Wd40

[Brian Baker]

I'd appreciate the opinion of you builder out there on this one.

I have a buddy who plays a high-end custom-built mando, and he sprays WD40 on the fretboard and wipes it down with a cloth. He says it keeps the strings fresh, makes 'em slippery for playing, and actually cleans the neck.

He said WD40 is actually fish oil, and will not harm the woods or the finish. He's gotten a b*njo buddy addicted to it as well.

So my question: will WD40 harm a mando?

My buddy's mando seems to be none the worse for the wear, but I am hesitant to start spraying it all over my newly acquired Steffey model...

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Brian

[sunburst]

I worked for a banjo manufacturer some years ago. Before I worked there, they used to supply a little spray can of WD40 with each banjo for the purpose you mentioned.
It turned out that some people have a reaction to the stuff, so they quit using it on the banjos and quit supplying it with the banjos.

I'm pretty sure WD40 is not fish oil. IIRC, there is a petroleum distillate vehicle for the active ingredient that is meant to displace water, but turns out to be somewhat of a lubricant, but not a particularly good one.

I think there are much better products to use on instruments, and I wouldn't use WD40, though is apparently does no particular harm.

[Gail Hester]

Some WD40 fun facts I found. The ingredients are supposed to be a secret but they say that it does not contain fish oil, that's a myth.

WD40 site http://www.wd40.com/Brands/wd40_faqs.html

Main ingredients, from the material safety sheet are:

50% Stoddard solvent (mineral spirits, also commonly known as dry cleaning solvent),
25% Liquified petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant, carbon dioxide is used now to reduce considerable flammability),
15+% Mineral oil (light lubricating oil), and
10-% Inert ingredients

The German version of the mandatory EU safety sheet lists the following safety relevant ingredients:

60% - 80% Heavy Naphtha (petroleum product), hydrogen treated
1% - 5% Carbon dioxide
It further lists flammability and effects to the human skin when repeatedly exposed to WD-40 as risks when using WD-40.

[ShaneJ]

WD-40 Ingredients (http://www.wd40.com/Brands/pdfs/msds-wd40_aerosol.us.pdf)

WD-40 is good for a whole lot of things, but I'd be careful putting it on a valuable instrument before making sure that it wouldn't eat into anything first. It's harmless for a lot things, but it'll sure clean and dissolve some things pretty fast. I'm not enough of a chemist to know exactly what it would work like a solvent on and what it wouldn't, but it'll sure get the road tar off your pickup in short order. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Paul Hostetter]

Indeed, the WD in WD-40 stands for "water displacement." It was originally intended for spraying engine parts, ignition wires in particular, to keep them from carrying electrical charges. Turns out it's useful for other things, most relating to rustproofing, but toxifying fingerboards shouldn't be one of them. Old folk BS dies hard though.

The WD-40 material safety sheet lists flammability and effects to the human skin when repeatedly exposed to WD-40 as risks when using WD-40. They recommend that nitrile gloves and safety glasses be used. Water is unsuitable for extinguishing burning WD-40. While its uses are many and varied, WD-40 should not be used as a general-purpose lubricant, as it dries very quickly and collects dust. This can result in serious damage to machinery and equipment designed for use with heavy oils when they are lubricated with lightweight WD-40.

I see no use for WD-40 anywhere in the world of music! In fact, I think it needs to be kept far away from instruments.

The main ingredient is Stoddard solvent (hydrogenated naphtha), not fish oil.

I know of people using it as a topical preparation for arthritis too. Ewww. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[ShaneJ]

I see no use for WD-40 anywhere in the world of music! In fact, I think it needs to be kept far away from instruments.
So using it on banjos is OK then, right? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[sunburst]

...25% Liquified petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant, carbon dioxide is used now to reduce considerable flammability)...
Yes, I had forgotten about that.
Many years ago when I was having engine trouble in my pickup truck, a mechanic said I could spray WD40 in the throttle body to see if I had spark. Seems you could use it as a starting fluid for stubborn engines. Well, between the last time he tried that and the time I tried it, they changed to CO2 which is definitely not a starting fluid. I spent years wondering why he told me to do that, and then I found out about the propellant change.

It still belongs in the drawer with the duct tape and the Vicegrips, but it doesn't do all the magic it used to.

[ShaneJ]

I started pickups, tractors, and irrigation wells MANY times using ether, but never WD-40. I don't know how I missed that one. Too late now, I guess. We bought ether by the case though. You could spray something down with WD-40 to clean the rust or whatever else off of it, and then spray it with ether to get the oil off (and get it dry very quickly). Distributor caps come to mind.

Ah...the goodledays. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Doug Edwards]

I managed a drug store for 22 years (before the Evil Empire bought the chain). I had people come in and swear it was the best thing for their arthritis. Then again, we're mostly rednecks down here.

[Paul Hostetter]

Come to think of it, I've sprayed WD-40 around engines and never had it blow up either. But I wouldn't dip bread in it, and I sure wouldn't smear it on my fingerboard!

[Antlurz]

In fact, back in the mid 80's, before the change in propellant, it was such a good engine starter, and had such a soft touch compared to some actual starting fluids that John Deere industrial engines came with directions to ONLY use WD-40 as a starting aid. It didn't make an engine bang and hammer when it ignited. I hated losing it as a tool for that purpose.

If you live in a wet area, I'd never be without a can in the trunk. What it will do when sprayed on an exposed, wet electrical system is unbelieveable.

Ron

[Deaf David]

I had heard that WD-40 was better than ether for starting engines but had never tried it until I ran out of ether. It does work and is not so dramatic an ignition.

I'd also been told it was good for cleaning things off linoleum floors that nothing else would take off. It does an incredible job at that. What I was NOT warned about was that it also makes the floor impossible to stand on!

Makes me wonder what it would do to a fretboard and strings. You might not be able to stop a slide up the neck and crash into the bridge. (Notify the insurance industry of this hazard and there will be warning labels against using WD-40 on the necks of stringed instruments.)

I buy WD-40 in large quantities for the farm but I think I'll stick to Fast Fret on my instruments.

[MikeB]

I figured someone else would surely pipe in with this one: I lived in Alaska for 25 years. For a long time, most fishing charter people sprayed WD-40 on bait and hooks when fishing for halibut. Maybe they still do. It never seemed to make much difference to me, but those guys fish every day, so there must have been something to it. Weird.

[BlueMountain]

A few years ago I toured the Martin factory in Nazareth, PA, and I was surprised to find the fretboard people squirting actual 3-in-1 oil from the standard little cans onto fretboards and wiping them down. That's what they are using to oil them! Seems to me that in Pennsylvania they should be using Quaker State!

[steve V. johnson]

It's good stuff, and yes, I'm familiar with the commercial fisheries use (from the Fla Keys, many lifetimes ago...). My dad used it for carburetor encouragement way back when, too.

It has no place inside an audio recording studio, tho. Get that stuff OUTTA here!! In the analog tape days it was death and if it gets inside some delicate audio gear it takes forever to get out.

I would think that that naphtha would eat some wood finishes right now. No?

stv

[Bill Snyder]

I would think that that naphtha would eat some wood finishes right now. #No?

stv
I think that would probably be No.

[Desert Rose]

Ive mentioned this on the internet many times but never here

Wd 40 is COMPLETELY HARMLESS to fingerboards plastic and most all finishes ( dont know about varnish), but nitro lacquer urethane and polyester I do know

I say this with total and complete confidense because of experience

I know for a fact that a considerable number of factories worldwiode use both WD 40 and or CRC Kure for fingerboard treatment daily on upwards of 300 to 400 instuments and have done this for close to three decades with NOT ONE instrument ever experiencing a problemm, this concerns the biggest brand names in the world, who do nothing unless its tested and problem free

ANY comments to the contrary or alluding to problems without HARD facts are urban legend, and thats all Ive heard for decades is urban legend http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

Scott

[Soupy1957]

This topic has been covered before, and I recall the recommendation of THIS product:

http://www.gerlitzusa.com/

[Jim Hilburn]

I guess I always assumed WD had silicone in it. Learn something new every day on the Cafe.

[Deaf David]

As for the fishing bait, I had never heard of using WD-40 but my grandfather always swore that spitting tobacco juice on the bait would make the catfish bite when they otherwise wouldn't be interested.

Whether that works or not, I definitely would NOT endorse spitting tobacco juice on the fretboard of your instrument. Maybe as a stain for the wood during construction... Nah. Never mind.

[Sitka]

Isn't that what a tobacco finish is? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Micah

[mandroid]

WD .. It's used in the many a gallon , if you overrun the runway and end up in Jamaica Bay, to hose out your million dollar Pratt and Whitney or Rolls Royce jet engines. consumer packaging an afterthought, I suspect..