Instead of WD-40, can you use vegetable/cooking oil on rusty meta skateboard parts?

Question

skateboard

metal

rust

oil

vegetable oil

cooking oil

WD-40

Answer 1

There is much debate over whether grease or oil make a better lubricant.

But like many things in life, better is a subjective word. And what works better for one person, isn't always the case for another.

Racers consider oil or a synthetic lubricant better for speed. But, its viscosity breaks down faster. You have to lube more often to keep up on its lubricating ability.

Grease has the added benefit of protecting the surface of your ball bearings in addition to lubrication, so your bearings will need to be cleaned less often. Because the grease is thicker than oil, it does make the bearing a tiny bit slower........

Answer 2

sure it might be a little messy but you could use it

Answer 3

You could, but all types of cooking oil eventually become thick, collect dust and dirt, and may contribute to worse lubrication in the long run. If it's all you have access to, it's better than nothing--for today. Is it possible to wash the metal parts in soapy hot water later, to remove all traces of cooking oil? If so, you should be okay.

I'd go after those rusty parts with a wire brush, then WD-40, though, if possible.

Answer 4

Yes, but I would not recommend it. Lithium grease lubes moving parts better.

Answer 5

Vegetable oil tends to evaporate and leaves a sticky residue over time.  It would cause the bearings in your wheels to slow down and the wheels wouldn't turn freely.

Answer 6

in the old days they used to use what was known as "axle grease" a similar substance to animal fat (lard) so you could try that as a stopgap i suppose but i wouldnt recommend using it all the time

Answer 7

Yeah I guess that would work,lol

Answer 8

Repeat after me:

WD-40 IS NOT A LUBRICANT!

WD-40 IS NOT A LUBRICANT!

WD-40 IS NOT A LUBRICANT!

WD-40 IS NOT A LUBRICANT!

WD-40 IS NOT A LUBRICANT!

Go buy some Tri-Flow at a bicycle shop instead.

Answer 9

bikernoj is absolutely right. WD-40 is the opposite of oil. WD-40 REMOVES oil. It is a cleaning agent. People think it is oil because metal things stop squeaking after they use it, but it really just stops squeaking because it is now clean metal.

What you really want to do is use the WD-40 to clean the skateboard parts. Once the metal parts have had a chance to dry, you then use oil to lubricate everything.

Vegetable oil will probably work just fine, unless your goal is "performance" in which case you want to use the proper type of oil. Your local bike shop should be able to tell you what type of oil would be optimal.