical. It’s the usual practice of sharing articles from LWN here, for example.

parliament32• 6 months ago

https://archive.ph/kfzIc

Etheryte3• 6 months ago

How to tell you didn't even read the submission you're commenting on.

dwedge• 6 months ago

It's the same article without the pay wall

treesknees• 6 months ago

The actual submission link isn’t using the gift link. And “reading” the submission doesn’t reveal the end of the URL with the gift access token.

joshstrange2• 6 months ago

I don't know if that's really fair. It's much more rare for HN link posts to have bodies and this one is a single line of the gift link. Yes, that gift link works today but it's also completely reasonable to post the archive link.

pwg• 6 months ago

WSJ 'gift links' often do not actually work. I don't know whether they have a "usage count" or a 'good for x time' expiration, but more often than not they don't work (beyond "gifting" a paywall).

FrustratedMonky• 6 months ago

Does article go into how it is manufactured without anybody knowing? Some manufacturing engineers somewhere must know.

Unless they have own refining facility, and it is more like a recipe of temperatures/pressures.

dantiberian• 6 months ago

I'd be very interested to know how they produce it if the formula is so tightly held. At some point people need to be purchasing the ingredients and mixing them together.

nu11ptr• 6 months ago

Exactly what I was thinking. I mean how can you produce something, esp. in bulk, when the exact ingredients and quantities aren't known? Assuming it is made in a typical factory, the machines would have to be programmed and that would typically mean someone has to know. I wonder if they split the knowledge over several different groups so a group only knows a single piece? Hmm....

fabiensanglard• 6 months ago

This is how they do it. There was a documentary about coca-cola and they explained that they completely separated the supply pipeline. Operators manipulate unlabelled sources coming from separate parts of the company.

sieep• 6 months ago

Ive heard from others that this is how defense software engineering goes.

You write code for a certain part/spec that could go on a number of things (missle, airplane, etc). You dont know if your code will be used in a missile or not.

awesome_dude• 6 months ago

A fairly obvious solution (IMO) would be to have multiple people buying the ingredients, some even buying unused ingredients. That would cover purchasing.

The mixing, again, spreading it out, have factory A mix ingredients x, y, and z, factory B mix ingredients Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and factory C mix factory A and B's mixtures.

Etheryte3• 6 months ago

You could say the same about cryptographic signatures where each party only knows a part of the key, yet those all work fine. You could probably piece together the formula by a sum of some employees and some external suppliers if everyone broke their NDA, but if people keep their word, your factories could just as well see shipments of "Ingredient A" and the worker only knows how much to add to each batch.

mulmen• 6 months ago

I wonder how much information leaks through something like Material Safety Data Sheets.

TeMPOraL3• 6 months ago

Real life ain't abstract math. You have MSDS 'mulmen mentioned, but I also can't imagine any factory being able to just mix shipments of ingredients "A", "B", "C", etc. without the actual content being documented on purchase orders, OSHA reviews, etc. You may want to operate in secret, but at the very least, the taxman really wants to know if you aren't skimping on your dues, so there should be plenty of relevant documents in circulation.

supern0va• 6 months ago

It's possible to separate out these tasks such that no single person or group has every needed piece of the puzzle.

The Carthusian monks who produce Chartreuse (a collection of herbal liqueurs popular for use in cocktails) have been producing it and protecting the secret 130 ingredient recipe for over 400 years successfully. At any given time no more than three of the monks hold the entire recipe, and yet they have a company they have formed to execute most of the production without the secret being leaked.

The designated monks coordinate production and are involved in QC, as well as developing new blends for special releases, but much production is done by paid employees who do not know the complete recipe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartreuse_(liqueur)

legitster7• 6 months ago

I suspect though that a lot of the secret behind Chartreuse isn't just the recipe, but the actual sourcing of the ingredients.

Presumably the recipe relies on very unique and location-specific herbs to the alps. Part of the justification for limiting supply is concern for the environment and sustainability of their production. The order also had to cease production while they were evicted.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the key ingredients weren't wild foraged or at least very unique species.

ASalazarMX2• 6 months ago

secret 130 ingredient recipe

One of the greatest use cases of security by obscurity, specially if part of the ingredients are decoys.

torginus2• 6 months ago

Considering how complex some software can get, it's more surprising there are people who can hold enough of the whole design in their heads that they have a good idea of what's going on in general.

linsomniac4• 6 months ago

Slightly unrelated, the recent LabCoatz video went into a bit about the CocaCola recipe and how it's protected: https://youtu.be/TDkH3EbWTYc?si=GuvCd-kKXP5_gcRs&t=26

He mentions that the ingredients are shipped unlabeled from different facilities who don't know what they're making.

He then goes on to reverse engineer the formula. Because science.

lgleason• 6 months ago

and yet their revenues are not even 1 billion.

CAP_NET_ADMIN• 6 months ago

WD-40 is not really that great at anything, people buy the brand name, that's it. The formule being public probably wouldn't change much

OutOfHere3• 6 months ago

It or its variants probably contains PFAS which probably makes it hazardous to spray. Also, I suspect that breathing its ambient vapor while spraying it is is bad for the body and brain.

Canola oil works in practice for basic tasks, but requires routine reapplication.

legitster7• 6 months ago

WD-40 classic does not contain PFAS. Which is not to say you should breath it in.

Canola oil works super well in practice without any of these risks.

I cannot advise enough against using canola oil for most lubrication purposes. It's biodegradable and will break down (good for some applications) but for the most part oil breaking down is a bad thing if you want to keep something well maintained. It would gum up over time, start reacting chemically with dust or other chemicals, and potentially even cause damage. Especially if you lubricate to prevent rust.

Also, in the context of breaking loose bolts, oil alone doesn't have any capacity to break up or penetrate rust.

OneDeuxTriSeiGo2• 6 months ago

Do not use canola oil for most lubrication tasks. You should almost always be using lithium grease.

Spray on white lithium grease works for most "architectural" or furniture uses (ex: door hinges, gas springs on chairs, garage door rails and chain, etc).

For anything constantly moving (ex: gearboxes or bearings) you want a more viscous lithium grease (ex: red n tacky or lucas xtra/green).

But in pretty much every situation (on land) you want to be using a form of lithium grease if you want to actually keep the interface lubricated.

nomel• 6 months ago

Canola oil works in practice for basic tasks

From childhood experience, thinking all oils were the same, absolutely not. It goes rancid and gums up after some time.

NegativeK• 6 months ago

I use it for two things: as a lubricant for machining aluminum and as a way to remove built up, old ass grease.

But I'd still never pay for it.

joshstrange2• 6 months ago

Maybe I'm just a fuddy-duddy but my eyes about rolled out of my head reading this. The same article could probably be written about multiple companies and it'd be just as uninteresting. It's my understanding that there isn't anything special about WD-40, as in alternatives exist that can work just as well. Now, I think WD-40 is a brand name that can be trusted to work well more often than most alternatives but that is more about process than recipe (I would think).

I've long thought that every restaurant/bakery/etc could publish their full internal cookbooks and not see a drop in sales. People don't buy it because they are incapable (or think they are) of making something, they do it because it's faster, they don't have all the ingredients, they don't have the time, they don't have the skill, the list goes on. I bet I could give the instructions, the equipment, and the ingredients to people and they'd still choose to buy it. Sure, you might lose a tiny bit of sales to "home bakers" [0] but I think it'd be eclipsed by people that saw/read/heard about the cookbook (maybe never even saw it) and that was enough "marketing" to get them in the door.

I've always found "secret knowledge" to be a little silly. A sort of, security through obscurity. Knowing a recipe doesn't make you special, being able to build/run a company around it and make it consistently good does.

[0] I love to cook, I sometimes like making copy-cat recipes. I cannot think of a copy-cat recipe that I made more than 2-3 times. While it's fun to do, it's never exactly the same, and I also believe that "food tastes better when someone else makes it". Also it can sometimes be just-as or more expensive to make some food items due to needing a bunch of ingredients that they don't sell in exactly the quantity the recipe calls for.

Spooky233• 6 months ago

Nothing gets gearhead nerds going more than arguing about lubricants and gas. Ask the wrong group of dudes about when to change your oil at breakfast, and they will still be going at dinner.

TeMPOraL3• 6 months ago

I've long thought that every restaurant/bakery/etc could publish their full internal cookbooks and not see a drop in sales.

Makes me think of all those stories[0] employing a "secret recipe" plot. Some baking/cooking recipe (or a whole cookbook), written down by grandma and passed down in the family, or such, is critical to the fate of a bakery/restaurant/Thanksgiving dinner/etc.; predictably, it gets stolen, and suddenly the meal everyone loves cannot be made anymore.

It's a dumb idea if you think about it for more than a second - even the worst home cook will naturally memorize all the ingredients and steps after using the recipe more than couple times. If the process involves more than one person, there's bound to be copies and derivative documents (e.g. shopping lists) around, too. Recipes are good checklists and are particularly helpful when onboarding new cooks, but losing an actively used one isn't a big deal - it can be recreated on the spot by those who already know it by heart.

[0] - One I've watched recently was Hoodwinked! - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodwinked!. Great movie, but out of all the absurdities in it, by far the biggest one was the whole "stealing recipes to put bakeries out of business" plot driver.

oxw• 6 months ago

I've long thought that every restaurant/bakery/etc could publish their full internal cookbooks and not see a drop in sales.

Absolutely. Chad Robertson of Tartine bakery has written books detailing how to make their breads and pastries. Still lines out the door.

Ekaros• 6 months ago

Recently Fallow posted video on how they made demi glace. Bit specialized ingredients probably if you ordered far enough from butcher doable. Bigger issue was the larger scale and time effort.

I really feel main difference is the scale and then getting right ingredients and then actually using all of them. Later making thing somewhat cost effective.

I have no doubt any serious company couldn't make something like WD-40. Not exactly same stuff, but in general close enough. Probably close enough that if you labeled over nearly all users would not notice.

TheJoeMan2• 6 months ago

As an alternative for better lubrication of two-metals-rubbing together (door hinges, simple tools, etc) I use Tri-Flow because it has PTFE that stays as a white powder. If you have a stuck bolt, PBBlaster wicks into the threads better. And if you have sticker glue, use GooGone.

fransje26• 6 months ago

Tri-Flow because it has PTFE that stays as a white powder.

Ever-lasting PFAS for the win!

TheJoeMan2• 6 months ago

Not all PFAS are the same. PTFE is a large-chain molecule that does not break down into the harmful small water-soluble PFAS's for the usecases I listed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene

legitster7• 6 months ago

If it wasn't eminently obvious, most of these "secrecy" programs are marketing fluff.

The actual ingredients are literally on the safety data sheet: https://files.wd40.com/pdf/sds/mup/wd-40-multi-use-product-a...

The company can brag that their formulation has a special blend of herbs and spices, but someone who wants to can obviously make their own special formulation and say that theirs is secret too.

More importantly, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. And there is nothing particularly special about WD-40's formulation anymore. WD-40 consistently performs worse than nearly any other available penetrating oil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUEob2oAKVs It's a terrible long term lubricant (because it's designed to evaporate, it actually concentrates gunk and grime).

WD-40 themselves have come out with improved "Specialist" formulations that mostly just copy other, superior products.

Scoundreller7• 6 months ago

WD-40 consistently performs worse than nearly any other available penetrating oil.

The video’s test showed wd-40 worked slightly better than kroil and pb blaster, which all performed in the same range, being not much better than nothing. That’s particularly interesting because of how often kroil/pb come up as recommendations to use instead of wd…

Acetone+atf did better and liquid wrench penetrating fluid did the best, but *nothing* beats heat.

legitster7• 6 months ago

I've had good luck with acetone+atf but I am surprised Kroil and PB Blaster didn't perform better as I have had lots of good experiences with both.

Regardless, the main problem with WD-40 is the popular misconception that it's a decent lubricant.

greenavocado• 6 months ago

I second heat. I always go for heat if possible first. Bonus is it is mess-free generally.

chasd00• 6 months ago

Idk about wd40 but acetone is pretty gnarly. Know what acetone does to your eyes if you get some splashed in them? The same thing it does to everything else.

quietsegfault2• 6 months ago

In my own experience, kroil was far, far, far better than WD-40.

VerifiedReports3• 6 months ago

Good luck even finding Liquid Wrench now.

Home Depot is such a wasteland. One shit brand of every product, and that's it. Row upon row of worthless, crumbly Dap wood filler, for example.

I went there and asked three employees, probably separated in age by a decade each, for household oil. It's as if they didn't even understand the words. We're talking about 20- to 40- or 50-year-old HD employees who don't know WTF 3-in-1 oil is. Incredible.

Loughla• 6 months ago

WD-40's advantage is that it's not terrible to get on your skin when you're out working, and it's cheap.

The people who use it are looking for cheap, mostly.

Source: farming. We have many different lubes and penetrating products for when we're in the actual shop, but in the field, nothing beats wd-40 for getting back to work fast, or unsticking some shit when all you have is a hammer and you just know when that fucking bolt comes loose it's going to throw rust and dirt all over your face.

sidewndr467• 6 months ago

I'm unsure what your definition of "cheap" is for WD-40 but I find it to be very overpriced. If I need a universal lubricant that is readily available and cheap, I just use used motor oil.

torginus2• 6 months ago

Before I got serious with fixing and building things at home, WD-40 was a catchall panacea you sprayed on stuff to make it work.

giancarlostoro• 6 months ago

The caveat is use the right one for the right job. There's a meme that if its not moving but its supposed to you need WD-40... well you need Silicone WD-40 or any silicone based oil like for a garage. If you use regular WD-40 in a garage it is a degreaser essentially, and your squeaking goes away momentarily, and then comes back. After I learned this, you have no idea how much silicone WD-40 I had to put in my garage to make the squeaking stop for good.

ILoveHorses• 6 months ago

The diversity of expertise on this 'SW/tech-focused forum' continues to amaze me

cbolton• 6 months ago

In many cases I think Ballistol is better: great lubricant, food safe, works as solvent in many cases, relatively cheap. It does have a funny smell.

AgentMatt• 6 months ago

It's a terrible long term lubricant (because it's designed to evaporate, it actually concentrates gunk and grime).

I recently read that WD40 isn't actually a lubricant but a lubricant remover. So as you write you'd use it to remove gunk but then follow it up with an actual lubricant.

On the last two bottles of WD40 I came across (im Germany) I checked the back and it indeed said that it's not a lubricant but a lubricant remover.

(Disclaimer: can't read the article past the intro where it does call it a lubricant...)

legitster7• 6 months ago

Yes, it's more correctly labelled as a solvent. Part of their marketing secret is that their product is inherently "addictive" in a way - it can loosen up things quickly but also make them seize more quickly. Which gives users a sense that they constantly need to re-apply WD-40 when most of what you are doing is cleaning up the mess of the previous application.

jrflowers• 6 months ago

The actual ingredients are literally on the safety data sheet:

The only CAS number listed in that data sheet that doesn’t return Molecular Formula: Unspecified is carbon dioxide. The other 98% of the formulation is just sort of vague references to petroleum distillates.

ASalazarMX2• 6 months ago

For the PDF impaired

- LVP Aliphatic Hydrocarbon (CAS #64742-47-8) 45-50%

- Petroleum Base Oil (CAS #64742-56-9, 65-0, 53-6, 54-7, 71-8) <35%

- Aliphatic Hydrocarbon (CAS #64742-47-8) 10 - <25%

- Carbon Dioxide (CAS #124-38-9) 2-3%

Note: The specific chemical identity and exact percentages are a trade secret.

JumpCrisscross2• 6 months ago

actual ingredients are literally on the safety data sheet

From the data sheet: "The specific chemical identity and exact percentages are a trade secret."

The petroleum base oils alone cover thousands of candidate chemicals.

legitster7• 6 months ago

Sure, but the difference between one particular formulation of mineral oils and another cannot possibly be that important to the formula.

And even if it were, the recipe was supposedly created by a guy in his shed after only 40 attempts with the technology available 70 years ago. The idea that an R&D team with an entire lab of equipment couldn't recreate or improve the formula if they wanted to in that time seems a bit far fetched.

7bees• 6 months ago

The actual ingredients are literally on the safety data sheet

This is an oversimplification, in a way that is likely not obvious to a lot of people on this (software-focused) forum. An SDS does not have to list exact amounts, does not have to disclose some details of how an ingredient or mix of ingredients was processed, and (depending on jurisdiction) may not have to identify some "safe" ingredients at all. Some ingredients may be identified in relatively vague ways, that are sufficient for safety purposes but do not reveal the exact product. As the SDS you linked to says "The specific chemical identity and exact percentages are a trade secret". An SDS is certainly very helpful to reverse-engineering a product, but it doesn't tell you everything.

All that said, yes, the main strength of WD-40 is its marketing and ubiquity, and claims about its secrecy have more to do with marketing than anything practical.

Scoundreller7• 6 months ago

Some ingredients may be identified in relatively vague ways, that are sufficient for safety purposes but do not reveal the exact product

Where I find this can be fun is that different countries seem to have different requirements for precision. Or just straight up different formulations for the same thing.

German wd40 says it’s all c9-c11 carbon chains:

https://smarthost.maedler.de/datenblaetter/EG_SIDA_WD40_EN.p...

US has a CARB and non-CARB formulation which are also different:

https://files.wd40.com/pdf/sds/mup/wd-40-multi-use-product-a...

https://files.wd40.com/msds/latam/GHS-SDS-WD-40-Multi-Use-Pr...

Incipient• 6 months ago

The SDS should include all SAFETY relevant information/ingredients for whatever jurisdiction. If the local area doesn't really care if it's hexane or pentane from a safety perspective, they'll likely just be lumped together behind a generic name/cas number.

It's absolutely not a BOM to reproduce a product.

wolfi1• 6 months ago

I once had a problem with the ignition lock I couldn't turn the key, my mechanic told me that that could happen on a very hot day with that model. "use a lubricant or wait till it's colder" - "Would WD-40 do?" -"Guess so" made it worse. with the help of the AAA (well, the equivalent in my country) and an oil spray I could turn the key, since then I've always an oil spray with me

echelon• 6 months ago

An SDS is certainly very helpful to reverse-engineering a product, but it doesn't tell you everything.

NMR and gas chromatography to the rescue!

foxglacier• 6 months ago

I thought it was mostly meant to protect against rust due to moisture in the ambient air so I put it on tools in my basement. But if it's evaporating, maybe it's not so great at that.

But yea, like Coke or McDonalds, the brand is probably worth far more than the secrecy of the recipe.

rubinlinux• 6 months ago

There is a product called BOESHIELD T-9 which actually does, reportedly, work for this. It was suggested in some thread years ago and I got a can, it appears to work well enough keeping rust creep off my ancient drill press table.

sejje2• 6 months ago

My stepdad was a drywall finisher, those crews washed the drywall off their tools with water, then got the water off (prevented rust) with WD40.

Difference being, they applied it every day, and specifically to prevent rust because the tools were wet. But man did they love it. Went through a couple cans per week I bet.

dotancohen• 6 months ago

I think that Project Farm did a video on rust prevention formulations. I don't remember how WD-40 fared.

s0rce• 6 months ago

The SDS here may not be sufficient to deformulate as many of the CAS# reported are generic and represent a broad class of compounds. Probably easier to just go run it on a GC.

knowitnone32• 6 months ago

"It's a terrible long term lubricant" it's not even a lubricant

mjanx1236• 6 months ago

It is a lubricant, even water is a lubricant https://a.co/d/2JHYXP7

SanjayMehta• 6 months ago

The real deal with WD-40 (and Coca Cola) is the brand name.

quietsegfault2• 6 months ago

It's such garbage, and it's frustrating to see stuff like this on the front page.

ajross• 6 months ago

It's garbage in the same way that the Bourne shell is garbage. People can pontificate 19 replies deep in the comments about the right way to express a problem using sum types in Rust, but sometimes you just want to check the script in and move on.

Same deal here: there is value to having a product that stops squeaks, cleans rust and de-goo's gunk on the supermarket shelf. 70% of the time, snobbery is just snobbery. The world runs on Getting Stuff Done.

mrandish• 6 months ago

If it wasn't eminently obvious, most of these "secrecy" programs are marketing fluff.

Yep, and equally obvious is that keeping some piece of paper in a bank vault for PR doesn't change the fact the "secret" formula still needs to be turned into millions of gallons of product in factories around the world, so people in supply chain procurement and manufacturing processes have to have practical knowledge of how to make it.

colechristensen• 6 months ago

WD-40 is great for cleaning, particularly threads, but also metal surfaces. It generally doesn't eat plastic, isn't a crazy skin or respiratory irritant.

I use it a ton to clean off threads of stuff exposed to the elements. Get dirt, old oil/grease, water, and any grit or rust or other things out of threads so they tighten properly and don't get jammed up with stuff.

If something I'm working on is dirty, it gets a spray of WD-40 and a rag to help not foul up the inside of whatever I'm opening.

dostick• 6 months ago

“WD-40 performs worse than oils” because WD-40 is not an oil, it’s not even a lubricant. It’s a water protector. many make mistake using WD40 for lubricating everything because it’s mainly for water related applications. There are flavours of WD40 that are more “oil”.

linsomniac4• 6 months ago

A coworker was asking if someone had some WD40 they could bring in because his chair was squeaking. "I do, but I'll bring in something else for your chair." Another coworker asked "Are you one of those guys that believes WD40 isn't a lubricant?" to which I answered "Absolutely."

Animats• 6 months ago

Lubricant analysis is a commonly available service. It's normally done on lubricating oil for large engines (heavy trucks, locomotives, ships) as a diagnostic tool. The usual tests are mostly to see what properties of the oil or engine are degrading. Full analysis of new oil to validate that it conforms to specification is available.[1]

Hydrocarbons are rather well studied.

[1] https://oilanalysislab.com/

0ckpuppet• 6 months ago

not meant to be a lubricant, wd, water displacement. Use as a solvent, then lube with something better.

unethical_ban• 6 months ago

I learned the whole "not a lubricant" lesson the hard way in 2009 when my idle pulley was squeaking on a long drive. I stopped and bought a spare and sprayed it down with WD-40.

Forty miles from my destination, it seized. Sadly, not knowing it was reverse thread, I stripped it with a breaker bar and had to have the truck towed.

chihuahua• 6 months ago

One hilarious fact about WD-40 is that there is a bicycle chain lubricant by Muc-Off that does WORSE than original WD-40 in chain wear tests.

(I know WD-40 is a bad lubricant, that's what makes this so funny)

ofalkaed6• 6 months ago

Bike chain lubes are mostly terrible, they are meant to work properly for maybe a few hundred miles assuming they were applied to a properly cleaned chain, properly applied and the weather cooperates. They all wear chains and chain rings quickly unless you are very good about cleaning and relubing your chain. 3in1 is still king unless you are racing.

I would expect WD-40 to work fairly well because it cleans the chain and gets the filth out of the links, filth is a big part of drive train wear and we really don't need much in the way of lube as long as things are kept clean and rust free so the links move smoothly.

jonway4• 6 months ago

Fun fact: WD-40 is not a penetrating lube/oil!

Iirc WD-40 = Water Displacement, formula #40

It was originally designed to displace water for corrosion resistance and cleaning. (Edit I think it was originally used for de-icing in an aerospace context?) You probably will never need a single can of WD-40 in your life. Try PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench!

abrkn• 6 months ago

Which one's better for making my doors stop squeaking?

ErroneousBosh2• 6 months ago

It's not a lubricant, though. It's designed for replacing water from electrical connectors.

bythreads• 6 months ago

Afaikr, wd-40 was never supposed to be a lubricant - it was created to remove moisture in rocket assembly - plain oil is probably a better lube

cmiles8• 6 months ago

It was also not really intended as a lubricant but as something to get water off equipment and mechanical components. “WD” stands for “water displacement.”

As you say, there are much better lubricants out there.

PunchyHamster• 6 months ago

It's a terrible long term lubricant (because it's designed to evaporate, it actually concentrates gunk and grime).

You're not supposed to use it (and similar products) like that tho. You're supposed to use it to flush out the gunk and grime by dissolving it, all it is supposed to do is to make stuff that doesn't move, move, enough to fix it now and maybe prepare a bit for putting proper lubricant.

Like, it's not fault of their formula that people are using it wrong

GuB-42• 6 months ago

WD-40 themselves have come out with improved "Specialist" formulations that mostly just copy other, superior products.

We all know that there is something better for the job than WD-40, its value comes from its convenience, affordability, availability, brand recognition, and the number of cases where it is "good enough".

The "specialist" brand is what its name imply, specialist products, all of them better for a specific application, but none of them as universal as the original. The original formulation is not magic, but it is the one we are familiar with and it works well enough when you don't have anything better for your specific job.

brookst• 6 months ago

Once you know that WD stands for “water displacer”, everything makes sense. It’s an adequate short term lubricant but its real purpose is to separate water from sensitive materials.

1970-01-013• 6 months ago

It's first purpose was this. It is now used for such a wide variety of situations that this should be considered its origin story.

scotty792• 6 months ago

"Note: The specific chemical identity and exact percentages are a trade secret."

senderista3• 6 months ago

In the PNW at least there's a cult application of WD-40 as a fish attractant (applied to lures). Not sure if anyone's done any sort of controlled trial but lots of folks have sworn by it for decades.

senderista3• 6 months ago

Personally I use Ballistol, silicone lube, graphite lube, and penetrating oil for all the applications WD-40 is marketed for.

singleshot_• 6 months ago

the lubricant

Are you absolutely, positively kidding me?

htrp• 6 months ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDkH3EbWTYc

Relevant video on someone reverse engineering the formula for coca cola

MagicMoonlight• 6 months ago

How can you be the head of R&D at the company and you don’t know what the product is made of?

Fuck me, these people get paid millions just for existing and they don’t have a clue what they’re doing.

Fwirt• 6 months ago

WD-40 works great for its intended purpose. The problem is that they've marketed it the way that the dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding raves about Windex. It's not a good lubricant, as many people have noted, as it evaporates and concentrates contaminants. It's not a good protective coating because again, it evaporates. What it is good at is drying off metal parts, and as a mediocre and cheap rust remover.

If I accidentally leave some pliers or my socket set out in the rain, I soak them with WD-40, scrub off the rust with a wire brush, and wipe off the excess with a towel. It does a decent job of preventing further damage. If I have some rusty parts sometimes I'll throw them in a glass jar, soak 'em with WD-40, shake them around, let them sit for a day or so, and then scrub them with a wire brush. Gets most of the rust off.

If you want a lubricant, just buy the correct one for the job. Silicone oil, lithium grease, graphite, all will do a better job in the long run than WD-40 if you use them in their intended role. My goto "universal lube" personally is "Super Lube", a PTFE-based lubricant which is NSF rated for incidental contact with food and dielectric.

user3939382• 6 months ago

It’s like python. It’s not the best at anything but it’s a decent all arounder. Not everything that’s practical and useful has to be super specialized + best in class.

aidenn02• 6 months ago

I prefer 3-in-1 as an all-rounder.

sejje2• 6 months ago

WD40 is a pretty good for bluing, too, in combination with heat. And the smell.

SAI_Peregrinus• 6 months ago

It's also a pretty good cutting fluid for aluminum. If you don't have a dedicated coolant setup a spray bottle of WD40 works nicely.

furyofantares2• 6 months ago

WD-40 works great for its intended purpose.

When I was a kid some family friends used WD40 on their joints - arthritic knees and such. Church friends, actually, which I mention only because stuff like that probably helped me reject the religion as readily as I did.

A web search for "WD40 arthritis" shows that there are still people doing this.

userbinator2• 6 months ago

Maybe they think it'll work better since it penetrates deeper than vaseline.

self_awareness• 6 months ago

Church friends, actually, which I mention only because stuff like that probably helped me reject the religion as readily as I did.

You mean they got this suggestion from a priest? Or what's the connection?

1970-01-013• 6 months ago

If you want a lubricant, just buy the correct one for the job.

I use WD-40 exclusively as the lube to mount rubber tires onto wheels. I've found it's the best choice for that task. The wax paste tire lube is inferior. I'm just reaching for the WD-40 anyway to remove the wax paste residue on the wheel rim.

rajnathani• 6 months ago

As a side note: PTFE = PFAS forever chemical.

tonymet• 6 months ago

Bezos fell for this gimmick too. It’s mineral spirits and oil . You can make it in your garage.

The whole point of “the 40th formula” and this nonsense is fooling customers to keep buying a commodity

Aloha2• 6 months ago

No, it has a significant amount of light petroleum components (read something akin to Naptha), plus other items meant to displace water.

brikym• 6 months ago

Seems like marketing. ProjectFarm did a test on a dozen or so similar products and WD-40 isn't that good.

treetalker• 6 months ago

My understanding was that it was for water displacement (hence "WD") and not lubrication.

fmlpp• 6 months ago

I really don't get how most comments don't get that "wd" stands for "water displacement". I buy and use it not for lubrication but for eliminating moisture and cleaning. What would you use in a distributor? Motor oil or penetrit?

ycombinatrix• 6 months ago

They do have a separate dry lubricant product that seems to work well.

aidenn02• 6 months ago

Do cars even still have distributors? My last 3 cars have been coil-on-plug...

KnuthIsGod• 6 months ago

" Our lab analyzed WD-40 with gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectroscopy (MS).:

Mineral oil

Decane

Nonane

Tridecane and Undecane

Tetradecane

Dimethyl Naphthalene

Cyclohexane

Carbon Dioxide"

https://www.wired.com/2009/04/st-whatsinside-6/

userbinator2• 6 months ago

Not surprisingly, that's just a mixture of mostly liquid alkanes, although "mineral oil" is amusingly imprecise --- I guess they just mean everything heavier than C14 (tetradecane). The dimethyl naphthalene might be an impurity.

pjs_• 6 months ago

GOAT lubricant

analog31• 6 months ago

I think that outside of narrow engineering circles, most use of lubrication is based on a mixture of trial-and-error, folklore, and marketing. One reason is that most lubrication needs are actually quite low performance, and you could probably use practically anything. People use WD-40 because they have it around, and this adds to the list of its uses.

It's essentially a mixture of mineral spirits and oil. Used as a lubricant, the mineral spirits evaporate, leaving the oil behind. It might be enough oil to keep a mechanism working for a while, or it might not be.

It's a "water displacer." Oil displaces water, who knew?

It comes in a spray can, so you can get it into things like a bike shift lever. And you can get the over-spray on things like the garage floor.

Bicyclists tend to get really worked up about WD-40.

t1234s• 6 months ago

I've heard of a similar recipe vault at a large tire company.

ggm• 6 months ago

I thought it was a good lawnmower carb boost to start one, until I used the real "start your lawnmower with one spray" and then I realised, WD40 was possibly just a placebo and gave my tired pull arm time to recover.

burnt-resistor2• 6 months ago

Lubricant: terrible. Use something like an oil that remains rather than evaporates away.

Rust prevention: marginal. Use proper coatings or a flash rust prevention compound that sticks around.

Penetrating oil: terrible. Use 1:1 acetone:ATF instead.

Toxicity: terrible. It's petroleum distillates.

It's popular only because of missile hype and marketing, but that doesn't mean it's any good.

1970-01-013• 6 months ago

It is an excellent temporary lubricant and is the preferred lubricant when installing or removing rubber hoses.

burnt-resistor2• 6 months ago

Temporary is useless and undesirable except for vanishing few applications except things like missiles that it was originally designed for and erroneously cargo-culted as magical missile oil. Sewing oil and similar thin oils stick around longer.

Silicone-based lubricants persist in contact with rubber. Water or soap and water is safer and cheaper for rubber hoses for manipulation.

Just don't make the mistake of routinely inhaling or dipping one's hands in toxic compounds like MEK, carbon tet, TCE, and gasoline+TEL that my dad or grandpa did cumulatively because some of the cancers and other conductions are awful yet avoidable. Petroleum distillates are literally petrochem shit.

VerifiedReports3• 6 months ago

Who cares about WD-40? Evap-O-Rust is a much better product and more worthy of formula analysis.

zombot• 6 months ago

A bakery I used to go to had highly excellent marzipan puff pastry. When the bakery closed because the master baker who owned it went into retirement, I asked for the recipe so I might be able to replicate the enjoyment. The answer was that he will take this recipe to his grave. I'd call that a secret.

WaalkTheEaarth2• 6 months ago

booooo paywall booooo booooo paywall

WaalkTheEaarth2• 6 months ago

never mind didnt notice the gift link

ChoGGi• 6 months ago

In my toolbox are Lithium spray, petroleum oil (deep creep or pb), PTFE spray, and super lube for facets.

xenadu02• 6 months ago

FYI: none of the "penetrating oils" actually work. They don't wick into threads on stuck fasteners. Heat is the only thing that really works. Causes expansion of the metal followed by shrinking which mechanically disrupts the oxide jamming whatever is stuck.

WD-40 is great for machining aluminum, cleaning grease/other oils, and if you want a mild temporary lubricant not something that will make a massive mess or irritate your skin.

jayde2767• 6 months ago

Please tell me, it has Brando in it, right?!?!?

scotty792• 6 months ago

How is it legal to have a chemical product on the market with not publicly disclosed contents in 2026?

There is no scarcity of the products. Capital, means of production, labor and innovation are all abundant now.

The most valuable thing now is access to customers. We should demand a lot from the business for the privilege of having access to customers. A lot more than we do now.

AceyMan• 6 months ago

A germane chemistry story but not about lubricants. I grew up in Atlanta. My mom was a scientific librarian and for a while she worked in the chemistry department at Coca-Cola. She worked with the guys who knew the syrup secret formula ("7x"). She told me she had to burn her carbons (this was before duplicating machines). She could take shorthand and perfectly type organic chemistry expressions using just a regular typewriter; truly lost skills, anymore.

People who know the formula for WD-40

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