Seven years ago, the maker of the world famous WD-40 lubricating oil asked their consumers to point out uses for the product. In response to the company’s urging, consumers around the world cited thousands of uses for the product. More than 300,000 responses were made and out of that, the company chose 2,000 uses to include in their official list.
The list is accessible to users of the product via the WD-40 Fans Club. From the inception of the list, the WD-40 Company still receives responses from their consumers. And recently, the company announced that they are once again giving their consumers the chance to expand the company’s official list of uses for the product.
WD-40 is the trade name of the famous penetrating oil developed by Norm Larsen in 1953. The product acts as a cleaner, lubricant, and anti-corrosive solution for automobiles or any other machine which needs lubrication. In fact, the use of the product is not limited to autos and this is evident in the 2,000 uses on the list of the company.
The name of the product means “Water Displacement, 40th attempt”. This comes from Larsen’s laboratory notebook when he was trying to create a formula that will prevent corrosion by displacing water. And on his 40th try, he succeeded and the WD-40 came into being. It is widely used on auto parts where metals are susceptible to rust like Flowmaster exhaust pipes
Starting March 21 and until May 15, consumers can officially enter their responses to the company’s inquiry. The company urges consumers of their product to send via e-mail their uses for the product.
This time though, the company added a new question for their end users: which of WD-40’s five delivery systems fits their uses for the product?
This step is made by the company so that other consumers have a way of learning new uses for the product and at the same time learn which delivery system works with what particular job.
Gary Ridge, the Chief Executive Officer of WD-40 Company, has this to say about the list: “When we first conducted the Search for 2,000 uses, we weren’t even sure we’d get all the way to 2,000. When we received more than 300,000 entries - and read the words of adoration and reverence folks used to describe the product - we realized our consumers were a fanatical group. This fervent following has resulted in a constant flow of suggestions on ways to use WD-40, and that correspondence is why we’re giving folks the opportunity to add their uses to our official list.”
The five delivery systems for the WD-40 are quite interesting. One is the WD-40 No-Mess Pen and this is the newest of the five systems and allows consumers use the product with less mess, and odor.
The second is the WD-40 Smart Straw which comes as a can of the lubricant with a permanently attached straw so that users will not be loosing the straw used in applying the oil.
The third system is the WD-40 aerosol and it is the traditional way of using the product via the use of compressed air.
The fourth delivery system is the WD-40 bulk/non-aerosol which is offered in large quantities and used with spray bottles.
The fifth system is the WD-40 Big Blast, a delivery system that uses compressed air but is widely used for bigger jobs due to its wide spray pattern.
By: Correy Putton