They are far superior to all others.

For a really good comparison of many lubricants, go to the Houdini site and view the hour long lubricant video. To be honest, I have only used two lubricants as a locksmith and safe technician. All others just pale by comparison.

Not very often but it always works. It will leave black residue for the first few times on a key.

Even though it may not be coming off on the key after a while, it is still on the internal lock parts.

Is that only for plastics?

If you want to use something that is longer lasting and won't dry out, use a white lubricant grease. But, as I said, for locks - I only recommend Houdini or Tri-Flow.

Tri-Flow and Houdini are both PTFE based lubricants. Just as a point of interest, PTFE is the same coating that we find on non-stick cookware.

Glad to hear that you rec it. Can you think of any lubrication application that it would not be appropriate for? Like, eg, bearings? Or? TIA

Meaning, okay to use near electronics. With lock and safe parts not being close to electrical parts, for the most part, I never really had that much of a concern about it. Good point though, and something I'll check on.

As to bearings, I would using something more robust like a white grease lubricant since the bearings would be under much more constant stress (heat buildup) than a lock or safe part.

Most recently I had a case where there was a brass sleeve bearing surrounded by a wicking material of some sort, only a small hole available to add lube. Was debating between 3-n-1 or PTFE and opted for the PTFE (i think it may be the same brand you show above). IOW, no way to add a solid grease (or do people melt it first? hmm hadn't considered that).

3n1 is okay, but the PTFE is much better. When it comes to electromechanical locks (like the Kaba-Mas X-10) we use a white grease lubricant. It's fairly heavy, so it only goes on external parts like the dial housing, spindle, and protective sleeves. But it lasts forever. Okay, not forever, but for a very long time. I've never melted it, so I'm not sure if that would work. Also, I'm taking a bit of a guess because I rarely see metal bearings in locks or safes (except for the ball bearings embedded in the hard plate of some Liberty safes.)

One last thought. You could try the Tri-Flow pinpoint pen. I'm just not sure if you would get enough lubricant internally to do any good.

Last edited Tue Jan 10, 2023, 07:56 AM - Edit history (1)

How safe are these products? You can lubricate a door lock without chemicals or special tools. You will need a simple pencil to rub the key till a thick layer of granite appears. Then, insert the key into the lock, and leave it for an hour. The granite will be deposited into the lock, and a thick layer will remain on the key. I learned this life hack from the emergency locksmiths se20 agency. From the start, I was against any chemicals on my lock, and using a pencil to lubricate the keys seemed the safest way.