Never Lose Another WD-40 Tube

Featured Article, Household DIY Tips
on August 21, 2013
lubricant applicator
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Lubricant tubes are notoriously easy to lose.  With these tips, you can easily keep them safely stored or replace the lost ones.

How to Store Lubricant Applicators

If cans of spray lubricant came with built-in holsters to prevent their plastic applicator tubes from getting lost, Club member John Kriegshauser of Chicago, Illinois, wouldn’t have needed to try this new spin on an old trick. Before you lose one more applicator, take a 5-in. length of plastic soda straw, and starting 1-1/2 in. from the bottom, make two cuts as shown in the drawing. Fold the straw and tape it to the side of the can. The collapsed portion of the straw that results from the cuts creates a gentle pinching action that retains the applicator tube when it’s inserted, even if the can is turned upside down.

Making New Spray Tubes

Keeping track of the small spray tubes for lubricants such as WD-40 can be frustrating. Rather than store the tubes, Club member Charles Sullivan of Eureka, California, just makes them as he needs them — from cotton swabs. Once the cotton ends are cut off, a plastic-shafted swab fits perfectly into the WD‑40 nozzle. You can also leave one cotton end on to make the tube a precision lubricant applicator.