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Is WD-40 a miracle product? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world to c/bicycling@lemmy.world

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Looking for some maintenance advice.

I'm about to embark on some touring. I don't have space to take more than one canned product. Is WD-40 what I need?

As I understand it from some research, WD-40 is by some magic both a degreaser and a lubricant. This is mysterious to me. In my mental model of chemistry, you degrease with detergent, not more grease. So now I'm imagining that WD-40 is a sort of "light grease" which dissolves "heavy grease". Is that right?

So if I can only take one product, is WD-40 it? PS: If not, then what? Also, is there a generic name for it, or cheaper similar products to look for which do the same thing?

PPS: The consensus seems to be that WD-40 is not a miracle product, by which really I meant "a single portable product that can somehow de-gunk and lubricate" and is less risky than what I was doing before: using chain oil for the lubrication and dish soap for the cleaning.

PPPS: This question was asked in the best possible faith. I have been a cyclist for decades and always been curious about this product. And yet still I get downvoted. What is about social media that makes people so toxic and mean-spirited? It's almost as mysterious as WD-40.

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[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

People will bang on about it being a water displacer. Know what else displaces water? Oil. Grease. Pretty much anything else that doesn’t mix with water.

Glad to see I'm not going mad. "Water displacer"? Any oil is a water displacer duh.

As for being a degreaser, like dissolves like. Non-polar chemicals like oil and grease are generally miscible in other non-polar substances, so a lighter oil will help to thin out thicker grease so that they’re easier to clean away.

This was my hypothesis but you put it in impressively fancy terms so it must be right.

The stuff about other solvents makes sense too. Really helpful feedback, thanks.