What should I use to lubricate a rubik's cube?

Question

I have tried vaseline, which did work okay. It made the track smoother and less 'sticky', but not neccessarily fast.

I also tried silicone spray, which was a disaster! It ruined my cowboy's cube. It never dried, and was all greasy and just as sticky as before I applied it. And it ruined the stickers!

What do you use? I want something for speed cubing, and that won't ruin my stickers.

(My youtube solve http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfyew4XbDo) I'm using vaseline here, it looks really fast but that's thanks to my crappy camera.

Answer 1

A well known lubricant~Vasaline

Answer 2

HAHAHAH oh i love you rubiks cube competitors!

try actual lube

just dont tell anyone :) hehe

Answer 3

DO NOT USE WD-40.  IT EATS THE PLASTIC AWAY FROM YOUR CUBE.

My best advice is to use CRC Silicone spray.  If you only spray a little bit into the inside of the cube and constantly turn the cube for a minute or two, it won't stick and will turn very well.  It can be found in the automotive section at WalMart.  Trust me, if you keep turning it after you apply it, it will not stick together.  Also, if you only spray it on the inside of the cube then it will not ruin your stickers.

Vaseline works ok, but not as good as CRC.

Answer 4

I use ky jelly its water based so its better

Answer 5

Use the oil that is used for electric hair clippers.  It works and it has a pinpoint nozzle to get it to where you want it.

Answer 6

WD40 or 3 in 1 oil

Answer 7

wd 40 is a silicone spray but DONT USE IT. use crc heavy duty silicone instead

Answer 8

WD40

Answer 9

I'd try WD-40

Answer 10

Tri-flow.  It can be found at Home Depot, gun stores, probably better paint stores.  I don't know how it would affect the stickers, but the stuff is magic.  Comes in aerosol form.  

Keep away from WD-40, it is a solvent, not a lubricant.  NEVER use 3-in-1 oil, it gets sticky.  Possession of that stuff should be a Felony, it's horrible.

(Actually, the best thing to use is bear fat, but step 1 in that process is "find a bear".  :-)

Tyson reminded me that if you go to a hobby shop you can get bearing race oil, has the needle.  They sell it for slot cars and such.  That's what I use in my hair clippers.  Pretty refined stuff, should work great on plastic.

Answer 11

Surprisingly, they actually make Rubik's cube lube! Try Googling it.

Answer 12

WD-40!

WD-40 is a lubricating oil used for gears, door hinges, and whatever else you can find. As the saying goes, "if you don't want it to move, use duct tape; if you do, use WD40" :-)

It can be found at any hardware store and comes in both spray and nonspray form--I suggest the nonspray. It shouldn't ruin your stickers, you only need just a tiny bit in the cracks. It IS NOT sticky...I use it all the time on things I touch regularly.

Everyone usually has some...just ask the parents if they have any handy.

Answer 13

wd-40 ruins stickers. I think you should just get a life instead of playing witha rubiks cube.

Answer 14

Hey there!

If you want to lubricate your Rubik's cube, then you should lubricate it with silicone spray!!! It needs to be 100% silicone and not petrolem based!!

Do not lubricate your cube with vasline or petrolem jelly and also WD-40! Those lubricant will damage your cube really bad! WD-40 is a spray for lubricate metal stuff!

Vasline or petrolem jelly will make your cube really smooth when you lubricate it the first time, but after a couple months, it will eat your cube up or damage it!

Look at those video and you should know why!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZHzSF3M1...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0rjg7ckq...

I don't think both of the lubricant will damage your stickers, but vasline do damage your cube! The stickers will start you peel off after you play it for a long time!

If its not PVC stickers then it should peel off really quickly but if it is then it should stay there for a pretty long time!

ps: The silicone spray will dry up after you solve it a couple times! It may be a little hard to turn after you spray it, but if you just play it a couple times, it will turn smooth! Another bad thing about silicone spray is that it smells! But if you just spray a little bit of febreze! ( Not sure how to spell it!) But that works for me. It takes about a month or 2, the smell will disappear.

You can use any type of silicone spray as long as its 100% silicone and not petrolem based! If you want to use Jig-A-Loo, it's fine too! Jig-A-Loo is a type of muti-purpose spray!! It is okay for plastic and metal. (Since the cube is made of plastic and inside are screws, so it would be fine.)

You should be able to get the silicone spray at autozone, auto parts, home depot, lowes, and any other hardware store!

Or..

You can buy CRC Heavy Duty Silicone spray!!! Most people oon youtube recommend it!

If you want to buy PVC stickers, then you should go to:

www.cube4you.com

or

www.cubefans.com

cubefans.com is another website for cube4you.com

Hope this helps!

Answer 15

I can solve the cube in less than 20 seconds on average. So you better listen to me, because

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-MJPmZT1MEU

Yeah.

Anyway, Don't use Petroleum jelly or WD-40. They will ruin your cube.

The silicone you've used sucks because it's not the right brand. Liquid Wrench sucks.

CRC is the best. Jigaloo also works.