home story by Bailey Hemphill • photo by Bill Sitzmann
WD-40
Household Uses
Y
an article floating around on the internet claiming 40+ unique uses for the water-displacing spray WD-40. Well, Snopes.com—a website dedicated to debunking urban legends, myths, rumors, and misinformation—decided to follow up on this article and see if the presented tips were true. “The WD-40 brand of spray lubricant is one of those ubiquitous products that is both found in a large percentage of households and put to a wide variety of uses (not all of them recommended by the manufacturer),” Snopes’ website says. Snopes was able to contact the manufacturer of WD-40 to learn if these 40+ uses were legitimate. Interestingly enough, the response Snopes received back from the manufacturer included a shorter, corrected list. Still, a surprising number of tips were left on this new list. ou may have seen
10 HerFamily • July 2013
Here are the manufacturer-confirmed uses for WD-40 beyond degreasing and water displacing: • Protects silver from tarnishing • Removes road tar and grime from cars • Loosens stubborn zippers • Untangles jewelry chains • Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing • Keeps scissors working smoothly • Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and in homes • Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers • Rids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises • Lubricates tracks in home windows and makes them easier to open • Makes umbrellas easier to open and close after spraying the stem • Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles • Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans • Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling • Keeps rust from forming on saws, saw blades, and other tools • Lubricates prosthetic limbs • Keeps pigeons off of balconies (they apparently hate the smell) • Removes all traces of duct tape • Cleans and removes bugs from grills and bumpers • Displaces the moisture and allows a car to start after spraying the distributor cap • Removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor without harming the floor’s finish • Removes bug guts from the finish on cars
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