Originally Posted by
terrymorse
No, manufacturers don't use the same solvents. Some manufacturers are responsible.
You are speaking to a chemist here. I can read safety data sheets and, more importantly, interpret them. The solvents used are usually called “h
ydrotreated light distillates (petroleum)” or something similar.
For example, White Lightning Epic Ride is about 75% heptane, Clean Ride is 60-80% heptane. Really nasty stuff. Flammable, toxic, and a strong greenhouse gas.
Yes, White Lightning uses heptane but heptane isn’t particularly nasty. It is a bit flammable (flash point -4°C) but it isn’t toxic.
From the Wikipedia page on heptane: The CDC
found that prolonged exposure to heptane may also cause a state of intoxication and uncontrolled hilarity in some participants and a stupor lasting for 30 minutes after exposure for others.
In other words, it has a narcotic effect. Other sources suggest that the effects of heptane are short term with few chronic effects. I can find nothing that says it is a green house gas of any kind. Like most any hydrocarbons, it is a volatile organic compound (VOC) which can be an air pollutant but that’s different from green house gases.
Contrast that with Ceramicspeed UFO Drip, which is non-toxic, non-flammable, and bio-degradable. Also, UFO Drip blows away White Lightning on friction and wear prevention.
Are you sure about that? Check
the UFO Drip SDS. The main solvent is n-hexane (60 - 100%) and pentane (10 - 30%). Both are more flammable than heptane and hexane has a higher chronic toxicity. Pentane also has a elevated chronic toxicity and from
from its SDS
Very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects.
It is most definitely
not bio-degradable. Nor non-toxic. Nor non-flammable. I’m not saying that White Lightning products are green but neither is UFO Drip.
In terms of wear, the comparison on the Zero Friction is to White Lightning Epic Ride which isn’t that great of a product. Clean Ride is different but there is no comparison of it to the other products on the list. I won’t say where it would fall on the list for wear but it is in the middle of the range for friction and friction is related to wear.
Oh, and it’s 9 out of 10 are wax based lubricants with 6 of the 9 being drip waxes. How does that fit with the statement
But if minimizing friction and preventing wear are the goal, there is probably no worse lubricant than the class of drip-on, wax-based lubes.
Zero Friction doesn’t seem to agree in either case.