Comments
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.
> 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.
By Scoundreller 2026-01-270:292 reply > 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...
I wonder how many different chemicals can be described as ‘c9-c11’ chains. Thousands?
By Scoundreller 2026-01-2714:04 Yes but I doubt the manufacturer is consistent with how much of each is in there either
By OhNoNotAgain_99 2026-01-277:08 [dead]
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.
By logifail 2026-01-276:24 I'd say a BOM is more like the list of ingredients (or inventory) of what's in a product.
Depending on what the product is, this may still be a long way from the full "recipe" (or method) to recreate the product.
By TeMPOraL 2026-01-2713:17 Hopefully if you sum enough of those SDS across different jurisdictions, the actual list of ingredients will come out. Though I guess it isn't that simple.
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
Had the same problem with my moto (key not turning the lock). Fortunately, there was a car nearby and owner had a spare jug of oil. I put some oil on the key, put it in the ignition lock, waited for 5 minutes, and it started to turn again.
Although I must admin WD-40 helped me in the past opening an old door lock.
By regularfry 2026-01-279:501 reply I suspect the difference is whether (as with the old door lock) there is no lubricant at all and anything is better than nothing, or whether (as with the ignition key) there is a lubricant there which was designed for the purpose but for some other reason isn't working as intended, and which the WD-40 will displace and replace with something worse. "Fails in hot weather" sounds either like some sort of thermal expansion problem or the intended grease gets too thin to properly lubricate a high-pressure contact area. Or there just isn't enough of it.
By cucumber3732842 2026-01-2711:182 reply You're not supposed to use lube on locks because the film strength of the oil will be enough to make tight pins that have tiny clearances not move.
Not really applicable in an automotive lock which start out as hotdog down hallway when new and only expand from there.
By lazide 2026-01-2713:07 In both cases, the real issue is when the oil (eventually all do) oxidizes and ‘gums’. Tight tolerances make it cause worse problems sooner of course, but it’s the same problem eventually.
Putting new fresh oil in it often temporarily fixes it because it dissolves some (or a lot) of the old varnish. Acetone can often do the same thing too, but can also wash the varnish deeper into the mechanism where it turns into really solid ‘plastic’ when the acetone dissolves.
By anticodon 2026-01-2720:16 I was 2000 km from home (1242 miles) and I was in panic because it was pretty uninhabited place. My bike is 12 years old but I used it in very harsh conditions (dirt, mountains).
Probably should replace the lock but it is so expensive.
By echelon 2026-01-278:26 > 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!
By NedF 2026-01-272:19 [dead]
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.
By giancarlostoro 2026-01-271:39 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.
By sidewndr46 2026-01-2623:416 reply 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.
> If I need a universal lubricant that is readily available and cheap, I just use used motor oil.
Why? Used motor oil is, well, used. It contains metal particles from the engine and combustion byproducts, which is why it was replaced in the first place. Granted, most lubrication applications aren't the marvels of precision parts moving at high speed that a modern engine is so can probably make do with poorer oil, but still.
You can buy industrial lubricants in bulk for pretty cheap so that unless you use huge quantities of it, it shouldn't make much difference.
As an aside, my aunt's husband worked more or less his entire career in a heavy truck repair shop. And he had an oil burner heating his house (you can see where this is going, eh?). So he got used engine oil for free, the shop was happy to get rid of it as disposing of it properly cost money. I think burning used engine oil was illegal already back then due to the pollution, and nowadays I think they have some government mandated accounting system to ensure that the same amount of oil is sent to proper recycling as comes in.
By sidewndr46 2026-01-2715:241 reply You're right about getting industrial lubricants in bulk for cheap. But I don't need 55 gallons of lubricant. I'd never use it all nor do I want to store it.
Used engine oil isn't really suitable for lubricating an engine anymore but it's fine for a temporary lubricant of a drill bit, some random hinge on a gate, or stubborn bushing on a piece of equipment. Engine oil is only really replaced on an engine because at some point it degrades enough that things like oil film bearings in the crankshaft would start to fail. A bushing on something like a small dump trailer doesn't rotate at 2300 rpm.
> You're right about getting industrial lubricants in bulk for cheap. But I don't need 55 gallons of lubricant. I'd never use it all nor do I want to store it.
Well, the corollary to that is that if it's just small case usage then if you buy a 1L bottle of some general purpose lubrication oil for, say, $5, then it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things that the price/L is a lot higher than if you buy an entire drum of the stuff. ;-)
> Used engine oil isn't really suitable for lubricating an engine anymore but it's fine for a temporary lubricant of a drill bit, some random hinge on a gate, or stubborn bushing on a piece of equipment. Engine oil is only really replaced on an engine because at some point it degrades enough that things like oil film bearings in the crankshaft would start to fail. A bushing on something like a small dump trailer doesn't rotate at 2300 rpm.
Fair enough. I guess I just don't see the benefit here vs just having some bottle of cheap unused lubricant. Except if used engine oil is the only thing you happen to have at hand.
By sidewndr46 2026-02-0322:01 If I can get that same lubricant for zero dollars, why would I pay?
By Telemakhos 2026-01-274:092 reply The WD in WD-40 stands for "water displacer." It makes water go somewhere else. Secondarily, it is a solvent, and it's great for dissolving glues, like the glue used to affix government-issued tax licenses to automobiles. It's not really a lubricant, but in a pinch it can temporarily function as one.
I like Swiss army knives, but they collect lint and gunk from my pockets. I use WD-40 to dissolve gunk, and to drive out water after an ultrasonic bath, but I lubricate with the light machine oil used for barber's clippers.
By mjanx123 2026-01-277:15 It is a blend of oils. Light oils evaporate (like kerosene does for example), and dissolve thicker oils and grease. Oils displace water in general and once in the surface pores they prevent water from getting in there again, a mixture containing light oils flows in easier and does that better. Being predominantly a light oil it is a poor lubricant, but it is better than nothing, and can flow in crevices where thicker stuff would not.
It is really simple and there is no magic.
The name took off as a brand and completely different stuff from the 40th iteration of a Water Displacer formulation is being sold under it as well.
By littlestymaar 2026-01-277:054 reply > It's not really a lubricant, but in a pinch it can temporarily function as one.
That's wrong. WD-40 is a literally a lubricant mixed with a solvent that makes it very fluid so it can enter small interstices, the solvent then evaporates quickly, leaving the lubricant in place.
There's not a lot of lubricant in there compared to a pure lubricant, because the solvent takes a significant share of the volume, but it's still a lubricant once the solvent dries up.
By ndsipa_pomu 2026-01-2716:08 You're technically correct, the best kind of correct.
However, if you're looking to lubricate something and have it last for a reasonable time, then WD-40 is a poor choice. However, using WD-40 first to hopefully dissolve contaminants/rust and remove water and then after a quick wipe to remove excess, applying something better such as 3-in-1 or silicone grease etc is a good idea.
The clue is in the name - Water Displacement 40.
If you want a spray on penetrating lubricant, then GT-85 is usually better as it has PTFE included to better lubricate. It still won't last that long though as it'll only make a thin film.
Edit: I've just seen that WD-40 make mention of a bus driver in Asia using WD-40 to remove a python from his bus' under-carriage. If in doubt, spray it with WD-40.
By sidewndr46 2026-02-0322:03 This definition doesn't make any sense. Virtually anything not a solid or gas is a lubricant under atmospheric conditions. Water is one of the best lubricants you can find.
"lubricant mixed with a solvent" - doesn't make sense. A solvent is a lubricant. Acetone for example, is a phenomenal lubricant. I'm not sure how you're going to stop it from evaporating, but it's a lubricant. Water is a solvent as well, for example.
By mattmaroon 2026-01-2712:551 reply It literally says it is a lubricant on the can but you can’t find a thread on the Internet about it without someone saying that. It is a lubricant, just not a very good one for most situations.
By littlestymaar 2026-01-2713:442 reply I can't believe you're being downvoted for that comment, that's legit insanity.
By mattmaroon 2026-01-2716:231 reply I’m not surprised. If your hobbies include things that take you to the DIY corners of Reddit you are exposed daily to the “WD-40 is not a lubricant” morons who cannot be swayed by either reading the can or Googling.
“WD-40 is not a very good lubricant and you should almost always use something else” is a mouthful I guess, but their denial of reality over something so meaningless is always astounding to me.
By mrguyorama 2026-01-2717:022 reply Social media systemically rewards "Um actually" behavior and punishes nuance and discussion.
This is the expected outcome.
There is a certain type that loves to be contrarian, and they keep a whole mental library of "unintuitive factoids" at the ready for the topic to arise.
By mattmaroon 2026-01-2815:55 I enjoy those when they’re accurate.
By mattmaroon 2026-01-2719:411 reply The unexpected part though, is that I don’t think this is causing people to actually believe that WD-40 is not a lubricant. It’s causing them to post that perhaps.
And it seems like such a strange thing to become emotionally attached to. But these people will sooner die then admit the thing that says it is a lubricant is a lubricant.
By mrguyorama 2026-01-2720:35 >is that I don’t think this is causing people to actually believe that WD-40 is not a lubricant.
Why do you believe this? The vast majority of people commenting on the internet haven't used WD-40 in the past year. Why wouldn't they end up believing a wrong thing that has been confidently stated that they otherwise know nothing about?
People have always loved these factoids, long long before the internet. It was common conversation fodder for upper class folks in history to repeat outright falsehoods as "um actually"s or "You should know"s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions_...
Do you know how many people for whatever reason believe that Columbus believed the earth was round and everyone else thought it was flat, despite all historical evidence being contrary?
Basically "Common consensus is X but I'm super smart and know REAL truth Y" is like the optimal meme shape for the human brain. The biases in our brain will always support such an argument shape, and humans get a reward for relaying that info, correct or not. All our innate and fundamental physiological biases will be triggered by this kind of statement.
IMO the super interesting aspect is the second and third generations of "Um actually" where a previous "um actually" gets further "um actually!"d, and even that gets "um actuallyyyyy"d. I wonder if we will get a cycle at some point!
By BizarroLand 2026-01-2718:04 How can you see downvotes?
By littlestymaar 2026-01-2712:54 Repeating bullshit many times doesn't make it true.
It is a mixture of a lubricant and a solvent. And once the solvent evaporates, only the lubricant remains.
By coatmatter 2026-01-2711:311 reply One (not recommended) way to test this statement is to spray some on the kitchen floor and see what happens later.
that's fine, but because it is sometimes slippery does not make it a lubricant.
By bloomingeek 2026-01-2714:091 reply Fine, put up or shut up. Post some proof.(About WD-40, not slippery things.)
By otterley 2026-01-2715:52 Some things are lubricants for a little while, until they suddenly become the opposite. Wood glue, for example.
That’s how I would describe the original and most common WD-40 formula: a passable short-term lubricant for quick and dirty jobs, but not a long-term high quality lubricant, like, say, 3-in-1 (graphite) or silicone lubricants.
Adding to the confusion is that WD-40 sells a silicone lubricant that is a much better lubricant for many purposes than the original formula.
By steve_adams_86 2026-01-270:48 Yeah, it mostly evaporates and only leaves a thin film behind. It's better than nothing if there's no lubricant in place, but will actually make things worse if there is a functional lubricant in place.
By ungreased0675 2026-01-273:332 reply Used motor oil isn’t sold in aerosol cans with a little red straw for precision application. You aren’t just buying the liquid.
By cucumber3732842 2026-01-2711:201 reply On the other hand I can't dip a pin or whatever in an aerosol can like I can a bucket.
By mattmaroon 2026-01-2712:56 Not with that attitude you can’t!
By sidewndr46 2026-01-2715:25 I just bought a little bottle I can squeeze from harbor freight. One drop is usually enough. If I need to I can give it a big squeeze and get a bunch out.
By Scoundreller 2026-01-270:191 reply Motor oil doesn’t spray too well.
(Yes, you can buy bulk wd-40 liquid and put into a branded or unbranded sprayer)
Sparying oil is bad - it just collects dust. Oil what needs oil only
By Scoundreller 2026-01-272:55 I’m okay with dust on the overspray. Keeps the salt off.
By interstice 2026-01-2623:452 reply Isn’t that carcinogenic?
By sidewndr46 2026-01-2623:521 reply Isn't a pretty wide range of products you'd use for this? I guess vegetable oil isn't and it works fine. Fluidfilm I don't think is either. I wear PPE for this reason however.
If you want a clean cheap petroleum oil, chainsaw bar oil will work. Generally I prefer the generic Tractor Supply bar oil because it seems a lot stickier than walmart's version which seems more like hydraulic fluid to me. But either way it is cheap because in a chainsaw 95% of it is just sprayed all over the place anyways.
By sidewndr46 2026-01-2715:261 reply The last time I bought chainsaw bar oil I think it has added sulfur or something like that. I'm not really sure. It's actually worse to work with than used motor oil. Used motor oil starts out clean & is constantly being filtered in a normal motor.
By AngryData 2026-01-2717:40 Might just depend on the brand and luck. Ive always suspected that bar oil was either extra of whatever oil product didn't sell at the time, or an oil product that didn't technically meet spec for another application like hydraulic or transmission or engine oil.
Only if it's used and only if it's ingested.
Clean motor oil is not actually that harmful if swallowed - it only carcinogenic because of all the metals and carbon it builds up when in the motor.
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.
By cratermoon 2026-01-271:132 reply If it moves and it shouldn't: duct tape
If it doesn't move and it should: WD-40
By wombatpm 2026-01-274:46 If it jams, force it. If it breaks it needed replacement anyway.
By slumberlust 2026-01-275:45 And remember, if they don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!
By steve_adams_86 2026-01-270:45 It was, but it still is, too
By knowitnone3 2026-01-271:022 reply sprayed on motherboard and ssd. didn't work at all
Not only does WD make something work, it makes it smell good, too!
By _kb 2026-01-271:21
By ILoveHorses 2026-01-276:14 The diversity of expertise on this 'SW/tech-focused forum' continues to amaze me
By cbolton 2026-01-2713:52 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.
By Scoundreller 2026-01-2622:465 reply > 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.
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.
By rationalist 2026-01-273:50 My favorite is CRC Knock'er Loose. Better than Kroil in my experience.
By greenavocado 2026-01-270:07 I second heat. I always go for heat if possible first. Bonus is it is mess-free generally.
By chasd00 2026-01-270:55 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.
By quietsegfault 2026-01-271:57 In my own experience, kroil was far, far, far better than WD-40.
By VerifiedReports 2026-01-277:581 reply 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.
I strongly prefer going to my local ACE Hardware or True Value Hardware before Lowes or Home Depot. Their prices will tend to be a little bit higher. However they seem to be staffed by people who know what they are doing, and Home Depot and Lowes stopped doing that entirely. I can walk in, ask the old guy working there what he might recommend and he will give me a recommendation.
By VerifiedReports 2026-01-285:47 Yeah, same. But it can be tough for people with full-tine jobs to conform to mom-&-pop store hours.
By JumpCrisscross 2026-01-2623:401 reply > 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.
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.
By throwaway201606 2026-01-273:31 "Sure, but the difference between one particular formulation of mineral oils and another cannot possibly be that important to the formula."
Formulation matters and is very important.
A1 jet fuel, propane, regular 87 gas and vaseline are four different formulations of some version of mineral oil (petroleum).
Which do you want in a car you are driving? On your parched lips? In your plane engine? Coming into your kitchen stove?
By TheCondor 2026-01-274:32 Doesn’t lubrazol make billions by formulating mineral oils to purpose?
>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.
By ASalazarMX 2026-01-2623:431 reply 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.
By bobmcnamara 2026-01-272:21 I don't know the distribution between aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, but there's lots of each.
> specific chemical identity
I wonder if it's just two hydrocarbons then? Odd that identify is singular.
By Animats 2026-01-273:22 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.
By mrandish 2026-01-272:25 > 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.
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!
3-in-1 oil. PB blaster and liquid wrench are more for breaking apart rusted together bolts and pins and stink too much to want to use in your house. You really don't want any kind of spray can for door hinges because door hinges need less than a single drop of oil to be fully lubricated.
By ErroneousBosh 2026-01-2710:25 I use Shell Rotella 15W40, same as goes in the tractors, same as goes in my Range Rover, same as goes in my mum's Fiat.
In the corollary of the hammer/nail thing, when what you have are 205-litre barrels of Rotella, everything that needs oil gets a dose of it.
By morpheuskafka 2026-01-2712:592 reply What about graphite powder? Isn't that what you put inside the lock, would it work on the hinge too?
By nhumrich 2026-01-2712:43 A dry lubricant like graphite
Lithium grease.
Petroleum oils aren't really good for hinges (which I assume is what is squeaking) for a variety of reasons. If you use wd-40, you find that the squeak goes away and quickly returns, sometimes worse. The reason for this is that WD-40 will wash out any grease or oil in the hinge as well as attract whatever dirt or dust is around, both worsening the squeak.
3-in-1 (in the dropper can) is a good, effective lubricant but it has an important drawback that is shares with WD-40, it will wash out any grease already in there as well as attract dirt. 3-in-1 (tin dropper bottle) is great for light mechanical duty like a bike chain or as cutting oil and even some gears, but it wont work well as a deck lube, way oil, or hinge grease because of its very light weight.
Here's a brand and type that I recommend for doors. CRC is an excellent source of this type of chemical, and my personal go-to. https://www.crcindustries.com/white-lithium-grease-10-wt-oz-...
Lithium grease (sometimes called White Grease) is excellent for door hinges because it is dry, wont drop, will spread instead of being pushed out like oil (even 3-in-one), and lasts forever. Since its pretty dang thick and not really a liquid even in the spray version, it also wont drip onto your carpet as readily while you apply it. Get the spray version, protect the paint behind the hinge with a towel or a piece of printer paper(TIP: Cut the paper %85 of the way in half long-way (hotdog fold) and slide the paper over the hinge as you spray it with the door closed and from a bit of an angle, pay more attention to the top part, just under the head of the hinge pin. That should be more than enough. Spray-on oil would soak the paper, lithium grease won't so this is another benefit of lithium)) and give it a couple squirts while working the door. Wipe the excess off and enjoy years of squeak-free operation!
It is perfect for light-duty applications where the lube sticking to its lubricating point is important. White Lithium Grease is [Edit, its Lithium soap? whatever that is.] and mineral oil, sticks to metal excellent, and is compatible with almost all bushing rubber.
—
More (Gratuitous) Suggestions from the WD-40© Corporation:
Use Lithium grease in applications like lubricating your car's hood latch. Spray on WD-40© liberally to clean off any junk in the car hood latch/catch, clean with a rag as best you can, and after it dries, spray the mechanism with White Lithium Grease.
If your garage door chatters in its track channels, wipe the dust and debris from the channel after cleaning with WD-40© and after its dry, slather some Lithium Grease paste on the inside of the tracks. You can also apply a slight excess of Lithium Grease to the springs in the garage door to quiet the rattle and twanging.
If you have a squeaky rubber bushing in some shop equipment like a press, lift, or clamp; If you have any slowing or binding plastic-on-plastic part movement like in a drawer or lid, a dab of Lithium grease will quiet, lubricate, and protect plastic, metal rubber and such materials while not deteriorating them like a petroleum based lubricant would. Lithium grease is also water retardant, but not water proof! Make sure to not apply Lithium Grease to any metal which isn't BONE DRY! If you have a damp part, WD-40© is a perfect tool to clean and dry your part before lubrication.
You can also literally just spray a rubber or plastic part with Lithium Grease (or just silicone oil, which is cleaner and much better for rubber and plastics but IMPOSSIBLE to clean, so DO NOT SPILL and wear gloves. Seriously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30286616 ) to protect/shine them up. It will work totally well on your tires, but I don't like that idea because it might fling onto your paint or transfer to your rotor if you touch it while swapping wheels. Seems it might work well to prevent dry-rot during storage, now that I think about it. I feel like basically nobody does this though.
Thank you for this opportunity. I had a lot of fun thinking about one of my favorite lubricants, which is of course silicone, and I expect that it will add much value to your life!
—
[edit: all the references to WD-40© in the More Suggestions part are true, but also jokes used to illustrate the marketing genius of WD-40©. You don't need it, and there's a decent chance that what you're about to spray it on will only get worse, but yeah, it does work really well. I also just think its pretty funny to have a can of WD-40© while knowing its true purpose, so that when some jerk like me comes along with his or her "AKTUALLY, WD-40© is a solvent not a lubricant!" you will then be free to utilize whichever form of verbal jui-jitsu you desire in dispatchment of this interloper as you reply, "Yeah! I use it every day … !"]
By cucumber3732842 2026-01-2711:251 reply I'm not shooting WD40 or dripping oil onto a hinge, garage door part, etc, etc because it's the best. I'm doing it because I can do that a hundred times before coming close to the time and effort expenditure required to disassemble the item and lube it with grease.
By jonway 2026-01-2711:30 Got it. So in your case, here's what I would do:
Take the can of WD-40© out of your hand and replace it with the can of CRC© White Lithium Grease. All subsequent steps are the same.
I would then hide your screwdrivers so you don't disassemble anything. Just spray it with lube. :)
> 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...)
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.
By jkubicek 2026-01-270:32 Just like Carmex lip balm. The stuff everyone was “addicted” to in the 90s
“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”.
By linsomniac 2026-01-273:512 reply 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."
WD40 is absolutely a lubricant (water is a lubricant even), but a poor one
And when the WD40 you sprayed dries out, and it will, all that is left are sharp little crystals, and these are the source of future squeaking.
By mjanx123 2026-01-2712:58 In artillery and similar massive pressure applications are used chlorine based lubricants. These have the ultimate performance as the chlorine firmly attaches to the metal, but it also destroys the surface immediately (which is not a problem in an one shot application). Would you argue that these are not lubricants because of that?
By mjanx123 2026-01-2711:56 That does not make WD40 a non lubricant, but a poor lubricant. It does lubricate moderately for a small period of time.
By linsomniac 2026-01-2715:011 reply I brought in some spray lithium grease and he was happy with the results.
By brunoqc 2026-01-2718:54 Thank you very much.
By foxglacier 2026-01-2623:533 reply 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.
By rubinlinux 2026-01-270:151 reply 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.
By poulsbohemian 2026-01-273:551 reply Great to see Boeshield in this thread - so much of what's happening in this thread is the wrong product for a particular application. As you point out, Boeshield is a great product for protecting cast iron
By DannyBee 2026-01-2713:49 Boeshield has a tendency to increase friction though unless buffed really hard.
Lanolin based coatings (fluid film, et al) don't have this issue.
Of course, i live in a super-humid place these days, so i have to control humidity anyway. This doesn't stop rust, but it means i can worry a lot less about which coatings and how often.
By sejje 2026-01-271:31 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.
By dotancohen 2026-01-272:06 I think that Project Farm did a video on rust prevention formulations. I don't remember how WD-40 fared.
By GuB-42 2026-01-2713:46 > 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.
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.
By 1970-01-01 2026-01-2714:12 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.
By colechristensen 2026-01-273:08 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.
By s0rce 2026-01-270:56 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.
By SanjayMehta 2026-01-271:14 The real deal with WD-40 (and Coca Cola) is the brand name.
By unethical_ban 2026-01-274:33 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.
By cmiles8 2026-01-2712:50 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.
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)
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.
> I would expect WD-40 to work fairly well because it cleans the chain and gets the filth out of the links
That it does, but it doesn't leave much lubricant behind, which you need for a properly functioning chain. As you know, you want something that will get between the pins and rollers and stay there, minus the grime that would turn it into grinding paste. Which is probably why some people swear by wax, but that sounds like a giant hassle.
By ofalkaed 2026-01-278:17 What I meant is that you can reapply WD-40 as needed, it may not lubricate the chain but it will clean it. Try that with PTFE.
Wax is up there with PTFE for making grinding paste in my experience, especially on long, hot, wax softening rides.
That's not really true. There's lots of research out there showing that waxed chains result in less power loss over longer time compared to no lubrication and most other lubricants (both bicycle specific ones and more general ones). Now waxing your chain is admittedly annoying, but it does work.
3in1 is actually bike specific, it fell out of favor with the rise of the modern bike lubes. Wax collects dust and dirt, especially when friction or the sun cause it to soften, which turns your waxed chain into a drive train eater and will cause power loss. More for the track than the road.
Wax is great for road riding. I ride in Auckland where it’s wet half the time (all the time this summer). I re-wax every 400 or so km. It’s clean running and beautiful compared to the expensive oils I was using, and lasts longer.
Wear appears to be down too. The reduction in grease and dirty chain makes is so nice.
It is much better than the expensive oils, but not as good as old fashioned 3in1. The expensive chain lubes are mostly meant for racing, they give you the least friction by a long shot but don't last and most of them do not take well to reapplying without cleaning, you end up with grinding paste.
Wax holds up quite well against water but does hold grit and tends to deposit it on chainrings, sprockets, and pulleys, and it wears them quicker than 3in1 will. Wax shares the downside of PTFE, you need to clean off the old before applying more or things start wearing fast, which is not an issue for everyone. It is nice and clean.
Here in the winter of northern Minnesota, one good snowy ride with the road salt and sand will strip wax. Not that you would want to use wax in this sort of cold even if the road salt and sand were not an issue, wax gets stiff and brittle in the sorts of cold we get. I am an everyday rider and bike is my mode of transportation for everything, in this climate I need ease of reapplication or I will be replacing chainrings yearly.
This sounds wild, and truely savage on gear.
What sort of temperature are you getting down to? Any special gear needed for you or the bike?
Here it’s never below about 5C and maxes at about 30C. It’s mild. The rain is the only thing that can be a lot. The most was about 250mm in a day, which is exceptional, but sudden, very downpours are common.
We can go from 30C to 5C in a couple minutes with a wind change, the weather here keeps your toes. We always get down into the -20sF with another 20 degrees thrown in by the windchill and can spend weeks at that, 2014/15 we spent 3 months in the -20s. Coldest I have biked in is -47 before the windchill. Windchill is tricky on a bike since you make your own wind, it is considerably colder biking than just standing or walking in such conditions.
Gear has mostly been a move away from cartridge bearings, you are lucky if those will last the winter. Old fashioned cup and cone bearings hold enough grease to get you through most winters without having to repack. For the messy and icy weather I try to ride my fixed gear, does not matter if the brakes freeze up, very simple drive train (single piece crank!) I can just ignore all winter other than oil the chain and its 1/8" chain sucks up a lot more oil than the skinny 10+ speed chains and sheds filth much better as well. 3in1 helps a lot as well, it is pretty good about shedding filth. For the brutal cold, when things are dry and for most errands it is generally my touring bike, its granny gear is nice when the grease starts to thicken in the cold and high rpm pedaling does a good job of keeping you warm but keeping the derailers working well even with friction shifters can be a chore.
Only specialty gear I have is studded BMX pedals, they do a great job of keeping your feet on the pedals and are footwear agnostic. Not the best pedal choice for a fixed gear, they can really shred your shins.
Amazing.
What sort of distances are you doing?
I work at a couple of locations that are about 9-15km from home.
I’m probably doing 150-300km per week, depending on weather. Even doing 5km in the conditions you describe sounds Herculean.
By ofalkaed 2026-01-2718:49 Distance is fairly variable, minimum is 4 miles, a busy day can be 50 miles. When we get extended bitter cold I tend to start running errands before work since I can break up the distances and stop and warm up instead of the shorter straight shot, that will be about 10 miles a day.
It is not as bad as most people think as long as you get out there everyday and avoid getting in the habit of not doing stuff because it is too cold. That first -10 day is brutal but that -10 is not so bad after a -20 day and feels almost warm after -30. So I convince myself that a beer would taste really good and bike to the bar in -30 just to get out there because the longer you go without riding in that sort of cold the harder it is to get back out there, do it daily and it is easy to remember that it is just a minor discomfort until you get the blood flowing.
By bythreads 2026-01-2710:44 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
By ErroneousBosh 2026-01-2710:22 It's not a lubricant, though. It's designed for replacing water from electrical connectors.
By quietsegfault 2026-01-271:561 reply It's such garbage, and it's frustrating to see stuff like this on the front page.
By ajross 2026-01-272:08 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.
By PunchyHamster 2026-01-2713:05 > 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
By 0ckpuppet 2026-01-274:10 not meant to be a lubricant, wd, water displacement. Use as a solvent, then lube with something better.
By scotty79 2026-01-289:23 "Note: The specific chemical identity and exact percentages are a trade secret."
By knowitnone3 2026-01-271:031 reply "It's a terrible long term lubricant" it's not even a lubricant
By mjanx123 2026-01-277:34 It is a lubricant, even water is a lubricant https://a.co/d/2JHYXP7
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.
By furyofantares 2026-01-275:062 reply > 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.
By self_awareness 2026-01-276:441 reply > 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?
By furyofantares 2026-01-2710:56 There isn't one. I guess the actual reason I mentioned it was I felt weird calling them family friends when they weren't, but I also felt weird calling them church friends for no stated reason, so I added a little personal anecdote about it, which now I think I shouldn't have.
But since I did, lemme clarify, it was a pretty out-there fundamentalist church that I'm glad to have escaped early, and my comment is just that seeing people there do stuff that I couldn't make sense of, even totally unrelated stuff like this, probably helped undermine any sense of authority they had in my mind.
By userbinator 2026-01-276:10 Maybe they think it'll work better since it penetrates deeper than vaseline.
By user3939382 2026-01-271:061 reply 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.
I've grown to dislike the smell of 3-in-1. It's not awful, but once it gets on the skin you smell it for hours, even after washing.
I've started using M-Pro 7 gun oil for the same tasks. Not that it solves world hunger or anything, by I always have some around, I don't end up smelling volatile organics for the rest of the day.
3-in-1 is pretty unpleasant, I agree. I use it as a cutting fluid for drilling steel mostly and it's not any nicer when hot. Perhaps I will try some of your gun oil.
Best smelling shop liquid I've yet encountered is Marvel Mystery Oil. It's amazing.
By topspin 2026-01-2716:21 Pluses and minuses as cutting fluid. It's not sulfurized or chlorinated, like actual (and lower cost) cutting fluid. On the other hand, the vapors are non-toxic, being mostly polyalphaolefin synthetic oil, and it likely is better than 3-in-1 as cutting fluid for adhoc use, if only due to significantly lower vapor pressure and higher flash point.
By linksnapzz 2026-01-293:10 Came to post this; Ballistol works brilliantly; and can also be used as a leather conditioner, wound dressing, & marinade for carne de cheval, with the addition of some juniper berries and a little rosemary.
By mgrandl 2026-01-286:02 The best all-rounder is Ballistol. Smells way less than 3-in-1 and performs great!
By SAI_Peregrinus 2026-01-271:58 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.
By 1970-01-01 2026-01-2714:17 >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.
By rajnathani 2026-02-0210:08 As a side note: PTFE = PFAS forever chemical.
By sejje 2026-01-271:34 WD40 is a pretty good for bluing, too, in combination with heat. And the smell.
By dantiberian 2026-01-2621:426 reply 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.
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.
By legitster 2026-01-2623:00 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.
By ASalazarMX 2026-01-2623:45 > secret 130 ingredient recipe
One of the greatest use cases of security by obscurity, specially if part of the ingredients are decoys.
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.
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.
By creshal 2026-01-2712:21 Since they're operating in Europe it's trivial to split manufacturing into 3+ places that are within an hour drive but also in 3+ distinct jurisdictions that are part of the same free trade zone, so no tax authority can have a full picture either. And you'll never get, say, French and German tax authorities to voluntarily talk to each other.
By pests 2026-01-276:31 I do recall some episode of "How its made" or similar of a food factory discussing some mix they were doing for a fast food chain, IIRC, that involved "two separate bags of spices, each sourced from a separate supplier for secrecy". That's about the level I'd expect out of such a scheme.
By mulmen 2026-01-2621:54 I wonder how much information leaks through something like Material Safety Data Sheets.
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....
By fabiensanglard 2026-01-2621:471 reply 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.
By atombender 2026-01-2622:005 reply It's a myth that Coca-Cola is a closely held secret, though. Any food flavoring specialist can reconstruct the flavor of Coke almost exactly.
A few years ago I (not a specialist!) made lots of batches of OpenCola, which is based partly on the original Pemberton recipe, and it comes so close that nobody could realistically tell the difference. If anything, it tastes better, because I imagine Coke doesn't use fresh, expensive essential oils (like neroli) for everything.
The tricky piece that nobody else can do is the caffeine (edit: de-cocainized coca leaf extract) derived from coca leaves. Only Coke has the license to do this, and from what I gather, a tiny, tiny bit of the flavour does come from that.
> If anything, it tastes better, because I imagine Coke doesn't use fresh, expensive essential oils (like neroli) for everything.
I've not participated in Cola tasting, but assuming fresher tastes better isn't really a safe assumption. Lots of ingredients taste better or are better suited for recipies when they're aged. I've got pet chickens and their eggs are great, but you have to let them sit for many days if you want to hard boil them, and I'd guess baking with them may be tricky for sensitive recipies.
Anyway, even if it does taste better for whatever that means, that's not meeting the goal of tasting consistently the same as Coke, in whichever form. If you can't tell me if it's supposed to taste like Coke from a can, glass bottle, plastic bottle, or fountain, then you've told me all I need to know about how close you've replicated it.
By atombender 2026-01-2623:151 reply I think my point flew past you: If I can make a 99% clone of Coke in my kitchen, any professional flavoring pro will do it 100%. The supposed secret recipe isn't why Coke is still around, it's the brand.
And by fresh I do mean: The OpenCola is full of natural essential oils (orange, neroli, cinnamon, lime, lavender, lemon, nutmeg), and real natural flavor oils have a certain potent freshness you don't get in a mass-produced product.
> you don't get in a mass-produced product.
But you are trying to reproduce a mass-produced product.
By atombender 2026-01-2711:06 I'm merely making the point that there's nothing magical about the recipe. Anyone wanting to truly replicate it for mass production can simply use commodity flavor compounds.
> caffeine derived from coca leaves
Coca leaves contain various alkaloids, but not caffeine. Coca Cola gets its caffeine from (traditionally) kola nuts, and (today, presumedly) the usual industrial sources.
By atombender 2026-01-2623:031 reply Not sure what happens with my brain there. I did indeed mean de-cocainized coca leaves, not caffeine.
By wrboyce 2026-01-2623:28 Um… might want to double check your brain there!
By linsomniac 2026-01-274:081 reply You had better luck than I did, I tried my hand at making Open Cola, put around $300 into it (between the carbonization rig and essential oils primarily), and while I'd say it was "leaning towards coke", I would also definitely say that nobody would mistake it for coke.
By atombender 2026-01-2711:12 I noticed it was incredibly important to get the recipe mixture exactly right, because even a slight measurement error resulted in weirdly wrong flavors.
I did my OpenCola experiment in the company office together with a colleague, and we ended up hooking it up to a beer tap, with a canister of CO2. I'm proud to say the whole office really got into it.
Some YouTuber basically reverse engineered it, and he found that the main thing contributed by the coca leaves were tannins.
By rmunn 2026-01-272:20 Previous HN discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543509
By sieep 2026-01-2621:55 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.
By linsomniac 2026-01-274:04 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.
By awesome_dude 2026-01-2621:48 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.
By torginus 2026-01-270:04 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.
