Theory of ' Breaking in a cube with silicone'

[CuberDude]

I'm sure most cubers know that whenever you spray silicone in a cube, it will feel sticky at first and then you have to solve it a few times to 'break it in'. But how does it actually work? I'm guessing that the more friction created on silicone, the better it will work. Anyone here can provide a scientific explanation to this?

 

[Ellis]

I always thought that it just needed to dry. You solve it so that it spreads out evenly, gets exposed to more air and has a chance to properly dry without causing the plastic to stick. Is that wrong?

 

[CuberDude]

Hmm..seems logical. Thanks for the explanation anyway.

 

[eragg0]

hmm... After few investigation from cubes i own i came this solution: if you lube your cubes same time and about same amount of lube, and solve them different amount times you'll have more "wet" cube that you solved less.

phew; that was ugly sentence..(where i should cut it)

 

[IamWEB]

Breaking is not about lubing, it's about using the cube a lot to wear away some of the plastic on a stiff cube.
When you 'work in' a lubricant, you're spreading it around the cube so that all of the sides get an equal amount of lube.

 

[blgentry]

This is more simple than most are trying to make it.

Why would a lubricant make a cube "sticky" ? Answer? It doesn't. If you use 100% pure silicone lubricant, you will NOT get the "sticky at first" phase. The only reason you hear reports of cubes being sticky after initial lubrication is because the propellant in *spray* silicone is petroleum based, and that petroleum melts/eats plastic. Badmephisto reported that one of his cubes locked up completely during his testing of silicone spray lubes.

So there's your explanation. If you use liquid silicone, this doesn't happen. But most people use spray silicone, so you have to work the cube to make sure it doesn't melt together completely and in the process, spread the lubricant around.

Brian.

 

[Tetris Cube]

This is more simple than most are trying to make it.

Why would a lubricant make a cube "sticky" ? Answer? It doesn't. If you use 100% pure silicone lubricant, you will NOT get the "sticky at first" phase. The only reason you hear reports of cubes being sticky after initial lubrication is because the propellant in *spray* silicone is petroleum based, and that petroleum melts/eats plastic. Badmephisto reported that one of his cubes locked up completely during his testing of silicone spray lubes.

So there's your explanation. If you use liquid silicone, this doesn't happen. But most people use spray silicone, so you have to work the cube to make sure it doesn't melt together completely and in the process, spread the lubricant around.

Brian.

I'm not really sure you know what you're talking about. How would you use 100% pure silicone lubricant, when silicone is a solid? I don't think the propellants will damage or even touch the plastic either, as they evaporate right after leaving the can.

 

[Unknown.soul]

How would you use 100% pure silicone lubricant, when silicone is a solid?

Silicone can exist in a pure oil or grease.

 

[JLarsen]

Ugh this conversation again? "Pure silicone is a solid blah blah blah, no it's not" for 10 pages until someone who actually knows something about chemistry comes in and clears up the conclusion.

Ignoring that topic, silicone oil does not make the cube stick and blgentry summarized why most people's lubes do the opposite.

 

[blgentry]

I'm not a chemist, but I know that silicone is not the same as silicon. Silicon (SI on the periodic table) is indeed a solid and makes up the composition of a lot of sand.

Silicone is apparently a polymer that contains a silicon atom and C, H, O, or other atoms. ...and what we are talking about here, as the poster 2 up said, is silicone oil; a particular type of silicone. Again, I'm not very knowledgeable about this subject; but I can read a wikipedia entry.

I made the same mistake many years ago, wondering aloud how sand could be turned into a putty (silicone sealant) and was mildly embarrassed when one of my friends pointed out that silicon is not silicone.

As for the propellants, I can tell you from first hand experience that they melt the plastic in the cube. So can badmephisto: He melted one of his cubes almost completely solid when doing testing.

Food Grade silicone lubricant (spray) should have no petroleum in the propellant, as it's designed to be used on surfaces that make contact with food. It's more expensive and harder to find, but it's out there.

"Pure" silicone oil is available as a number of different types of lubricants, in a liquid form.

Brian.

 

[Tetris Cube]

It appears that silicone grease/oil can be pure, but just with a different chemical formula than solid silicones. So I was probably wrong about that.

I've never had the plastic of a cube melted by silicone spray before though. Does it really melt the plastic, or does the silicone spray just solidify between the cube's layers due to not mixing it throughout? I've only read stories of jig-a-loo and permanent fingerprints on cubes.

 

[JLarsen]

It really does melt the cube.

 

[4Chan]

I've always thought that since the propellant is a solvent of sorts, composed of hydrocarbon, the plastic, which is also a hydrocarbon, absorbs the solvent, and become soft.

Which is what many people call "melting".

Im also no chemist, merely a high school student who has taken chemistry. ;d

 

[AndyK]

I've always thought that since the propellant is a solvent of sorts, composed of hydrocarbon, the plastic, which is also a hydrocarbon, absorbs the solvent, and become soft.

This is very true, the two hydrocarbons mix and one partially solubilizes the other.

It has been said before that it is the petroleum distillates (aka hydrocarbons) that are the problem with non-food grade silicone sprays, this is true and makes makes sense for a variety of reasons. 1. petroleum distillates solubilize plastic, this is why people describe their cube as being sticky right after they spray in the lube and 2. petroleum distilates will evaporate quickly, their evaporation is why the cube stops being sticky after a while.

If you look at the product description for CRC's Heavy Duty Silicone lubricant you will see that it contains hydrocarbons (petroleum distilates) and is not plastic safe

The product description for Food Grade Silicone (Aerosol) says it is 'Safe on Most Plastics' and does not say it includes hydrocarbons/petroleum distilates though it does contain HFC-152a which is 1,1-Difluoroethane, a hydrocarbon derivative that I am not familiar with but must be plastic safe.

If you want to be incredibly sure that you don't hurt your Rubik's cube plastic I would go with Food Grade Silicone (Non-Aerosol) since it does not have any sort of petroleum distilates/hydrocarbons or hydrocarbon derivatives (because it is non-aerosol), some sort of Silicone Shock Oil or the Rubik's/PuzzlePro silicone lube (which is apparently JohnsonDiversy Shine Up Furniture Polish, though I can't confirm this)

If you can't find food grade silicone or silicone shock oil and only have the silicone spray with petroleum distilates in it (this includes Jig-a-Loo) then you should definitely disassemble your cube and spray on the silicone spray so that the petroleum distilates evaporate quickly. I would even consider using a hair dryer to make them evaporate quicker (provided it doesn't heat up the plastic too much).

Another thing that I have thought of, but never tried is to spray your non-food grade silicone spray into some sort of glass or porcelin bowl and allow the hydrocarbons to evaporate and then apply the remaining (probably pure silicone) onto your cube. This would probably be messy though.