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Penetrating Oil PSA

J

JCH13

Diamond Member
I know I've been banging the 'Kroil or ATF+Aceton drum' for quite some time. All that is based off of is an old somewhat unscientific test from a machinist magazine and personal experience. While these are relatively good sources, here is a more scientific article and experiment testing various penetrating oil combinations:

https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/2012/08/14/how_to_make_penetrating_oil.html

The revelation that vegtable oil + acetone is just as good as ATF is stunning. Once the acetone evaporates you're left with a (probably) carcinogen-free oil that is very inexpensive to mix up. Sounds like a win-win to me! Once my ATF is used up I will be starting to use this in my garage.
 
Interesting. I'm a PB Blaster kind of guy because it just plain works. Hard to find Kroil and its more expensive than PB Blaster and I'm not convinced it works any better.

EDIT: Wish they hadn't used WD40 as the baseline penetrant because while it is, its a poor one.
 
I use Liquid Wrench or something equivalent. I think I paid $3 for a can I've had for 5 years. Isn't that cheap enough? 🙂
 
slag said:
Interesting. I'm a PB Blaster kind of guy because it just plain works. Hard to find Kroil and its more expensive than PB Blaster and I'm not convinced it works any better.

EDIT: Wish they hadn't used WD40 as the baseline penetrant because while it is, its a poor one.
Click to expand...

PB Blaster is sad face. I've always had better luck with Kroil or ATF+acetone. See below...

WD40 is a piss-poor penetrating oil, especially because it's meant to displace water, not penetrate. Study was done by a freshman design class at an engineering college, it happens.

SpatiallyAware said:
WD40 is a terrible penetrating oil for stuck bolts.


I'd like to see these results duplicated using pb blaster.
Click to expand...

The older similar test with conventional penetrating oils had these results:

LBS actually means ft*lbs, but hey...

WD40...................238 LBS
PB Blaster ............214 LBS
Liquid Wrench.......127 LBS
Kano Kroil.............106 LBS
ATF -Acetone 50/50 mix ...53 lbs (Home brew)

Since I use so much penetrating oil (hooray New England!) I've read up a lot on what seems to work well and what doesn't and am glad I've found something even cheaper. What I've read (universally) is that people who prefer PB blaster have never used Kroil. People who prefer something else to Kroil have their own home-brew formula that they swear is better than anything else (and some of these recipes might be awesome). I currently use ATF+Acetone or ATF+Seafoam since either one is way cheaper than Kroil at $60/gallon or whatever it is these days.

Edit: changed 'not glad' to 'glad' IDK WTF I was thinking...
 
Last edited:
JCH13 said:
PB Blaster is sad face. I've always had better luck with Kroil or ATF+acetone. See below...

WD40 is a piss-poor penetrating oil, especially because it's meant to displace water, not penetrate. Study was done by a freshman design class at an engineering college, it happens.



The older similar test with conventional penetrating oils had these results:

LBS actually means ft*lbs, but hey...

WD40...................238 LBS
PB Blaster ............214 LBS
Liquid Wrench.......127 LBS
Kano Kroil.............106 LBS
ATF -Acetone 50/50 mix ...53 lbs (Home brew)

Since I use so much penetrating oil (hooray New England!) I've read up a lot on what seems to work well and what doesn't and am not glad I've found something even cheaper. What I've read (universally) is that people who prefer PB blaster have never used Kroil. People who prefer something else to Kroil have their own home-brew formula that they swear is better than anything else (and some of these recipes might be awesome). I currently use ATF+Acetone or ATF+Seafoam since either one is way cheaper than Kroil at $60/gallon or whatever it is these days.
Click to expand...

thanks
 
Crap. Coulda used that last weekend when the battery box bolt snapped on me. Real PITA to get out. All I had handy was WD40. Looks like I would have been better off just pissing on it.

Thank you for the tip!
 
I usually use liquid wrench, nice to see where it sits.
Don't use enough to make my own however good score for those that use a bunch
 
Wouldn't the vegetable oil eventually go rancid?

I wonder how this would work with mineral oil or the cheapest automotive oil (ATF, engine oil, etc.) instead. Provided, mineral oil is more expensive than vegetable oil, but something about having a bunch of crap go rancid on the bottom of my car doesn't sound appealing.

Still, great to see results like this. I've gone through a lot of penetrating oils lately (both PB Blaster and Liquid Wrench) and am tired of spending the cash on it. I think I'll mix something like this up soon.
 
I hadn't thought about the oil going rancid. Perhaps one could mix in a little ATF or something with the vegetable oil and acetone to keep anything from growing in it.

I think I need to do some experiments...
 
The problem with liquid wrench is that it does not penetrate. It will not soak in like PB Blaster does. I'm out in the garage every weekend and many weeknights working on things. I go through a can of pb blaster probably every few weeks. I will pick up a can of Kroil this weekend and try it out. I don't have a metal dispenser to use ATF and acetone or I'd try it. I know it would eat up a plastic squirt bottle.
 
slag said:
I don't have a metal dispenser to use ATF and acetone or I'd try it. I know it would eat up a plastic squirt bottle.
Click to expand...

Why would it eat a plastic bottle? ATF, acetone, and veggie oil all ship in plastic containers. Is there some sort of reaction when combined?
 
slag said:
The problem with liquid wrench is that it does not penetrate. It will not soak in like PB Blaster does. I'm out in the garage every weekend and many weeknights working on things. I go through a can of pb blaster probably every few weeks. I will pick up a can of Kroil this weekend and try it out. I don't have a metal dispenser to use ATF and acetone or I'd try it. I know it would eat up a plastic squirt bottle.
Click to expand...

I use my mixture in a plastic squirt bottle I got for a buck or two at HD. This one, I think: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-32-oz-All-Purpose-Spray-Bottle-F80HD24/202820625#specifications

Try to get an HDPE (high-density polyethylene) bottle, not PP (polypropylene) or another shittier plastic. HDPE, or just PE, stands up well to many, many chemicals.
 
JCH13 said:
I use my mixture in a plastic squirt bottle I got for a buck or two at HD. This one, I think: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-32-oz-All-Purpose-Spray-Bottle-F80HD24/202820625#specifications

Try to get an HDPE (high-density polyethylene) bottle, not PP (polypropylene) or another shittier plastic. HDPE, or just PE, stands up well to many, many chemicals.
Click to expand...
Lol. I was about to ask what spray bottle would one use.

Its cheap to try. I rarely use pb blaster, even tho I should be using a ton of it. Living in the Midwest rust belt sucks
 
T2urtle said:
Lol. I was about to ask what spray bottle would one use.

Its cheap to try. I rarely use pb blaster, even tho I should be using a ton of it. Living in the Midwest rust belt sucks
Click to expand...

I think (if I were to do it again and not just buy the cheapest, easiest, thing) that I would get a lab style squirt bottle:

lab-btl3.jpg


A lot less over-spray, thus a much more efficient use of whatever penetrating oil you've got.
 
JCH13 said:
I think (if I were to do it again and not just buy the cheapest, easiest, thing) that I would get a lab style squirt bottle:

lab-btl3.jpg


A lot less over-spray, thus a much more efficient use of whatever penetrating oil you've got.
Click to expand...
I was thinking a small ketchup bottle, like old school red/yellow ketchup/mustard bottles. Since it has a fine tip or we can make it so. A few drops will do but its not sealed.
 
monkeydelmagico said:
Why would it eat a plastic bottle? ATF, acetone, and veggie oil all ship in plastic containers. Is there some sort of reaction when combined?
Click to expand...


Figured the acetone would eat the plastic. I can't put purple power in a plastic spray bottle without it breaking the sprayer.
 
When I was on my first (Navy) ship, we used oil of wintergreen. Got it from the medical section (guess it's used as a topical muscle relaxer), and it was thin enough to creep through rust that Kroil wasn't having any luck with.
 
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