Lubrication – Effects of Using Vegetable Oil Instead of Machine Oil

lubrication

It's kind of tempting to use vegetable oil for lubricating door hinges and other similar basic mechanisms around the house – vegetable oil is readily available in almost any household. However I always hear it's a bad idea, but could never find any details of why exactly it is a bad idea.

What exactly happens if I use vegetable oil for basic mechanisms lubrication?

Best Answer

  • Vegetable oil will gum up, attract dirt and dust, and eventually end up a huge mess. DO NOT use it.
  • Mineral oil is a food-safe oil not normally used as a cooking lubricant, but it is the go-to for replenishing woods and lubricating mechanical parts of cooking utensils. It won't gum up, and is OK to use in a pinch.
  • Most machine oils are a bit thin; they'll get into crevices like in door hinges, but they're lighter-weight and more volatile, and will eventually evaporate or work their way back out.
  • Silicone sprays are great for metal-on-metal, but they are incompatible with some plastics, so read the label carefully.
  • If you can take the mechanism apart without destroying it, I would recommend a silicone grease out of a tube, such as Dow-33 (available under many different brand names; you'll most likely find it as a pneumatic tool lube because it doesn't hurt o-rings). It is nonreactive with virtually all construction plastics and with metals, and is a thick-ish grease which stays where it's put. A little dab'll do ya. Only trouble is you have to be able to apply it directly to the surface to be lubricated; it doesn't wick into crevices like an oil or spray lube.
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