WD40 Origins

[DEEPNHOCK]

WD40.. Where'd the name come from?
WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a “water displacement” compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40. The Corvair Company bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts.
Usually such explanations are simply attempts to make some sense of the seemingly nonsensical, but occasionally they’re on the mark. Consider WD-40, the ubiquitous lubricant (or, as its manufacturer describes it, the “multi-purpose problem solver”) found on nearly every workbench and in every toolbox in America. Why “WD-40”? Because, as the WD-40 Company (formerly the Rocket Chemical Company of San Diego) explained: WD-40 literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt. That’s the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist who developed WD-40 back in 1953. The chemist, Norm Larsen, was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion — a task which is done by displacing water. Norm’s persistence paid off when he perfected the formula on his 40th try.

[58PackardWagon]

I was under the impression that Howard Hughes put them to task so that he could coat some planes in San Diego to keep salt corrosion and rust away.

[jts359]

About 40 years ago I was working for a large pharmaceutical co packer .And we got an order from a large drug company to fill 1oz.tubes and 2oz. spray bottles of WD 40. We heard they were conducting tests on people for topical application for the relief of arthritis pain and muscle aches using WD 40 , Ed

[ndynis]

Great piece of trivia! Thanks!
Nick

[Skip Lackie]

[FONT=inherit][FONT=inherit]The Corvair Company bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts.

Jeff-
Suspect you meant CONVAIR, which stood for Consolidated Vultee. They were among the 20 or so WWII aircraft companies that ended up in General Dynamics, Boeing, or Lockheed-Martin.

[Dave Bates]

Very interesting,thanks

[tsenecal]

I had heard of the arthritis remedy before. We used to use it to dry the distributor cap, and plug wires, after busting through snow drifts on the roads of Montana.

[T.J lavallee]

WD40 really does dispel moisture well but as a lubricant it's short lived. I, like many I assume, really like the nicely designed "straw" mechanism. So much so that I pried it off of two cans of empty WD40 some years ago and placed them on Walmart's Supertech brand of penetrant spray cans as well as their cans of lubricant after pulling off their respective spray heads. Perfect fit! Both products work well and cost less. Been using those Supertech sprays ever since. Man those clever WD40 "straws" have really lasted over the years, though.

[studegary]

WD40 really does dispel moisture well but as a lubricant it's short lived. I, like many I assume, really like the nicely designed "straw" mechanism. So much so that I pried it off of two cans of empty WD40 some years ago and placed them on Walmart's Supertech brand of penetrant spray cans as well as their cans of lubricant after pulling off their respective spray heads. Perfect fit! Both products work well and cost less. Been using those Supertech sprays ever since. Man those clever WD40 "straws" have really lasted over the years, though.

I recently purchased a spray can of light lubricating spray at a dollar store. It came with a "straw" extension. I have used it both ways (with and without the extension).

[T.J lavallee]

I recently purchased a spray can of light lubricating spray at a dollar store. It came with a "straw" extension. I have used it both ways (with and without the extension).

Haven't seen that item around these parts. How well does it work? Are we talking a penetrant or just a lubricant? The Supertech penetrant works as well as WD40. The lubricant is sold seperately. Thanks for the info and I'll keep an eye out. I'd like to do a comparison if there's a penetrant version at the Dollar Store and it's the same price or even less expensive.

[studegary]

Haven't seen that item around these parts. How well does it work? Are we talking a penetrant or just a lubricant? The Supertech penetrant works as well as WD40. The lubricant is sold seperately. Thanks for the info and I'll keep an eye out. I'd like to do a comparison if there's a penetrant version at the Dollar Store and it's the same price or even less expensive.

I believe that it is only advertised as a light lubricant. It is three flights of stairs down and I do not feel like checking it at this point in the day.

[Buzzard]

Further to Jeff's original post:
This is a genuine Ad from 1964 when WD-40 was first released. If you don't read anything else today this one just might make you laugh out loud.





























Bill

[hausdok]

Huh,

I was under the impression it had been developed by an Australian. I can't recall where I read that, only that I read it within the last two to three weeks. I distinctly remember it because I did one of those mental, "Really, I always thought that stuff was developed in the US" thought doubletakes.

Guess whoever wrote that was mistaken.

[Name141]

WD-40 started in Lone Star Steel before Rocket Chemical left for California. https://www.easttexasjournal.net/201...t-steel-plant/ T&N workers knew too.