valley views Water Displacement 40th Formula

Whenbrowsing products sold in hardware aisles, nothing is as universally recognizable as WD-40. The distinctive yellow and blue cans are wildly associated with mechanics, handyman repair, and general fixing. Used for everything from loosening old bolts to fishing lure preparation, there seems there is scarcely a problem that someone hasn’t tried spraying some WD-40 on. With a never-ending list of potential uses for the odd-smelling chemical, one must wonder how it came to be.

The story of WD-40 beings in the early 1950s in southern California. A small aerospace company called the “Rocket Chemical Company” based out of San Diego was attempting to create a product to solve the issue of rust & corrosion, specifically for the Atlas Missiles, the first ever functional ICBMs. Rust was a huge problem for the industry at the time but would eventually be solved by a series of material science breakthroughs in areas such as metallurgy, paint and coatings, and synthetic materials. After a series of attempted formulations of this chemical rust inhibitor, the Rocket Chemical Company eventually reached its 40th attempted formula in 1953. This formulation combined a special set of solvents and corrosion inhibitors and suspended them in a petroleum-based oil. Thus, the new substance was given the affectionate name “Water Displacement, 40th Formula” or “WD-40” for short. Upon testing the substance on metal surfaces, it was discovered to be incredibly effective at repelling water, in addition, being non-conductive, WD-40 could be utilized around sensitive electronic components. Furthermore, the petroleum-based oil gave the formula excellent lubrication properties as well.

After initially selling the formula for use in in-