It’s interesting to me, I learned an oral history in grad school that’s somewhat different from the wiki record. This isn’t the first time that it’s happened and it’s a lesson that history goes to the documentation.
I was told that it’s development was tied to looking for suture alternatives and it was abandoned due to inflammation and rough edges on application.
The lesson, for me, is to be cautious about relying on single sources. I am enough of an expert in my areas (and this is not one of them) to be pretty suspicious of Wikipedia.
I never knew about the military plane’s application myself. I just knew it was while he was working for Eastman Kodak and it was an accidental discovery.
I also understand they had to “water it down” because it was too strong.
Edit: it occurred to me I could be confusing WD-40 with superglue re the accidental discovery comment.
Okay, accidental may be a bit of a stretch. But it wasn’t intended to be used the way we use it today (and the fact that it took them 40 attempts to get it right). 😅
Again I could be wrong but I thought that the WD stood for water dispersant which was the original application ( and still very good for that). The all purpose lubricant is not actually a great use for it. Spray silicone like Jig-a-loo is much better.
It’s interesting to me, I learned an oral history in grad school that’s somewhat different from the wiki record. This isn’t the first time that it’s happened and it’s a lesson that history goes to the documentation.
I was told that it’s development was tied to looking for suture alternatives and it was abandoned due to inflammation and rough edges on application.
The lesson, for me, is to be cautious about relying on single sources. I am enough of an expert in my areas (and this is not one of them) to be pretty suspicious of Wikipedia.
I never knew about the military plane’s application myself. I just knew it was while he was working for Eastman Kodak and it was an accidental discovery.
I also understand they had to “water it down” because it was too strong.
Edit: it occurred to me I could be confusing WD-40 with superglue re the accidental discovery comment.
I thought that WD-40 was a purposeful development process. It was the 40th formulation that made it to market.
Okay, accidental may be a bit of a stretch. But it wasn’t intended to be used the way we use it today (and the fact that it took them 40 attempts to get it right). 😅
https://health.arychase.com/the-mystery-behind-the-blue-and-yellow-can-the-story-of-wd-40/
Again I could be wrong but I thought that the WD stood for water dispersant which was the original application ( and still very good for that). The all purpose lubricant is not actually a great use for it. Spray silicone like Jig-a-loo is much better.