Australian Army Museum of Western Australia > Records

Water Displacement 40 (WD-40)

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Overview

Water Displacement #40 is a rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect metal surfaces. Its name comes from the project that was to find a "water displacement" compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40. The Australian Army Museum of WA workshop utilises WD40 in controlled conditions as part of its conservation and maintenance program for large technology objects.

Historical information

In 1953, a fledgling company called Rocket Chemical Company and its staff of three set out to create a line of rust-prevention solvents and degreasers for use in the aerospace industry. Working in a small lab in San Diego, California, it took them 40 attempts to get the water displacing formula worked out. But they must have been really good, because the original secret formula for WD-40® Multi-Use Product -which stands for Water Displacement perfected on the 40th try—is still in use today.
Convair, an aerospace contractor, first used WD-40 Multi-Use Product to protect the outer skin of the Atlas Missile from rust and corrosion. The product actually worked so well that several employees snuck some cans out of the plant to use at home.
A few years following WD-40 Multi-Use Product's first industrial use, Rocket Chemical Company founder Norm Larsen experimented with putting WD-40 Multi-Use Product into aerosol cans, reasoning that consumers might find a use for the product at home as some of the employees had. The product made its first appearance on store shelves in San Diego in 1958.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-LTO-999

Contextual Information

See photo 2 for recent preventive maintenance using WD-40 on the Museum's Centurion Mk5 tank

Links to additional resources

Safety Data Sheet - WD40

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

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