Penetrating Oil Showdown....Which is the Best?

[reactor]

For those of you unfamiliar with "Project Farm" videos, they are of a man who tests various consumer products, somewhat of a one man Consumer Reports. There are others who do this as well, but Project Farms tests are consistently based on reproducible tests.

Here is the first phase of penetrating oil/lubricants. There is a part two, which I will post later that tests additional brands. Part 3 is a showdown of the top two winners of the previous tests.

BTW, As some have previously mentioned, WD-40 is technically not a penetrating oil (he calls them penetrating "fluids,") but it is included in his test/review.[this post was last edited: 8/6/2024-21:42]

project farms penetrating oils - Search Videos

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[robbinsandmyers]

Many years ago I started out with Liquid Wrench I bought at the auto parts store. It worked well I thought until I started working in the truck/trailer industry and we had a Ryder Truck Rental shop around the corner. One day a tech brought me over some Howes penetrating oil in a pump sprayer. They bought it in 55 gallon drums. That was the best stuff I used until I got turned on to PB'laster when it was made by the William K. Westley Co before they sold out. That was my go to until a friend that works at Pratt & Whitney started bringing me home cans of Knock Er Loose by CRC and that became my favorite. Then I was working at a John Deere dealer after switching careers to lawn & garden repair when the service manager brought in a small 8oz squeeze can of Kroil with a pin point nozzle his brother gave him to clean his guns with but he didnt like the smell so he gave it to us. I immediately discovered a little goes a long way and I've done some incredible things with that stuff over the years that was very rusty. I also use it to drill holes in steel to keep the bit cool and also to tap new threads. I was buying the same containers off eBay until the stuff started to get very expensive a few years ago so I stocked up on a dozen cans once when a seller had them crazy cheap. Luckily my friend at Pratt started supplying me with Aero Kroil cans he gets so Ive been using those. I know it didnt come out on top in those tests but Im sure gonna stick with it, even though I can still get the Knock Er Loose for free as well. As far as WD40 goes its great for wet ignitions and thats all I use it for. Thats all its really good for with all the other options out there.

 

[thatwasherguy]

I’be been a believer in liquid wrench…

Ever since I used it to free up a pair of needle nosed pliers about five years ago. An HVAC tech left them at our house, and we found them about a month later, after having sat out in the rain and rusted just about completely solid. After leaving them in the garage to marinate for about a year, I re-discovered them when I needed a set of pliers, and couldn’t find my regular ones. By this point, I could only get them to move to two positions; almost completely closed and almost completely open, no middle ground. As soon as I sprayed the joint with the liquid wrench, it freed up. I continue to use those pliers to this day, and haven’t had any issues with the joint since.
Thatwasherguy.

 

[d-jones]

Kroil is used throughout the aviation industry as is a product called Mouse Milk. We always seem to have both around the shop and both work very well as long as one is patient enough to let them do their job and seep in for a while.

 

[kalanikaau1]

My go to

penetrants are either Kroil or Corrosion Block, Kroil however does have an odor which permeates just about everything around it.

Just like opening a container of Never Seize, suddenly everything in it's vicinity will have the tell-tale silvery appearance on it...lol

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Never Seize

Man that shitte is brutal. I dont care how careful I am with it, how little I use,  or how much I wipe the bottle off the stuff is everywhere. Its just like working with pizza dough. It'll drive you crazy at times and can sense fear.

 

[gyrafoam]

Zoom-Spout

Remains my go-to. I have had consistently good results over the years.

 

[qsd-dan]

Zoomspout turbine oil acts as a penetrating oil??

Huh...I'll have to give that a try.

 

[eronie]

Theres a guy on UTube that sweres by crayons...

 

[gyrafoam]

QSD-DAN------

Ok, ok, so I am not a professional mechanic. I use PBlaster and Zoomspout for everything. They work. Something must penetrate!

 

[statomatic]

Banned the wd40 ten years ago, never unblocked any bolts with that useless product.
Now I use a 50/50 blend of acetone and ATF Dexron II, cheap and easy to make and always a success.

 

[jetcone]

A home made blend

Transmission fluid mixed 50/50 with Acetone ! Boy does that penetrate and free things up !! It went to far the first time into the windings of an old solenoid. Live and learn I say.

 

 

[turbokinetic]

Penetrant oils...

I think the best way to judge these is like this..... the gnarlier they smell and the more high-contrast the printing on the can - the better they work! Or that is how the marketing people would lead you to believe. 

 

One fallacy of much of this testing is judging all of the products by "rust."  This isn't nearly the only thing which gums up mechanisms. Rust is not soluble in any of these so they will have no ability to dissolve it into solution. In my opinion, based on working on engines, electric motors, fridges, mowers, cars, and virtually anything old and mechanical.... they all work to some degree. The chance of success or failure depends on the technique and tools used by the person attempting the disassembly; far more than it depends on the type of penetrating oil. 

 

[swestoyz]

"The chance of success or failure depends on the technique and tools used by the person attempting the disassembly"

Dave, I couldn't have said it better myself. When a penetrating oil is used for disassembly, I often think of it more as a temporary lubricant for the exposed threads, more than the oil attempting to get past the first round of threads within the tapped section or nut.

Also, where applicable, heat via a torch is king.

Ben