February 5, 2010

WD-40 Blue Works - Review

For most of us, a can of WD-40 is all we need. It acts as a lubricant, a penetrant, a cleaner, and, for some, a deodorant. It's sort of a 'one can fits all' product. But for those who are really into their lubes, sprays, and foams, or for those rare occasions when the WD just won't cut it, WD-40 (the company, not the product) has just released a line of eight specialized items geared toward the heavy-duty and the hardcore, and, thankfully for us, they sent us a few cans to check out.

The new products are:

Industrial Grade Silicone

Industrial Grade High-Performance PTFE Lubricant

Industrial Grade Dry Lube PTFE Formula

Industrial Grade Multi-Purpose Lubricant

Industrial Grade White Lithium Grease

Industrial Grade Contact Cleaner

Industrial Grade Penetrant

Industrial Grade Degreaser

Reviewing things like this isn't easy. It takes too long and is too tedious to rust a couple bolt/nut combos together just to test out the Blue Works Penetrant against the leading brand. So we just put the cans on the shelf and used them as needed. Of the products, we tested out the Penetrant, the De-Greaser, the White Lithium Grease, and the Silicone.

The one we ended up using the most was the silicone, which had no issues assisting us with a gummed up slider and a couple sticky windows, as well as a few stuck wrenches. The White Lithium Grease, we put right in the truck (our old boss once said, "every old truck needs a can of white lithium grease under the driver's seat), and the penetrant did actually help loosen a rusty nut.

We liked the products and the cans have a cool look about them. The Blue Works website has a boatload of information on each one, including the MSDS sheets and scientific-sounding test results that firmly establish their dominance against other brands. We take a lot of those types of manufacturer's tests with a grain of salt, but WD-40 has a great reputation, so even if their products aren't 50 times better than the competition, they're at least 5 times better.

So now when WD-40 isn't doing the job or you're looking for something a little more specialized, you now have a place to go.

There's a boatload more information (including the MSDS sheets) over at blueworksbrand.com