Which Penetrating Oil is Best? Let's find out!
Why Hacker News recommends it
Cited as a hands-on comparison showing WD-40 is not the best penetrating oil.
What it is
Project Farm tests six penetrating oils, including WD-40, PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench and an ATF and acetone mix, on rusted bolts. Liquid Wrench placed first and the homemade mix second.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2020 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Cites potentialverand · 2020-03 · on “The History of WD-40”
Project Farm tested 7 penetrating oils. ATF/Acetone ranked 2nd place above many specifically designed fluids. [this video]
Cites SAI_Peregrinus · 2023-03 · on “Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying?”
WD-40 is a penetrating oil. It's pretty decent at that[1] and not badly priced. It's a pretty "middle of the road" product at its intended purpose: displacing water and rust to loosen stuck fasteners (and other items). [1] [this video]
Critical legitster · 2026-01 · on “People who know the formula for WD-40”
If it wasn't eminently obvious, most of these "secrecy" programs are marketing fluff. The actual ingredients are literally on the safety data sheet: [LINK] The company can brag that their formulation has a special blend of herbs and spices, but someone who wants to can obviously make their own special formulation and say that theirs is secret too. More importantly, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. And there is nothing particularly special about WD-40's formulation anymore. WD-40 consistently performs worse than nearly any other available penetrating oil. [this video] It's a terrible long term lubricant (because it's designed to evaporate, it actually concentrates gunk and grime). WD-40