April 26, 2022 – THEME WEEK DAY 2

We’re continuing our “What’s It Stand For?” theme week! Today we’re talking about WD-40, which stands for Water Displacement, 40th formula! It was created by Rocket Chemical Company in 1953. The spray was made of various hydrocarbons, and was first used by Convair, an aerospace contractor, to protect the outer layer of the Atlas missile from rust and corrosion. It worked so well that some of Convair’s employees snuck out some of the products to use at home. It first appeared on store shelves in San Diego in 1958.
In 1960, the company grew to 7 employees, who sold around 45 cases of the product a day from the trunk of their cars. In 1961, the company shipped a truckload of WD-40 to the Gulf Coast to help the victims of Hurricane Carla. It was also sent to soldiers in Vietnam in 1968, to prevent moisture damage on their firearms.
WD-40’s formula is a well protected trade secret – only 1 person knows the exact ingredients that make up WD-40, and the original copy of the formula sits in a secure bank vault in San Diego. By 1993, WD-40 could be found in 4 out of 5 homes. The product remains extremely popular today, with sales in excess of $70 million in 2021.
Over the years, thousands of customers have written to WD-40 to share their often unique uses for the product. The company lists more than 2,000 uses on its website, including unsticking piano keys, removing dog poo from shoes, and removing permanent ink from most items.