3 recipes for homemade WD-40: cheaper, more effective, faster than store-bought

American-made WD-40 aerosol is one of the favorite products of Russian motorists. There are several reasons for this preference, because this universal spray is capable of solving a wide variety of problems, from providing moisture-repellent protection and lubrication of individual elements to loosening tightly screwed and rusted fasteners.

Only the “Vedashka”, as it is affectionately called by car enthusiasts, has one serious drawback and it lies in the high cost of the product, which, moreover, is consumed quite quickly.

Composition of the original WD 40

This is an interesting nuance that needs to be highlighted. The composition of this “bucket” is very jealously guarded by the manufacturer, thanks to which the WD-40 company still remains the world leader in the manufacture of this spray. Moreover, the company deliberately did not patent this aerosol, so as not to reveal all the secrets of its composition.

However, there is one trick that will help you make this product at home. The original packaging contains a safety data sheet. From it we know that this spray is unusually volatile and flammable. From here we learn the main components, including:

• 50% – gasoline-solvent “white spirit”, which is a mixture of liquid aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, obtained by distillation of oil and often undergoes a hydrotreating procedure;
• 25% – volatile hydrocarbons;
• 15% – mineral oils;
• 10% are inert ingredients that are kept secret by the manufacturer.

This, of course, is not a direct guide to making homemade WD-40, but it still allows you to shed light and select the optimal composition.

Decorative fan

You will need: 4 sheets of colored paper, double-sided tape. Let's get started:

1. Fold each sheet into an accordion shape.
2. Fold each accordion in half to form a fan.
3. Glue 4 sheets together to form a circle.

The paper fan for decoration is ready! I recommend watching this video!

Making fans at home can be a great activity for both children and adults. The children will be happy to attend a home master class and learn how to make this accessory with their own hands. Of course, they are rarely used in everyday life today, since modern city apartments usually have air conditioners and fans. But if it turns out to be really beautiful and harmonizes with your image, then you can easily carry it in your purse and use it if necessary.

Analogs of a popular product

The high cost of the original “vedeshka” pushes domestic consumers to look for more affordable analogues. They often succeed, but the cost of saving is a decrease in quality. While real American WD-40 has a powerful water-repellent effect and easily eliminates oxidation of bolted joints, domestic and foreign analogues act much more slowly and are not as effective.

If you are an employee of a service station or a locksmith shop, and your duty requires an incredible amount of this aerosol, then it can be replaced with the following means:

• G-Power (for greater convenience, we give the average cost and volume - 250 rubles / 400 ml);
• 3TON (RUR 150/520 ml);
• ABRO Masters “AB-8” (RUR 335/450 ml);
• CC 1000 (RUR 150/400 ml);
• "Eltrans UPS-40" (108 rub./210 ml).

If you are looking for an analogue with identical composition and quality, it is unlikely that you will be able to find a 100% match. That's why the famous WD-40 is good. But you can try to make it yourself using a popular and proven recipe, which will be given below.

How to use an antiseptic correctly: rules and tips

In order for the antiseptic to be as effective as possible, it is necessary to use at least 3 ml of the disinfectant composition at a time - the antiseptic applied to the skin must completely cover the entire surface of the hands.

The duration of processing is equally important. In order for pathogenic microbes and viruses to die, it is necessary to wipe your hands with an antiseptic composition for at least 30-40 seconds.

You should not use a sanitizer too often (every 5-10 minutes) (especially one made with alcohol), as you risk drying out the skin. If this does happen, use moisturizing cosmetics.

You should also not use a large amount of antiseptic at once. Make only as much as you can use within 1 week. To extend the shelf life of the composition, you can additionally add vitamin E to it.

Required Ingredients

To make your own “bucket”, we recommend taking:

1. “White Spirit” - if you are making the product for yourself and will use it once every few months, then feel free to buy a foreign solvent. If you want to save money or assume that you will need a large amount of the final product, then buy Nefras-C4-155/200, it will also work.
2. Gasoline "Galosh" - that's what it's called. You can find any other gasoline with increased volatility, but this is the one most often indicated during homemade production. It consists of the very light hydrocarbons that are needed.
3. Mineral oil – you can use regular car motor oil. The ideal choice would be 5W-40 and 5W-30. Some craftsmen have experimented with synthetic oil, but it’s better not to take risks.

Now a very interesting nuance. There is an opinion that the original WD-40 contains fish oil. That is why it is often used as bait for large fish. Whether this is true or not - the question remains open. However, when making your own “bucket”, it is still recommended to use an analogue of fish oil - paraffin. You only need a few grams of regular candle wax, not melted.

Important! When making WD-40, never light a candle or melt the paraffin yourself.

It is needed in solid form: white spirit will melt it. Remember that you will be mixing highly flammable ingredients, so any source of open flame is strictly prohibited!

Volatile (light) hydrocarbons

If everything is more or less clear with the other ingredients, I’m talking about oil and YAT-SPIRIT, and finding them is not so difficult!

But with volatile hydrocarbons, it’s not all clear what they are and where to get them.

We begin to remember what it is. According to Wikipedia, light fractions of oil are called volatile (or light), and the most “easily volatile” ones are GASOLINE or gas gasoline. If you don’t have to languish for a long time, you can take regular petroleum ether or the same gasoline.

However, regular gasoline is volatile, but not so much, so we are looking for a special one. And by the way, there is one – it’s GALOSHA gasoline.

If you believe the composition, then it contains light hydrocarbons!

It is used for gasoline lighters, catalytic heaters, and for diluting oil, bitumen and paint compositions.

Popular recipes on how to make WD 40 with your own hands

Now you know the basic composition of a handicraft “bed”, and therefore you can start making it. It is recommended to take the above components with a syringe, especially since it has measuring divisions, which will help you easily select the mass fraction.

It is necessary to mix the components in a small bottle (preferably a glass one, since the solvent can corrode thin plastic). After mixing white spirit, gasoline and mineral oil, add a few pieces of paraffin to them and mix well.

“Vedeshka” is ready! You can safely try it in action by applying a small amount to the rims or to the faucet with limescale. We will talk about application methods at the end, but now we should devote a few words to other well-known recipes for making WD-40.

The composition of a more accurate analogue of this spray (it was developed experimentally) is as follows:

• 45–50% – the same “white spirit”;
• 15–25% – heavy paraffin distillate;
• 12–18% – hydrotreated isoparaffins;
• 2–3% – carbon dioxide.

These ingredients are less accessible to the average consumer and must be mixed in a laboratory setting. Preparing a “vedeshka” according to this recipe requires a lot of knowledge and practice in the field of chemistry, so we do not recommend resorting to this method.

Mixtures

Domestic car enthusiasts are very savvy when it comes to finding alternatives to expensive and scarce products. Accordingly, in every garage cooperative you can hear more than one recipe for making “vedeshka” from scrap materials. Let's look at the most popular and effective ones.

A mixture of brake fluid and kerosene. These are 2 very aggressive elements. The brake fluid itself fights rust well, as we have already clarified. Kerosene penetrates perfectly into the compound, which allows this combination to operate as efficiently as possible.

The following recipe also uses kerosene as a base. Used oil and any solvent are added to it.

The proportions are as follows:

• Kerosene – 60%;
• Working off – 30%;
• Solvent – ​​10%.

The substances are thoroughly mixed. For ease of use, you can fill the mixture into an empty liquid key can. The resulting preparation is applied to the joint 1-2 hours before the start of work.

White spirit, mixed with used oil, is practically no different in action from WD 40. In fact, it is the main component of the original drug. Therefore, there is no reinvention of the wheel going on here. We just mix the substances in a one to one ratio and get an excellent result with a minimum of costs. If you need to save a little, you can safely increase the proportion of oil in the preparation. The result will not be much lower. In principle, white spirit can be replaced with acetone, but in this case, the mixture cannot be made in advance. Acetone evaporates beautifully.

Safety precautions

Working away from an open source of flame is the most important requirement that must be taken into account when making a “bucket” yourself. Remember that your health and even life may depend on this!

Since both white spirit and galosh gasoline are extremely volatile and flammable substances, it is necessary to work away from any heating devices with open elements. These can be powerful lamps and, of course, heaters.

The air temperature should be between –40 and +30 degrees Celsius. It is necessary to work in a well-ventilated area. Of course, you should avoid contact of ingredients with mucous membranes and skin.

Story

Initially, WD 40 was intended for cleaning various surfaces from stubborn stains. During testing, it turned out that the drug simply amazingly corrodes rust. This allows the liquid to be used when dismantling various structures. The first presentation took place in 1953. After which, the drug was used strictly for military purposes for some time. The first batch went on sale in 1958.

Since then, sales have only grown. The version of the name's appearance is curious. According to one of the creators, the composition was obtained after conducting exactly 40 experiments.

How to fill a penetrating lubricant into a can

Now it's time for one little trick. There is no way you can make an aerosol at home, since it requires special equipment. But using a “bucket” in a glass bottle is inconvenient. How to be?

You can resort to a simple method. Pour the prepared solution into a plastic bottle left over from an air freshener or any body care product. Insert an ordinary lever spray bottle into the neck, which can be purchased at any hardware store, and screw the cap tightly.

You now have your own sample of WD-40 ready to use. In conclusion, let’s say that a hand-made “bucket” is much cheaper than the original spray. If its average cost sometimes reaches 350–400 rubles for a 400 ml can, then your spray will cost about 100–150 rubles. The savings are obvious.

The quality of the handicraft “vedeshka” is quite acceptable. If you plan to use this product in the workshop, then it will do and will help you significantly save on costs.

results

As a result of the experiment, I was surprised by Cobra NX-40, which is little known and looks like a fake WD-40. Nevertheless, this drug showed decent results and took 2nd place in the overall ranking. WD-40, despite its popularity, took 3rd place. The honorable 1st place was won by “Super lubricant “Nanoprotek”.

*After using Nanoprotek and Cobra NX-40, the nuts were unscrewed with approximately the same small force, but Nanoprotek wins as a lubricant. **The lower the number, the better the substance works. If the nut is not unscrewed after use, the product does not receive an overall score for the items.

As for the outsiders, they turned out to be PiTon and Auto Assistance, which showed rather weak results, especially when testing for the “liquid key” effect. The XADO universal oil turned out to be not much better, which showed good capillary effect, but did not allow the nut to be unscrewed.

Manufacturer

WD-40 liquid was invented by American chemist Norman Larsen. In the middle of the 20th century, the scientist worked at the Rocket Chemical Company and tried to create a substance that could successfully combat moisture in Atlas rockets. Moisture condensing on metal surfaces was one of the problems with these missiles. It was a source of corrosion of the casing, which affected the reduction of the conservation shelf life. And in 1953, through the efforts of Norman Larsen, WD-40 liquid appeared.

For rocket science purposes, as experiments have shown, it is not very suitable. Although it was still used for some time as the main inhibitor of corrosion of missile skins.

Larsen tried to transfer his invention from the highly specialized rocket industry to the household and general technical industries. It soon became clear that the composition of VD-40 has a complex of useful properties in everyday life. The liquid has excellent penetrating ability, quickly dilutes surface layers of corrosion, lubricates well and protects against the formation of ice.

The liquid first appeared on store shelves in San Diego, where Norman Larsen's laboratory was located, in 1958. And in 1969, the current president of the company changed the name of the organization he headed, Rocket Chemical Company, to a more concise and true one: “WD-40.”