WD-40

Sources credit different people with inventing WD-40 formula in 1953 as part of the Rocket Chemical Company (later renamed to the WD-40 Company), in San Diego, California; the formula was kept as a trade secret and was never patented.

According to Iris Engstrand, a historian of San Diego and California history at the University of San Diego, Iver Norman Lawson invented the formula,{{cite journal|last1=Engstrand|first1=Iris H.W.|title=WD-40: San Diego's Marketing Miracle|journal=The Journal of San Diego History|date=Fall 2014|volume=60|issue=4|pages=253–270|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/sites/default/files/journal/v60-4/v60-4engstrand.pdf|access-date=March 7, 2017|archive-date=December 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222232703/https://sandiegohistory.org/sites/default/files/journal/v60-4/v60-4engstrand.pdf|url-status=live}} while the WD-40 company website and other books and newspapers credit Norman B. Larsen. According to Engstrand, "(Iver Norman) Lawson was acknowledged at the time, but his name later became confused with company president Norman B. Larsen."{{cite web|title=WD-40 History – History and Timeline|url=https://wd40.com/cool-stuff/history|publisher=WD-40 Company|access-date=April 10, 2017|language=en|archive-date=February 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210000427/https://wd40.com/cool-stuff/history|url-status=live}}{{cite book

|author=Bobby Mercer|title=ManVentions: From Cruise Control to Cordless Drills – Inventions Men Can't Live Without|url=https://archive.org/details/manventionsfromc0000merc|url-access=registration|access-date=June 28, 2013|year=2011 |publisher=Adams Media |isbn=978-1-4405-1075-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/manventionsfromc0000merc/page/181 181]–

}}{{cite news|last1=Martin|first1=Douglas|title=Obituary: John Barry, Popularizer of WD-40, Dies at 84|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/business/22barry1.html|work=The New York Times|date=July 22, 2009|access-date=February 26, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218043350/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/business/22barry1.html|url-status=live}} "WD-40" is abbreviated from the term "Water Displacement, 40th formula",{{Cite web|url=https://www.wd40.com/history/|title=WD-40 History | Learn the Stories Behind the WD-40 Brand | WD-40|website=www.wd40.com|access-date=November 7, 2020|archive-date=December 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209024004/https://www.wd40.com/history/|url-status=live}} suggesting it was the result of the 40th attempt to create the product. The spray, composed of various hydrocarbons, was originally designed to be used by Convair to protect the outer skin of the Atlas missile from rust and corrosion.{{cite web |title=Our History |publisher=WD-40 |url=http://www.wd40.com/about-us/history/ |access-date=April 20, 2011 |archive-date=June 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623152408/http://wd40.com/about-us/history/ |url-status=live }} This outer skin also functioned as the outer wall of the missile's delicate balloon tanks. WD-40 was later found to have many household uses and was made available to consumers in San Diego in 1958.

In Engstrand's account, it was Iver Norman Lawson who came up with the water-displacing mixture after working at home and turned it over to the Rocket Chemical Company for the sum of $500 ({{Inflation|US|500|1953|fmt=eq|r=-2}}). It was Norman Larsen, president of the company, who had the idea of packaging it in aerosol cans and marketed it in this way.

It was written up as a new consumer product in 1961.Changing Times (pre-1986) 15.5 (May 1, 1961): p. 36. By 1965 it was being used by airlines including Delta and United; United, for example, was using it on fixed and movable joints of their DC-8 and Boeing 720s in maintenance and overhaul.{{cite journal|title=New Materials|journal=Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology|date=May 1965|volume=37|issue=5|pages=165|doi=10.1108/eb034021}} At that time, airlines were using a variant called WD-60 to clean turbines, removing light rust from control lines, and when handling or storing metal parts. By 1969 WD-40 was being marketed to farmers and mechanics in England.{{cite news|title=New on the Market|work=Farm & Country |location=London|date=January 1969|page=72}} In 1973, WD-40 Company, Inc., went public with its first stock offering. Its NASDAQ stock symbol is ({{NASDAQ|WDFC}}).{{cite web

|title=History

|work=WD-40

|url=https://wd40.co.uk/about-us/

|date=January 2017

|access-date=February 18, 2020

|archive-date=February 18, 2020

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218205052/https://wd40.co.uk/about-us/

|url-status=live

}}

WD-40's formula is a trade secret.{{cite web |title=Explore myths, legends and fun facts |url=https://www.wd40.com/myths-legends-fun-facts/ |publisher=WD-40 |access-date=16 March 2023 |date=2023 |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316220852/https://www.wd40.com/myths-legends-fun-facts/ |url-status=live }} The original copy of the formula was moved to a secure bank vault in San Diego in 2018.{{Cite web |date=2018-09-14 |title=WD-40 Company Enlists Armoured Security to Move Top-Secret Formula |url=https://wd40.co.uk/news-and-events/wd-40-enlists-armoured-security-to-move-top-secret-formula/ |access-date=2020-12-04 |website=WD-40 UK |language=en-GB}}{{dead link|date=April 2023}} To avoid disclosing its composition, the product was not patented in 1953, and the window of opportunity for patenting it has long since closed.{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Douglas |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/business/22barry1.html |title=John S. Barry, Main Force Behind WD-40, Dies at 84 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 22, 2009 |access-date=February 26, 2017 |archive-date=February 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218043350/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/business/22barry1.html |url-status=live }}

WD-40's main ingredients as supplied in aerosol cans, according to the US material safety data sheet information,{{cite web |url=https://files.wd40.com/pdf/sds/mup/wd-40-multi-use-product-aerosol-low-voc-sds-us-ghs.pdf |title=SDSUSA |date=March 5, 2019 |website=www.wd40.com |access-date=February 17, 2020 |archive-date=September 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120911172324/http://www.wd40company.com/files/pdf/msds-wd494716385.pdf |url-status=live }} and with the CAS numbers interpreted:{{cite web |url=https://chem.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/ |title=ChemIDplus |website=chem.nlm.nih.gov |access-date=February 17, 2020}}

• 45–50% low vapor pressure aliphatic hydrocarbon (isoparaffin)
• <35% petroleum base oil (non-hazardous heavy paraffins)
• <25% aliphatic hydrocarbons (same CAS number as the first item, but flammable)
• 2–3% carbon dioxide (propellant)

The European formulation{{cite web |url=https://wd40.co.uk/data-sheets/#wd-40-multi-use-product |title=WD-40® Multi-Use Product |date=March 7, 2017 |website=wd40.co.uk |access-date=February 17, 2020 |archive-date=February 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218205111/https://wd40.co.uk/data-sheets/#wd-40-multi-use-product |url-status=live }} is stated according to the REACH regulations:

• 60–80% hydrocarbons C{{sub|9}} – C{{sub|11}} n-alkanes, iso-alkanes, cyclics <2% aromatics
• 1–5% carbon dioxide

The Australian formulation{{cite web |url=https://cdn.wd40.com.au/wd-40/images/2019/07/31202731/WD-40-Aerosol-AUNZ-GHS-SDS-5-Jul-18.pdf |title=WD-40® Multi-Use Product |date=July 5, 2018 |website=wd40.com.au |access-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813034755/https://cdn.wd40.com.au/wd-40/images/2019/07/31202731/WD-40-Aerosol-AUNZ-GHS-SDS-5-Jul-18.pdf |url-status=live }} is stated:

• 50–60% naphtha (petroleum), hydrotreated heavy
• <25% petroleum base oils
• <10% naphtha (petroleum), hydrodesulfurized heavy (contains: 1,2,4-trimethyl benzene, 1,3,5-trimethyl benzene, xylene, mixed isomers)
• 2–4% carbon dioxide

In 2009, Wired published an article with the results of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry tests on WD-40, showing that the principal components were C{{sub|9}} to C{{sub|14}} alkanes and mineral oil.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/st_whatsinside |title=What's Inside WD-40? Superlube's Secret Sauce |last=Di Justo |first=Patrick |date=April 20, 2009 |magazine=Wired |access-date=April 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119014037/http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/st_whatsinside |archive-date=January 19, 2014}}

• Ballistol

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website|https://www.wd40.com/}}
• [https://www.wd40company.com/partners-suppliers/msds-sds/ WD-40 Safety Data Sheet]
• [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/household-uses-for-wd-40/ WD-40 uses], by Snopes.com

Category:American brands

Category:American inventions

Category:Brand name materials

Category:Petroleum based lubricants

Category:Products introduced in 1953

Category:Trade secrets