Showerthought: I keep seeing people use the wrong grease on garage door rollers

Honestly, I just helped my neighbor in Phoenix and he was using a thick wheel bearing grease that was attracting a ton of dust and grit. Ngl, after a quick check with the manual, we switched to a light silicone spray and the door runs way smoother now. What's the one thing you see folks messing up with basic garage upkeep?

3 comments

3 Comments

amyc222mo ago

My old landlord in Tucson used cooking oil on the tracks once. The whole thing turned into a sticky, dusty mess that took forever to clean. It's wild what people will grab from the kitchen cabinet.

jordan6532mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, @amyc22, that sounds awful. I once tried using olive oil on a squeaky hinge and ended up with the same gross, dusty glue situation. It took me a whole weekend of scrubbing with dish soap to get it all off. I guess we all learn the hard way not to use cooking stuff for repairs.

the_anna22d ago

HOLD UP. Cooking oil on tracks is actually a LEGITIMATE trick if you use the right kind and amount. People use WD-40 which is basically fancy fish oil anyway - it collects dust too, but nobody whines about that. The problem was probably that your landlord dumped a quart of canola oil on there like he was deep frying the door. A thin layer of mineral oil (which IS basically cooking oil without the impurities) slides like butter and doesn't get sticky if you wipe off the excess. Honestly, half the people complaining probably used olive oil which goes rancid or vegetable oil with additives. Pure grapeseed or avocado oil? Works perfectly fine.