WD-40
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WD-40 (Water Displacement, 40th formula) is an American manufacturer and the trademark of a penetrating oil manufactured by the WD-40 Company based in San Diego, California.<ref name="latimes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Its formula was invented for the Rocket Chemical Company in 1953, before it was renamed to the WD-40 Company. It became available as a commercialized product in 1961.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It acts as a lubricant, rust preventive, penetrant and moisture displacer. There are specialized products that perform better than WD-40 in many of these uses, but WD-40's flexibility has given it fame as a jack of all trades.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
It is a successful product to this day, with steady growth in net income from $27 million in 2008 to $70.2 million in 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2014, it was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.<ref>Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor (2006).These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Donning Co. Publishers, Template:ISBN.</ref>
HistoryEdit
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.<ref name=BarryObit/>
According to Iris Engstrand, a historian of San Diego and California history at the University of San Diego, Iver Norman Lawson invented the formula,<ref name=Engstrand2014>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Mercer2011">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=BarryObit>Template:Cite news</ref> "WD-40" is abbreviated from the term "Water Displacement, 40th formula",<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> suggesting it was the result of the 40th attempt to create the product.<ref name="latimes"/> 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.<ref name="aboutus">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="barrynytobit"/> 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<ref name="latimes"/> and was made available to consumers in San Diego in 1958.<ref name="aboutus"/>
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 (Template:Inflation). It was Norman Larsen, president of the company, who had the idea of packaging it in aerosol cans and marketed it in this way.<ref name=Engstrand2014/>
It was written up as a new consumer product in 1961.<ref>Changing Times (pre-1986) 15.5 (May 1, 1961): p. 36.</ref> 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.<ref name=AEAT1965>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref name=AEAT1965/> By 1969 WD-40 was being marketed to farmers and mechanics in England.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1973, WD-40 Company, Inc., went public with its first stock offering. Its NASDAQ stock symbol is (Nasdaq: WDFC).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
FormulationEdit
WD-40's formula is a trade secret.<ref name="explore">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The original copy of the formula was moved to a secure bank vault in San Diego in 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref> To avoid disclosing its composition, the product was not patented in 1953, and the window of opportunity for patenting it has long since closed.<ref name="barrynytobit">Template:Cite news</ref>
WD-40's main ingredients as supplied in aerosol cans, according to the US material safety data sheet information,<ref name=SDS>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and with the CAS numbers interpreted:<ref name=CAS >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 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<ref name=SDSUK >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is stated according to the REACH regulations:
- 60–80% hydrocarbons C9 – C11 n-alkanes, iso-alkanes, cyclics <2% aromatics
- 1–5% carbon dioxide
The Australian formulation<ref name=SDSAUS >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 C9 to C14 alkanes and mineral oil.<ref name=Wired>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
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