Finally my turn to contribute! Recipe: Homebrew Water Activated Penetrating Winter Corrosion Inhibitor, Lubricant

[Klauts]

Hello again! Something you guys don't know about me is that I'm obsessed with Chemistry and Biology. I've got an encyclopedic memory and an insatiable thirst for knowledge, deadly combo haha

As a result I make all of my own products where at all possible, corrosion inhibitors, shampoo, conditioner, antifungal creams, antibiotics creams, essentially if there's a chemical product you'd normally go to the hardware store or pharmacy for I have spent years formulating and testing my own alternatives.


This one I've been playing with over the course of two winters, last winter was mostly research and some prototyping but after a season of extreme conditions I'm excited to announce that it's pretty well perfected!

Things you will need:

Golden Jojoba Oil - 5%
Xanthan Gum - 2%
Allantoin powder - 0.5%
(alternatively you can use a quality Comfrey extract or a Comfrey Lactoferment, the ferment will need to be filtered very well. (Fermentation helps solubilize the allantoin in the Comfrey but allantoin is quite cheap as readily available online)
Pure Lavender Essential Oil - 1%
99% Isopropyl Alcohol - 30% ( or 90% grain alcohol if you have access, methanol would also work but is nasty stuff.)
58% water (distilled is best, chlorine is not helpful)

Mix the Xanthan Gum, JoJoba Oil, Allantoin, lavender oil and HALF the Alcohol together thoroughly. A blender or hand blender is helpful here.

Once mixed add water slowly while continuing to blend until the mixture transforms from a liquid to a thick paste. At this point slowly add the rest of the alcohol while continuing to blend until the mixture is once again a runny consistency albeit thicker than before.

Add the rest of the water while blending to bring it up to volume and put it in a pressure sprayer or high quality hand sprayer.

Spray down the bike thoroughly, grab a microfiber cloth and wipe off the excess before it dries.

The remainder will dry to a solid thin non sticky layer that clings tightly to the metal and paint of the bike, when water hits it the top layer absorbs the moisture and it becomes a super lubricant.

The allantoin, lavender oil and jojoba oil all cause strong chemical reactions with aluminum and steel that inhibit corrosion and the xanthan Gum causes a strong corrosion inhibiting physical reaction on top of providing superior lubrication under torque.

A single application will stay on for a solid month riding through the nastiest salty mud puddles.

Hopefully this helps some other winter riders as much as it's helped me


(I'll make a more detailed write-up and explanation of the different properties the mixture has when I've got some more time, in a rush this morning just wanted to share after the tremendous help I've received from you all )

[neptronix]

Wow, sounds like a skincare product for the motor based on the ingredients.

I also love biology and apply it in my everyday living

Questions for you..
1) Do you flush it after winter?
2) Do you run the motor hot? ( i'm wondering if you ever ran into degredation of the concoction via heat )
3) What's this motor look like inside after a few years of use?

[Chalo]

I wouldn't use anything subject to rancidity or polymerization that results in stickiness, so no vegetable based oils on my bikes or other machinery. I can't tell you how many times a customer has brought in a bike all crudded up with funk, saying, "my friend said it was okay to use olive oil on my chain" or something along those lines.

Corrosion protection is not a new thing, and there are a passel of good petroleum or synthetic products for that purpose. There's no reason anymore even to use those vegetable oils that were traditional in industry at one time, like castor oil or rapeseed oil. I had a coworker once who decided to use canola oil as cutting fluid. Years later, all that equipment is still sticky and gross. Please no more of that.

I do use jojoba oil in a mixture I make for my sweetie's dry skin.

[Klauts]

Wow, sounds like a skincare product for the motor based on the ingredients.

I also love biology and apply it in my everyday living

Questions for you..
1) Do you flush it after winter?
2) Do you run the motor hot? ( i'm wondering if you ever ran into degredation of the concoction via heat )
3) What's this motor look like inside after a few years of use?

I flush it all off between applications just to avoid any buildup and the inside of the hub I just use regular boeshield because I don't know enough about the conductivity.

It rinses on quite readily given a bit of time and a garden hose and the allantoin and lavender oil help prevent rancidity long term.

I haven't run into any trouble from heat degrading the polymer but it's been a cold winter.

It's important to make it thin enough that it doesn't gunj you the freewheel

[neptronix]

I can see how allantoin can do that.
Well, you could test the conductivity of your motor lotion with a multimeter.
However there are possible material interactions inside hubs that make adding things tricky.
( for example i believe ATF will gradually eat the wire housings on some motors, something closer to hyper pure transformer fluid might be the ticket )

How well does boeshield work on the interior?

I would love pics of this; this is too fun/weird of an idea.

[Klauts]

I can see how allantoin can do that.
Well, you could test the conductivity of your motor lotion with a multimeter.
However there are possible material interactions inside hubs that make adding things tricky.
( for example i believe ATF will gradually eat the wire housings on some motors, something closer to hyper pure transformer fluid might be the ticket )

How well does boeshield work on the interior?

I would love pics of this; this is too fun/weird of an idea.

The boeshield works incredibly well on the interior so long as you give it time to dry before sealing the hub... Days in my experience

I'll take some photos of the finished product when I get home and document the process next time I make a batch

[Klauts]

I wouldn't use anything subject to rancidity or polymerization that results in stickiness, so no vegetable based oils on my bikes or other machinery. I can't tell you how many times a customer has brought in a bike all crudded up with funk, saying, "my friend said it was okay to use olive oil on my chain" or something along those lines.

Corrosion protection is not a new thing, and there are a passel of good petroleum or synthetic products for that purpose. There's no reason anymore even to use those vegetable oils that were traditional in industry at one time, like castor oil or rapeseed oil. I had a coworker once who decided to use canola oil as cutting fluid. Years later, all that equipment is still sticky and gross. Please no more of that.

I do use jojoba oil in a mixture I make for my sweetie's dry skin.

All valid points and things I've thought about and addressed, jojoba oil is actually a liquid wax and not an oil at all it's extremely resistant to oxidation and the resultant rancidity. It also doesn't get sticky, Xanthan Gum does have potential to go rancid but the preservative properties of the corrosion inhibitors chosen help prevent that. The mixture also isn't sticky in the slightest when dry, it feels like a layer of plastic or wax.

When it comes into contact with water it becomes slippery with decreasing friction under increasing amounts of torque.

The physical reactions taking place are actually quite fascinating.

Heck I've even used it as a chain lube on really wet days without any issues just gotta be sure to wipe off all the excess before it dries

[BalorNG]

I wouldn't use anything subject to rancidity or polymerization that results in stickiness, so no vegetable based oils on my bikes or other machinery. I can't tell you how many times a customer has brought in a bike all crudded up with funk, saying, "my friend said it was okay to use olive oil on my chain" or something along those lines.

Corrosion protection is not a new thing, and there are a passel of good petroleum or synthetic products for that purpose. There's no reason anymore even to use those vegetable oils that were traditional in industry at one time, like castor oil or rapeseed oil. I had a coworker once who decided to use canola oil as cutting fluid. Years later, all that equipment is still sticky and gross. Please no more of that.

I do use jojoba oil in a mixture I make for my sweetie's dry skin.

All valid points and things I've thought about and addressed, jojoba oil is actually a liquid wax and not an oil at all it's extremely resistant to oxidation and the resultant rancidity. It also doesn't get sticky, Xanthan Gum does have potential to go rancid but the preservative properties of the corrosion inhibitors chosen help prevent that. The mixture also isn't sticky in the slightest when dry, it feels like a layer of plastic or wax.

When it comes into contact with water it becomes slippery with decreasing friction under increasing amounts of torque.

The physical reactions taking place are actually quite fascinating.

Heck I've even used it as a chain lube on really wet days without any issues just gotta be sure to wipe off all the excess before it dries

Hey, great thread. Indeed, jojoba oil is not an oil but a wax, completely non-drying, and is a great lubricant - the history of using it as oil additive replacing spermaceti that was perhaps the first 'high pressure oil additive' is fashinating - especially how baning using spermaceti resulting in explosion of gearbox failures

I think adding beeswax into the recipe might and otherwise increasing solid content might allow one to create something like 'Smoove on steroids'! I'm quite happy with chain waxing myself (using a mix of beeswax/paraffing and greases with EP/AW additives), but this seems interesting...

Can you describe a bit what component does what, or is this a 'trade secret'?

Btw, I've read a lot that lanolin has a ton of very interesting properties - including antifriction...