Date:         Thu, 27 Jul 1995 10:35:00 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@PO2.GI.COM>
Subject:      Re: "dry" door locks



>> >the door locks on my bus feel "dry" when I turn the key in them.  They
>> >work fine, just don't feel smooth.  What can I squirt in them to 
lubricate?
>>
>> WD-40 was designed, formulated, manufactured, made, constructed,
>> perfected, and maybe blessed by the Lord Himself for this application.
>
>Not to poo-poo any recommendations from "the man" :), but I'd highly
>recommend
>sticking with the earlier posts of the graphite powder. Liquid lubricants,
>such
>as WD-40, tend to collect dust and grime and gum up over the long haul.

Well, I was maybe exaggerating a _little_ with that last, divine 
reference...
but I have used WD-40 on lots of different locks (car doors, house doors,
padlocks, etc.) for _many_ years, and have never had to shoot any of them
twice.

I'm certainly not a locksmith, but my experience has been that, WD-40
contains solvents (I believe carbon tetrachloride is one of them), that
will un-gunk and wash clean the lock mechanism in a few seconds. Then
it leaves a very light lubricant, which for me has lasted for years. I
have also tried graphite, which hasn't done as good a job IMHO as WD-40.

If a lock of mine does gum up years after an application of WD-40 (has
never happened yet to me), I'll grab the trusty ol' can, and give it
another one-second shot, which will set me for the next X years!

In case you all haven't noticed, I think WD-40 is great stuff.

I'm not affiliated with WD-40 Company, and get no benefits from praising
it to the skies the way I do. If anyone out there was sufficiently
mendacious to think I do, with no reason to so believe, they should
get a life ASAP.

 -Steve Maher     smaher@gi.com     '71 VW Transporter with three
                                    smoooooth locks, and one that's
                                    broken probably because the previous
                                    owner didn't use WD-40 on it-- others
                                    were bone dry 'till I rescued my baby