January 20, 2005

Now there are 2001 uses for WD-40 London barkeepers wanted to stop people from snorting coke off of the flat surfaces in their bathrooms. So they squirted 'em with WD-40.

Personally, I prefer to reserve the WD-40 for loosening screws. And bicycle maintenance. And the crazy kids in my hometown like it for huffing. (You gotta admit, it's cheaper thank coke, and just as efficient at killing brain cells.)

  • actually that's in Bristol! According to Richard's bicycle book wot I had when I was a kid you shouldn't use WD40 for cycle maintenance either! Sorry meredithea I'll get me coat ...
  • ack! Sorry dickdotcom.... It's 3 am, my brain is tired. You can hereby say I'm from Dallas instead of Ft. Worth and I won't complain. (Sorry... TX-centric humor, there.) And, really? You shouldn't use the WD-40 for bicycle repair? Have I been performing *pirate* bicycle repair all these years?
  • i've found wd-40 to be a good fly-catcher (well, very small flies). having sprayed it on some rollers on a shed door, i discovered several days later that a bunch of flies had landed and become stuck in an area where the wd-40 had trickled down. i think the point about wd-40 and bikes is that you are recommended to use silicon-based lubricants in place of oil-based ones as the former will attract less dirt (and fewer flies). nevertheless, lots of people use wd-40 on heavy chains (e.g. on off-road motorcycles) because it does a very good job.
  • Yes, WD-40 is an excellent insecticide! I used it to stem a Gypsy Moth caterpillar tide some years back. As a lubricant, it sucks. Turns into something like unsticky rubber cement after a while. There are beter penetrating oils, too.
  • Yank my chain with some WMD-40, and let's see what sticks!
  • As a preventive measure, this seems to me a poo-for-brains idea. What's to stop would-be dopers from using some bit of plastic from their wallets, such as ID cards? Or using the plastic windows that cover one's ID? Or using small mirrors ladies carry in their handbags? Etc etc Determined folk will only alter thier habits.
  • Having every flat surface coated in WD-40 doesn't sound exactly conducive to a pleasant environment, either.
  • Ditto to erebus and dickdotcom. It's dielectric and displaces water. I used to keep a can in the truck for when rain would short out my sloppy under-dash wiring. I'd think that a countertop sprayed with the stuff would get pretty nasty right-quick-like.
  • I prefer Soho House's method - they redesigned their bathrooms so that there were no level surfaces, everything was sloping. Apparently (according to popbitch, naturally) these were known as "Goffey shelves", in honour of Supergrass's drummer Danny Goffey, against whom the measures were primarily aimed...
  • WD-40 is great for making sure your car door locks don't freeze in thewinter. Before the first freeze, coat the inside of the lock with it and you're much less likely to have it freeze up on ya.
  • Wasn't Mr Goffey also the host at the Soho HOuse party where some cleb's (Sadie Frost?) child accidentally had an E???
  • He was indeed (the kid picked up the tablet the next day, someone had dropped it on the floor) - it was after that incident that they did the redesign...
  • What's to stop would-be dopers from using some bit of plastic from their wallets, such as ID cards? That's exactly what we do down my end of the street.
  • Since it would be simple to circumvent, this plan is obviously about punishment and not prevention. The police are hoping the first few dopes who try it poison themselves. The cops are also trying to feel smart like chemists, but they're not even dumb chemists.
  • Nothing I ever planned to ingest would be laid on the funky-ass counter of a pub bathroom. Ew! Have you Brits never heard of a "tooter"? Little vial with a small valve at the top, twist and snort? Readily available at most headshops. Totally flummoxes the WD-40 defense.
  • *reads article* Oh, man, it's even worse! You all are snarfling your valuable coke off the FRIGGIN TOILET SEAT?? Why not just mix a little pee in it before you leave the house and cut out the middleman?
  • It's better if you cut it with dandruff and pubic hair.
  • This is what happens when the price of cocaine falls and every bloody chav can afford it. All the class and dash once associated with it gets flushed down the crapper. Rest assured, there are still many of us would never dream of letting our cocaine come into contact with any lavatorial surface - I myself carry a full-length, gilt-framed, Regency era mirror around with me everywhere I go to avoid just such problems.
  • I have a little spoon for up my nose.
  • Actually most times I just rub it up-a my ass.
  • That must generate quite a numbie.
  • I'm shocked that this thread has descended into a discussion on the different methods of taking the Paddington, rather than the many uses of WD-40...
  • Would you rather we talk about how I use entire cands of WD-40 to lubricate my mouth so I can eat entire meals without ever chewing? Just stick the food in, jump, and it slides right down.
  • What Plegmund said and more. I heard this on the radio yesterday and immediately thought, ewww! So what if I innocently put my green suede purse down on the back of the toilet instead of on the usually horrible floor of the bathroom? My purse is immediately ruined forever? Lawsuit! Bwah! well probably not. probably I would just moan and cry in my beer about it
  • MonkeyFilter: It's better if you cut it with dandruff and pubic hair. Okay, that's really, really nauseating, how about: MonkeyFilter: The little spoon for up your nose!
  • If this thread dies could people take up the challenge of coming up with a more catchy two-letter/two-digit combo than "WD-40"? How about XT-26 as a nice, Homestar-Runner-referenced start. Also: CocaineFilter, 40Filter and all that.
  • I'll bet this gets the kids to kick off a hip coke-and-WD40 drug craze. Cans will be pulled from the shelves to protect our children.
  • Dude, who wants to sit down in a bunch of WD40? Especially for drunk shits or handicapped folks (that's what the stalls are for, right?)
  • That's the first thing I thought, js. I don't want to lubricate my butt in that way, thanks.
  • I used WD-40 as a lubricant once. Once.
  • Toilet lids, not toilet seats, unless I'm misreading a regionalism. (Public toilets with lids are a strange thought to me to begin with.)
  • You can hereby say I'm from Dallas instead of Ft. Worth and I won't complain. *Texan in the corner giggles helplessly* Obarticlecomment: So basically the cops are telling the barkeeps to poison the druggies as an anti-drug measure? We're definitely winning the War on Drugs here, along with the War on Human Kindness. After all, they're just addicts, not like poisoning them makes any difference to decent people. I wonder how fast someone would sue any cop in the US who gave this advice to bar owners.
  • I really think this article is bunk. It's the usual, "see we've outsmarted the druggies" dross. mygothlaundry's point is well taken. How do the bar's proprieters explain themselves to someone who sets something oil-damageable in WD-40? Plus, this is supposed to be in a bathroom. Bathrooms have paper towels and toilet paper in them. One could simply wipe away the oil. Also it is assumed that the coke snorter is going to use the surface. As Nostril pointed out, many use a small vial and spoon. Others carry around a small mirror. It is privacy we, oops I mean they, seek in the bathroom. Again, I think this article came straight from a bored news stringers imagination.
  • Please, for your own sake, do not use WD-40 to lubricate your locks, or your guns, or anything with close-fitting sliding parts. For locks, use silicone spray or graphite. For other things, gun lubricants are good. WD-40 is going to irritate your skin, if you sit on it. Those cops should have it sprayed directly up their noses.