In 1958 the Rocket Chemical Company of San Diego, California succeeded in its 40th attempt to come up with a product that would prevent rust and corrosion on aircraft.

The name “WD-40” stands for water displacement, formula 40. Its first application came as a coating for the Atlas missiles made by Convair in the 1950s, and credit for the invention goes to Norm Larsen, the founder of Rocket Chemical Company.

WD-40 was later found to have many household uses (lubrication, rust prevention, moisture displacement) and was made available to consumers as a commercial product in 1961.

WD-40 is a global success story and much loved product to this day.

WD-40's versatility has given it fame as a jack of all trades, and indeed a global fan club of users has documented more than 2,000 situations where it has proved to be useful. You can browse that list HERE.

Some of the advertising over the years has been of somewhat questionable taste, like this ad copy from the 1960s:

“Do you have TIGHT NUTS or A RUSTY TOOL? Then use WD-40 in the MAN SIZE PRESSURE PACK. STANDS 9” HIGH, 1 1/2 DIAM. (COMPLETE WITH RED KNOB)”.

The ad goes on to double down on the double entendre, but we will spare you from any more of the details.

Also, a 1993 story in the Weekly World News claiming that a squirt of WD-40 can cure arthritis is obviously not the case, but maybe the inspiration for the starring role of Windex in the 2002 film My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Maybe.

WD-40's formula is a trade secret and has not changed over the years.The original copy of the formula was moved to a secure bank vault in San Diego in 2018. To avoid disclosing its composition, the product was not patented in 1953, and the window of opportunity for patenting it has long since closed. In 2009, Wired magazine published an article with the results of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry tests on WD-40, showing that the principal components were mineral oil, hydrocarbons and a range of different alkanes.

WD-40 is often paired lyrically with duct tape, another jack of all trades; and there’s even a meme for that … a flowchart that prescribes WD-40 for things that don’t move but should, and duct tape for things that move but shouldn’t. [Ed: Engineers aren’t known for their nuanced humour.]

Also of note, WD-40 has made its way into a bewildering number of mostly-country songs. In our opinion the pick of the bunch is the song “WD-40” by a country group called Muscadine Bloodline. Check out these chorus lyrics:

“Thought that was all I needed till you came around,
To loosen things up and hold them down,
But the taste of your kiss on my lips always working for me.
Girl you know your love can fix any thing,
Like duct tape and WD-40.”

… and you can listen to the whole dang thing HERE.

Story Idea: Darryl Nichols
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References

wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40
tedium.co/2021/11/26/wd-40-chemical-history
wd40.com
wired.com/2009/04/st-whatsinside-6

Images

1. WD-40
2. Norm Larson, founder of Rocket Chemical Company
3. Rocket Chemical Company in the 1960s
4. Sexually implicit WD-40 print ad from the 1960s
5. Housewives love WD-40
6. Video: WD-40 ad From 1977
7. WD-40 ad includes a nod to Rosie the Riveter. Credit: Tanya Grover
8. List of 2000+ Uses
9. Weekly World News, 1993
10. Engineering flowchart meme
11. Video: WD-40 by Muscadine Bloodline
12. Selection of WD-40 knockoffs: BS-40, Blyat-40, IVVD-40, and more …