On Aug 3, 11:05*am, "Bob Eager" wrote:

Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.

WD40 is not a general purpose lubricant.

Why do the makers describe it as "The world's number one multi-purpose
lubricant" then?

Marketing.

Absolutely. As someone noted above, WD40 is NOT a "lubricant". It is a
penetrating substance designed to loosen rusted fasteners and the
like. They market it as something you can spray on to "protect" metal
objects, but that is just hype. Truth is that the stories about WD40
rusting metal are NOT myth! IT DOES do that! And anyone using it on
a shredder to "protect" the metal from corrosion needs to be paying
the office fines! WD40 is good stuff for what it does. If you are
taking an old muffler off a car it can't be beat. But beware the
"metal protection" nonsense. It has the OPPOSITE effect!

As for oiling a shredder or any other thing you might be temped to use
WD40 on, I'd recommend good old 10W-30 Motor oil it usually does a
great job both protecting metal from rust and lubricating. Wax is OK,
(from wax paper) but tends to be thick and not get into all the right
places. However it does have an advantage that the wax lubricates
without getting all sticky and having dirt and abrasive paper powder
mix with it. Olive oil, I'd suspect is not the best lubricant. I'd say
if you think motor oil is too heavy then the next choice would be
sewing machine oil.

...or you could just feed the whole sub into the shredder paper and
all...