Prevent Snow Buildup on Your Shovel

December 22, 2009 at 12:35 am Chad Upton 3 comments

Snow can be wet and sticky. Shoveling that heavy snow is bad enough without extra snow buildup on the shovel. The secret is to lightly spray the inside of your dry shovel with WD-40.

“WD” stands for Water Displacement and it is the fortieth attempt at developing a substance to prevent rust and corrosion on the Atlas missile and rocket family. Basically, it was developed by rocket scientists. So, if you need to displace water (snow) then this is your answer.

There is a rumor that WD-40 is based on fish oil, but it is in fact a petroleum based product. The exact formula is such a big secret, it is not even patented, which means the ingredients are not publicly documented. Although, with some digging I found a Material Safety Data Sheet, which is required in some countries in case someone swallows it or gets it in their eyes. The two main ingredients are Aliphatic Hydrocarbon and the Petroleum Base Oil.

It also looks like they brought some of those rocket scientists back to develop a straw that is impossible to misplace (see photo).

Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton

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Sources: WD-40, JobSite

Entry filed under: Around The House, Automotive, ProTips. Tags: hydrocarbon, petroleum, shovel, snow, wd-40, wd40.

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3 Comments Add your own

1. Chickita | December 22, 2009 at 9:39 am

I love these posts! Very helpful!

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2. Beth | December 9, 2014 at 7:22 pm

My tip to keep from losing the little red tube: When I get a new can, I cut the end off a drinking straw right below the bendy part. Next, fold the straw back down on itself about an inch down. Tape it to the side of the can, placing the folded end at the bottom. The straw will still be open at the top, making a little compartment to store the red tube in.

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3. Garry | December 21, 2015 at 4:49 am

There’s a far easier & cheaper way to keep snow from sticking to the shovel.
Warm shovels melt the snow!
Just put it outside 30 minutes before you’re going to use it. The shovel will be frozen & won’t melt the snow as you use it.

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