Here’s Why WD-40 is Flying Off the Shelves in Montana

WD-40 is something just about all of us have.

Perhaps you have a can or two in the garage, your junk drawer, a toolbox, or under the kitchen sink next to your cleaning supplies. If you don't use WD-40, I'm sure your dad or grandpa swore by the stuff.

According to the company website, WD-40 has an interesting reason for its name. WD stands for "water displacing" and the 40 represents the company's 40th recipe for the formula. The first 39 formulas were garbage, I guess. They write,

Working in a small lab in San Diego, California, it took them 40 attempts to get the water displacing formula worked out. But they must have been really good, because the original secret formula for WD-40® Multi-Use Product -which stands for Water Displacement perfected on the 40th try—is still in use today.

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It was meant for missiles.

Like many innovations that arose during and after World War II, WD-40 was a product designed for the US military. The San Diego Air and Space Museum notes,

WD-40 was invented in San Diego in 1953 as a rust-prevention solvent for Atlas missile outer skins. A chemist at the Rocket Chemical Company created a compound that would prevent rust and corrosion on the Atlas.

They add that the product made history again in 1964 when NASA used WD-40 on Friendship VII, in which astronaut John Glenn circled the Earth.

Spray WD-40 on your pumpkins?

This "hack" has been making the rounds on the internet this year. People swear that spraying a light coating of WD-40 on your carved pumpkins will help them last longer. The company approves of the trick. They write,

WD-40 can be used to repel insects from your pumpkins and keep your pumpkins fresher for longer.

Just spray them down with a light coating. Make sure you do not have an open flame nearby while doing so. Other uses for the classic lubricant include removing gum from carpet, removing crayon marks from walls, preventing dirt from sticking on athletic cleats, conditioning baseball gloves, and of course getting rid of annoying squeaks on hinges and doors.

Here's a wild WD-40 tip for dog poop.

One of our dogs thinks it's fun to poop in the gravel right next to the door of my shed. I read somewhere that dogs don't like the scent of WD-40 and will avoid it. So I sprayed down the gravel area with a generous spray of WD-40.  Guess what? My dog doesn't poop there anymore. It totally works. It doesn't last forever; heavy rain will eventually wash it away. And I wouldn't recommend spraying it on grass or in a vegetable garden. Otherwise, if you have a pet pooping somewhere you don't want them to, give WD-40 a shot.

H/T Clay Moden WBLK