# Lubricate using silicon grease



## GalPro (Jan 8, 2009)

Hi,
Is it ok to lubericate a rubiks original 3x3 cube with silicon grease?

thanks


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## jay123 (Jan 8, 2009)

no harm 
i would wait untill it is really well broken in and also you may want to sand it first.(but thats up to you.. it doesn't really make a difference)

i prefer jig-a-loo. but any silicone as long as its pure silicone is good..


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## GalPro (Jan 8, 2009)

It's not really broken (in fact almost new)
but I want the pieces to move faster


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## rjohnson_8ball (Jan 8, 2009)

GalPro said:


> It's not really broken (in fact almost new)
> but I want the pieces to move faster



When it is lubed, it will wear down more slowly. If you think it needs to be worn in more, then you might want to do that for a few days before lubing it. You can always wipe lube off or add it back on, so don't worry much about it.

Grease might be slightly viscous (smooth, but slow). Silicone shock oil is something I would like to try... I use CRC Heavy Duty Silicone Spray now, even though the propellants temporarily harm the plastic and stickers until the propellants have evaporated.


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## BillB (Jan 8, 2009)

I used to use CRC, but I would spray it onto a Qtip and then paint it onto the cubie to avoid the effects of the propellants.

Bill


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## GalPro (Jan 8, 2009)

Okay so I greased it, at first it was awesome, moving pretty fast, after that I put it in some more edges and after half an hour it seems that just like you said, "smooth but slow", now it's a bit slower than usually (I don't have another cube to compare, just from the memory)
But it's good it never gets stuck like it used to be.

Can you think of something to improve it?

Thanks


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## Kieran (Jan 8, 2009)

I suggest just working it in, you said that it was quite a new cube. After a bunch of solves, it should start moulding into the right places.


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## GalPro (Jan 8, 2009)

Well it wasn't exactly a new cube, I had it for a month and solved it a lot but I kept it in good condition and I never took the pieces apart

I'll try to play with it a little and update


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## GalPro (Jan 8, 2009)

Oh and another question - 

The white layer is really stiff, I put the silicon grease in every white edge but it's still like that.
is it a bug in the cube or there is a way to fix it?

Thanks


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## Kieran (Jan 8, 2009)

At a guess, without having seen it, I'd say you may have possibly put too much lube into the cube, and its having a slow effect to start. You could either clean out your cube(cold water with some alcohol gets rid of the dirt but be careful) and then re-lube it, or just try playing with the white side a lot. R U Ri Ui seems to be an easy way to loosen it up. But that is only my suggestions, don't take them for gospel-


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## wongxiao (Jan 9, 2009)

Actually, from what I understand about aerosols, it's not the propellants that can dissolve plastic, even though that seems to be the popular thing to say. I'm fairly certain it's the solvents in which the silicone itself is dissolved. AFAIK dry lubricants always are dissolved in a solvent, which then evaporates, leaving only a thin film of lubricant.

I've been using B'Laster TDL (it has PTFE instead of Silicone), which doesn't contain chlorinated solvents--it's much less harmful to plastic.

My favorite lubricant is CRC Heavy Duty Silicone. IMHO, dry lubricants are far superior to wet ones when it comes to cubes. The best way to avoid their inherent caustic properties (whether they're from propellants or solvents), is to keep the cube consistently in motion while you're lubricating, and to lubricate little at a time. The Q-Tip idea would solve the propellant issue, but if you have a strong solvent in there it won't help too much.


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## GalPro (Jan 9, 2009)

Kieran said:


> At a guess, without having seen it, I'd say you may have possibly put too much lube into the cube, and its having a slow effect to start. You could either clean out your cube(cold water with some alcohol gets rid of the dirt but be careful) and then re-lube it, or just try playing with the white side a lot. R U Ri Ui seems to be an easy way to loosen it up. But that is only my suggestions, don't take them for gospel-



I played with it for a day, and now it's fine I guess.
I compared it to my friend's (which before the lubricate mine was a bit faster than his) and after the lubricate the cube is like x3 the speed of his...


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## amostay2004 (Jan 9, 2009)

What's a silicone grease? How does it differ with normal silicone spray? Is that what syuhei uses to lube his eastsheen?


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## GalPro (Jan 9, 2009)

It's looks like vaseline, sticky and clear, my dad brought it from a lab, it turned out pretty good


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## boiiwonder (Jan 9, 2009)

amostay2004 said:


> What's a silicone grease? How does it differ with normal silicone spray? Is that what syuhei uses to lube his eastsheen?



Silicone grease is used for lubing nuts and bolts and stuff on a car. ( I use it alot for my car ). 

Well silicone spray is well a spray 

Who is Syuhei?


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## not_kevin (Jan 10, 2009)

boiiwonder said:


> Who is Syuhei?



Syuhei Omura. Very very very good at 4x4. Google it for more details.


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