WD-40 Silicone Lubricant

[MorrisKid101]

I recently purchased a can of WD-40 brand silicone lubricant, and have disassembled my Zhanchi and sprayed it. I waited for it to dry (around 3 and a half hours) and reassembled it. After a bit of breaking in, my cube turns fine. When turned slowly, it makes my cube feel weird, but when turned quickly during speedsolving, it turns a dream. This is the can the lubricant came in:


I didn't use either of these like some people do:


I think it depends on what cube you have, but for my Zhanchi, it works fine. I only applied it earlier today (12.30 GMT) and it is now 23.10 GMT, so this is sorta like a first impressions post, but judging by what it's like already, I would strongly recommend this product.

(NB I can only be sure it will work on a Dayan Zhanchi speedcube. Please do not blame me if it kills a different brand cube)

And it makes your cube smell of lemons. Just sayin.

UPDATE: It is now morning and my cube is still as good as it was last night.

 

[antoineccantin]

I don't recommend it. It slowly wares down the plastic.

 

[MorrisKid101]

I don't recommend it. It slowly wares down the plastic.

After how long? Like I said, I've only had it since this morning

 

[Lchu613]

Don't use that stuff, it's toxic, and when you cube it gets on your skin and slowly kills you liver.
Ah, cheerful thoughts

 

[stoic]

I think it should be ok. That looks like a new product, and its the original (blue can, red lid) that's known to destroy cubes.

 

[LarryLunchmeat]

I recommend reading the can. If it contains "petroleum distillates," avoid using it on plastics, vinyls and rubbers as it breaks these materials down.
There are some arguments against this, but why even risk it when Shock Oil can be found at any Best Buy or any hobby shop for dirt cheap.

 

[Rnewms]

WD-40 melted my old cubes. You should expect it to deteriorate in some way eventually.

 

[Wassili]

Guys this isn't the regular WD-40, this one is a special "silicone" one.

 

[MorrisKid101]

I recommend reading the can. If it contains "petroleum distillates," avoid using it on plastics, vinyls and rubbers as it breaks these materials down.
There are some arguments against this, but why even risk it when Shock Oil can be found at any Best Buy or any hobby shop for dirt cheap.

I checked the can and there isn't an 'ingredients' list, so I'm not sure. I can't find it on their website either. It also says on the front:
Can be used on metal, PLASTIC, rubber and wood

 

[Toddyt1]

I checked the can and there isn't an 'ingredients' list, so I'm not sure. I can't find it on their website either. It also says on the front:
Can be used on metal, PLASTIC, rubber and wood

I think this is it http://www.wd40specialist.com/products/silicone-lubricant/

Says safe for rubber vinyl and plastic so it's proabbly ok.

 

[MorrisKid101]

I've seen the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for it. These are the ingredients:
LVP Petroleum Solvent 60-80%
Poly Dimethylsiloxane (that's the silicone) 1-5%
Propellant 10-30%

So over half of this is petroleum based solvents. But I thought it was safe to use for plastics? Well, my cube is still fine, so only time will tell.

 

[Lchu613]

Hmm, if you're willing to risk it, by all means keep it in, and tell us how it turns out!

 

[MorrisKid101]

Don't use that stuff, it's toxic, and when you cube it gets on your skin and slowly kills you liver.
Ah, cheerful thoughts

If you mean cancer, then no as it isn't a suspected cancer agent.

 

[Timtro]

"... when you cube it gets on your skin and slowly kills you liver." --- Do you have any references to research showing this? It sound like pretend-o-science to me, but I could be wrong. MSDS doesn't show anything frightful. And if were true that skin contact with low vapour pressure petro solvents caused liver damage, I know a few engineers that should be in the hospital.

"... melted my cube..." --- Dissolved your cube. You wouldn't say that water melted your salt, it dissolves salt, but melts ice.

I'm sceptical that the WD-40 Silicone spray is okay for plastics. But, in small amounts and for short times, dissolving a bit of the plastic inside the cube might cause the cube to break in faster... so it's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm interested to know how your ZhanChi feels in a couple of weeks. Would you post back and let us know?

 

[MorrisKid101]

It's been around a week now, probably a bit less, but my cube still turns fab. Will post again in a few days.

 

[Lchu613]

Ah, sorry I didn't notice it was a different type of WD-40

I've heard that the blue can is toxic

 

[CubeAndStuff]

That is melt the cube plastic, don't use this. Clean your cube from this. I don't know about the new one but you can get a better lube for sure

 

[Jorenski]

Lubes are all build around the same ingredient being Poly Dimethylsiloxane or a derivative of it. It are the other components of the lube that can in some cases deteriorate plastic or be toxic to some extent.
Lubes in pressurized cans mostly contain petroleum ether which is able to dissolve the poly dimethylsiloxane. It is very cheap and it’s used a lot in the production of for example pharmaceuticals. However there is a catch, petroleum ether can contain a small amount of benzene and other cycloalkanes which are toxic and can indeed dissolve the cube material which is in most cases a Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer (Dayan cubes).
The universal solution for this problem is to remove the petroleum ether before applying (same is done for pharmaceuticals). Just spray your lube in a container and let it “dry” you’ll be left with pure poly dimethylsiloxane ( a colorless oil). Apply this to your cube to avoid all unpleasant surprises.

 

[KongShou]

Lubes are all build around the same ingredient being Poly Dimethylsiloxane or a derivative of it. It are the other components of the lube that can in some cases deteriorate plastic or be toxic to some extent.
Lubes in pressurized cans mostly contain petroleum ether which is able to dissolve the poly dimethylsiloxane. It is very cheap and it’s used a lot in the production of for example pharmaceuticals. However there is a catch, petroleum ether can contain a small amount of benzene and other cycloalkanes which are toxic and can indeed dissolve the cube material which is in most cases a Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer (Dayan cubes).
The universal solution for this problem is to remove the petroleum ether before applying (same is done for pharmaceuticals). Just spray your lube in a container and let it “dry” you’ll be left with pure poly dimethylsiloxane ( a colorless oil). Apply this to your cube to avoid all unpleasant surprises.

Let me guess, you study chemistry?

 

[AlexMaass]

Just spray your lube in a container and let it “dry” you’ll be left with pure poly dimethylsiloxane ( a colorless oil). Apply this to your cube to avoid all unpleasant surprises.

Are you sure this will work? If so I will definitely do this.