Clean Film.... with WD-40 ?

[Rob Young]

Oh, that's a fair point, Nantawat.

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

ONLY if Filmguard is readily & conveniently available in any region of the world...

[Rob Young]

My bottle of Filmguard was bought back in 2004. And it still has about a quarter left to go. It's just brilliant stuff; prints treated 20 years ago (where DID those years go??!!) still run amazingly well.

I've cleaned my whole collection with it and many 16mm features too.

Just the other night I ran one of my copies of The Empire Strikes Back (I admit I have more than one...anyway...). This copy always drifted in and out of focus during part 1, as though the film base had been warped at some point in its life. About 5 years ago I gave it a hefty Filmguard treatment. I did watch it a couple of times at the time and it was a lot better. Anyway, the other night it ran perfectly with no focus drift. Out of the box after 5 years and ran like a dream.

Filmguard is the film collectors dream product. Why anyone would consider risking anything else is just crazy. Just my opinion and I don't have shares in any of Brad's ventures...if only!

[Osi Osgood]

I'll admit that it scares me to think of using a car lubricant on my precious prints, but then I use a little of "Film Guard" as possible.

[Steve Klare]

Hi David,

I've heard this one a number of times and it's always made me a little nervous because even though it's often used as a lubricant, the people that make it didn't intend it to be one, especially on motion picture film. I always worry about what the long term effects are, when it becomes too late.

Do you have a long history with it? I want to be fair here: I often use toothpaste for fine polishing even though the Colgate-Palmolive people never intended it for that either.

"WD" stands for "water displacement": something very commonly used in corrosion prevention. (The Navies of the world are big customers.) They got their big start back in the days of the early US ICBM program. When they filled up the missiles with liquid oxygen and hydrogen, the cryogenic temperatures froze the moisture in the air and if the rocket stood very long before launch, it could pick up a couple of thousand pounds of ice. Solution? Spray the outside of the rocket with gallons and gallons of WD-40: the ice would still form, but would fall off under its own weight

We had an elderly relative who used WD-40 basically as the solution to all of life's problems. We always swore when we tasted it in her cooking we were going to get her to a doctor as soon as possible!

[David Strelitz]

If there's one thing that gets debate here, it's WD40.
Bit like gherkins with Burgers, cream and jam with Scones (British thing) Evs, hideous 4wheel drive vehicles in city centres and too wide for car park spaces, cycle lanes and my current favourite, mobility scooters the size of tanks, supplied with optional snow plough and driven in pedestrians shopping precinct by morons with cigarette in mouth and phone in hand 🤬

There are various flavours of WD 40 including a dry PTFE which FWIW I am yet to try.
WD40 does have to be used with care, and excess taken off with a dry cotton glove or micro cloth.
Standby for flack 😜

[Brian Fretwell]

Possibly they use the same solvent, which is where most of the smell comes from, I believe.

[Tommy Kelch]

David Shepard of Preservation Associates (Blackhawk films) once mentioned how similar WD-40 was to Film-renu. If you have it on hand, smell the two. I could not tell the difference. Anyone else smell them side by side?

[Osi Osgood]

Good points about WD, but it must be stressed that the detailed info is about it's proper use and the proper object of use. As stated by others, Filmguard is a sure bet. Expensive? Yes, but A lot less expensive than replacing dry, brittle, dirty films, and pretty cheap, compared to the cost of films in general, these days.

[Mark Norton]

Good informative video.


A lot of recommendation on here for Filmguard, but it didn't work.

I have some old "Soundies" on 16mm that will not run through a projector and are otherwise junk ,& the WD40 plus heated hair straightener treatment may be worth a shot.

[Brian Fretwell]

Also remember that WD40 was developed for car starting in wet conditions (Water Displacement 40 is its full name) not lubrication.

[Ed Gordon]

Should you use WD-40 as a lubricant?


While WD-40 does have some lubricating properties, it is not a good lubricant and should not be used for this purpose. Using it on anything that needs proper lubrication (bike chains, treadmills, garage doors, etc.) will not give you the results you want.

The main reason for this is that only a fraction of WD-40 is made up of lubricants. And these are only light mineral lubricants, unsuitable for any serious friction or heat.

The rest of the product is made up of compounds that aid penetration. These also have lubricating properties, but because they are volatile compounds that evaporate over time, their effect does not last.

On top of that, both the application of WD-40 and its evaporating components dissolve and displace existing lubricants, like lithium grease or graphite.

What happens if you do use it to lubricate?


First, the WD-40 loosens rust and corrosion, which it actually does well. For a while, parts that you applied the product to will move smoother than they used to.

After the volatile compounds have evaporated, however, moving parts will start to seize up again. Crud, grime and particles start to accumulate on the leftover WD-40 and you will be in the same as or a worse position than you started.

In situations with extremely low demands, like indoor door hinges, WD-40 does lubricate for a while. But on parts that move with more friction, speed or heat, it will stop lubricating properly in no-time. The same goes for outdoor applications, where exposure to the elements becomes relevant.

On bike chains, for example, you can expect to have to re-apply WD-40 after every 10-20 miles of riding to maintain lubrication.

Regardless of the application and the stresses involved, you are better off with a real lubricant.

Source: https://clevercreations.org/can-wd-4...-as-lubricant/

[Mike Newell]

You tend to find you can’t get wd40 of film once applied and it shows blobs when projecting. A bit like a living lava lamp.

[Dominique De Bast]

Film Guard is the best today and does offer good results. Don't over apply

What I do, probably as many, is to apply Filmguard and then rewind the film through a dry cloth to remove excess product. For a reason I don't understand, with optical sound super 8 films, some remaining drops are visible when projection, probably where the cloth was no longer dry enough. Those drops disappear with time, so the product is very safe.

[Steve Lee]

But what do you use when Filmguard is not an option, as it is unavailable in european countries.