# What Lube and Where to get it from?



## PuzzleProfessor (Feb 21, 2009)

Hi,
I live in the United Kingdom and was wondering where I can get lube for my cubes and what lube to get. Thanks in advance for any help


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## Escher (Feb 21, 2009)

Maplin stocks "silicone grease PTFE" in a spray can. The code is 'N71AN', I think. You'll be able to find it on their website, and I'm sure most branches will stock it.
A while ago, I also found this

http://www.racingstate.com/shock-oil.html

which I may buy some of quite soon. It's pretty cheap, considering. Shock Oil is meant to make cubes feel more 'buttery', rather than really fast.


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## PuzzleProfessor (Feb 21, 2009)

Thanks, I will check out my local Maplins


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## leeho (Feb 21, 2009)

You can also try Tableau dry lubricant. I am also from the UK. Ill list what lubes ive used just so you have an idea. Ive used: 3 in 1 professional silicone lubricant, Maplin silicone grease with ptfe and tableau dry lubricant. So far, id say tableau is the best ive used and maplin comes in close second. 3 in 1 silicone didnt work for me, I dont know if i did something wrong but it didnt work on my DIYs. Hope that helps.


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## PuzzleProfessor (Feb 21, 2009)

Thanks, it did help because I really wasn't sure where to buy some lube


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## Escher (Feb 21, 2009)

leeho said:


> You can also try Tableau dry lubricant. I am also from the UK. Ill list what lubes ive used just so you have an idea. Ive used: 3 in 1 professional silicone lubricant, Maplin silicone grease with ptfe and tableau dry lubricant. So far, id say tableau is the best ive used and maplin comes in close second. 3 in 1 silicone didnt work for me, I dont know if i did something wrong but it didnt work on my DIYs. Hope that helps.



where do you get this 'Tableau lubricant'...?


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## leeho (Feb 21, 2009)

Homebase sells 3 in 1 silicone. I got my tableau dry lubricant from ebay. Maplin silicone grease...well..you should be able to figure that one out haha. I'm interested to hear what other UK cubers use in their cubes.

Edit: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LOOK-BN-Tableau-Dry-Lube-400ml_W0QQitemZ120381567775QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA?hash=item120381567775&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Tableau dry lube for a little under 7 quid. 400ml.


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## Escher (Feb 21, 2009)

ahh nice one. where did you spring up from anyway?  
with your sub 17 average and everything  how long've you been cubing?
Anyway, I just use maplin (i know mtgjumper does too) but i want to try the shock oil.


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## leeho (Feb 21, 2009)

Haha. I don't compete x] and I'm not very active on the forum. -Stay hidden- I've been cubing for about..12-13 months now I think. I might try some shock oil too. Ive heard good things about it. x]


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## Escher (Feb 21, 2009)

are you waiting 'til you're sub 10 before you go to a comp then? honestly  
and you should've learnt the OLLs by now


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## leeho (Feb 21, 2009)

Haha. I don't think I'll get to compete unless they hold it in Leeds. I have no form of transport =X hehe. The OLLs are so long, I'm so lazyy x] How much would my time decrease if i learnt them all? =X


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## Escher (Feb 21, 2009)

this thread is totally hijacked.

The UK Open always seems to be in a northern city, perhaps you could get a train? How old are you btw?
knowing the OLLs really does help when you're around 20/sub20, it shaves at least 2s off my times. You can tell in every average i do when i don't get an OLL i know (53/57 atm) as its always like 18s instead of 15 or 16.


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## leeho (Feb 21, 2009)

Woops, Sorry PuzzleProfessor =X. I'm in Year 11 at the moment. x] I need to start learning some OLLs then Haha. x] Can you recommend any particular method? Or do I just go ahead and learn them.


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## Bomber (Feb 21, 2009)

I am also quite interested in what lubricant other cubers in the UK use. I currently use PuzzleProz lubricant, which coincidentally I just ran out of my last syringe yesterday! But, the problem with PuzzleProz lubricant is that it only lasts for about five minutes, almost literally. The kind of speed I want in my cube will only last for a few minutes until it starts to feel sticky, with continued use. Then, eventually it starts to make a sticky noise as if it is being unstuck from itself. Overnight it goes back to normal and then when you come to re-lube it the build up of lubricant makes it worse and it needs a clean out.

I do however have some 'pure*' (in a different respect) silicone in my store bought. Not long ago we had some plumbers at the house and overnight they left a bottle of silicone lubricant for fitting pipes, I grabbed it and lubed my store bought. Unfortunately at that point I had lubed my main speed cubes with PuzzleProz lubricant so had to pass the DIYs up. I also can't remember the brand, though it was industrial and for 'the trade'. At the moment my Rubik's 3x3 is relatively fast although could do with more lubricant so it's a shame it doesn't get used, hopefully I can get down to Halfords or some other place to get some more! I don't really favour living in the North, although we get the competitions here we don't get the lube!

*clear, not creamy like PuzzleProz.

Thinking about silicone, I find it amusing that the British people on this forum know and talk about CRC and Jig-a-Loo yet have just about no access to it. The when we have our own thread about it we're like "Wow, that lube might be good".
It's a pity we don't have one standard lube available to us all, like CRC.


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## Escher (Feb 21, 2009)

Bomber, the one we mentioned and linked are all very good, you should order one (or more) of those. I think there are a few more obscure ones, but we've listed the main ones.

If i were you, leeho, I'd learn them as they are arranged in badmephisto's site, 

http://badmephisto.dyndns.org/site/oll.php

because you get a good chunk out of the way so quickly. The first 19 you could learn in less than a week, as you'll know a few of them anyway. Learn them consistently, no matter how fast or slow you do it. Also, every time you get a case you learn recently, do it, no matter how much it makes your time suffer.

hope that helps a bit


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## leeho (Feb 21, 2009)

Thank you very much Escher ^^. I've bookmarked the page. =] I never knew Badmephisto had a website XD


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## Escher (Feb 21, 2009)

Bomber said:


> It's a pity we don't have one standard lube available to us all, like CRC.



maaaaaapliiiiiin!


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## Bomber (Feb 21, 2009)

Maplin is all well and good but the only one that I have been in is in Shrewsbury, they unfortunately didn't stock it. Then, the closest Maplin to me is nearly 2 hours away in Carlisle or Preston!
I'll order some Tableau and hope it's super special awesome.


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## Escher (Feb 21, 2009)

Joey Gouly uses it and he's super special awesome, so you should be okay.

get some shock oil from that link i posted while you're at it


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## Bomber (Feb 21, 2009)

I just realised I have some of that shock oil, I used to run an R/C Car so it is quite stupid of me not to think or even use it.
I'm not sure what grade it is but I'll go and check and possibly report back!...

5 minutes later...
It doesn't appear to say what grade it is. It reads "Silicone oil for hydraulic shock absorbers" so I'm guessing that they are similar and should be okay to use in a cube! I guess I'll try it, if your interested in the result just post back and I'll give you the run down!


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## leeho (Feb 21, 2009)

I'm interested ^^ Hehe. I wonder what it will do. =X


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## Slamatic (Feb 21, 2009)

Puzzle Proz's Lube.


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## Bomber (Feb 21, 2009)

Slamatic said:


> Puzzle Proz's Lube.


 
Interesting.

Well, I've worked in the shock oil and I'm actually quite surprised. I lubed up an original Type A, most people know that it is made out of a soft plastic so it has soft and creamy attributes. The lube has exaggerated and improved all the good points about this cube, it feels extremely smooth and is still fast but slippy. It requires a little extra push to get the cube moving but after that it floats on air!
I actually think it will take a bit of getting used to, I definitely like it though. Personally I think it would suit certain types of cube, not a hard plastic cube, mainly soft as it gives it a certain 'gooey' feel.

Well, I recommend it!
Give it a go or else you'll never know - Lottery Advert


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## Escher (Feb 21, 2009)

Hmm... Do you own a type D/any other cubes that you could try it on? I'll probably buy some tomorrow anyway, but sounds good so far.


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## lalalala (Feb 22, 2009)

i just tried to use silicon. not silicone silicon lubricant which is used for the treadmill belt thingy.it worked great but i havtn used it on my main speed cube which is my type d. Im still not sure if its harmful to the cube.


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## Bomber (Feb 22, 2009)

> i just tried to use silicon.


I honestly don't think you tried that, for one reason. You can find out though.

I do have a Type D but currently it has a fresh coating of silicone spray; It was bought from Rubik Fans so came pre-lubed.
I have a Type A III I could try it on but everything else is freshly lubed with other things. In the future I may actually put shock oil in other cubes, but I'll have to remember to order some Tableau Dry Lubricant.
As an update to the shock oil cube, it is quickly becoming my favourite cube again. I'll probably swap between my main speed cubes quite often now!


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## PuzzleProfessor (Feb 22, 2009)

Lol I have only been cubing 1 week 
And Lol its Ok you kinda hi-jacked my thread, I got the answers I wanted


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## lalalala (Feb 22, 2009)

Bomber said:


> > i just tried to use silicon.
> 
> 
> I honestly don't think you tried that, for one reason. You can find out though.
> ...


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## Bomber (Feb 22, 2009)

lalalala said:


> > i just tried to use silicon.
> 
> 
> I honestly don't think you tried that, for one reason. You can find out though.
> ...



Well, to start with silicon is a metalloid so I don't think putting that in your cube would help, any other silcon*e* other than for lubrication is used for something like sealing baths, that also I don't think would help your cube.
If you were more specific about what "silicone silicon" was maybe we would understand and respond positively.


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## lalalala (Feb 22, 2009)

well the bottle said silicon. it came with my treamill and it told me to use that to lubricate the treadmill belt. its not completly liquid. it looks kind of slimy almost like pudding but a little bit more liquidy.it left a nice coat over my cube and the cube oesnt seem to be melting or destroying the plastic


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## Unknown.soul (Feb 22, 2009)

What brand and name is on the bottle? I might be able to find the MSDS for it.


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## lalalala (Feb 22, 2009)

its the fact that there isnt any brand on it. i was gonna try search it but couldnt find any but if you would like pictures i can maybe upload pictures


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## PuzzleProfessor (Feb 23, 2009)

lalalala said:


> its the fact that there isnt any brand on it. i was gonna try search it but couldnt find any but if you would like pictures i can maybe upload pictures



That would be cool! I'd like to see aswell


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## panyan (Feb 23, 2009)

i am from uk and i have:
1) halfords brand silicone spray - best so far
2) automotors berry flavoured spray - not great but really cheap (£0.95!)
3) Shock oil 20wt - good, but i have not cmpared it to halfords yet


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## MichaelErskine (Feb 23, 2009)

Maplin here!


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## lalalala (Feb 24, 2009)

ill try to get some pictures tomorrow because its like 11:30 in the night and i have to go to sleep


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## Sg.Speedcuber (Feb 24, 2009)

E mail CRC Australia and NZ.they will re-direct you to a distributer.I tried that and it worked now I have the 808 silicone.


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## tmacfan4321 (Feb 26, 2009)

R/C shock oil works really, really well. I had the liquid wrench silicone spray on my first cube, that sucked. I put Petroleum Jelly in my second cube, that was almost too loose. The Silicone oil works well with only a few drops.


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## Cride5 (Feb 26, 2009)

I tried this:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_214714_langId_-1_categoryId_165750

But it didn't seem to last very long, so now I opt for Mr Sheen multisurface - its much cheaper and longer lasting. Instead of taking the cube apart, I twist the slices 45 degrees, spray the edge pieces, work it in and (important bit) pull the slices apart and blast with a hair-dryer. Works a treat


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## jambob28 (Apr 12, 2009)

Hey about the mister sheen stuff, ive got some ill try it later and give everyone a second verdict on how good it really is. well i have the maplins silicone and the halfords silicone and to me maplins wins. with the halfords silicone, you spray it on and in the morning its sort of worn off. but the maplins one lasts much longer


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## jambob28 (May 12, 2009)

ive tried mr sheen now and its sort of ok, it doesnt make your cube much faster but it does make it super smooth.


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## ph0nixe (Jul 30, 2009)

I've used 3 in 1, and I find it can be really good, it's just REALLY easy to over lube it and then it's absolutely foul, but if you get it right it's good, but needs topping up relatively regularly. I've not tried anything else, so I've not got any comparison, but it kind of does the job and not much else.

Edit: It also smells vaguely of orange, which is kind of weird but at the same time pretty cool.


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