Duct Tape & WD40 - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Duct Tape & WD40

Today duct tape and WD40 are commonly used to fix about anything, but growing up on the farm in the 1950’s we did not have either product. Both existed back then but believe it or not, were limited to government use. Duct tape was developed by Johnson and Johnson (of Tylenol, Band Aid & Covid vaccine fame) during WWII to seal ammunition boxes yet making them easy to open. It was also adapted for makeshift repairs to military equipment. After the war the tape became commonly used in construction to wrap air ducts, thus the name. However, way back in 1899, there was a material called “duck tape” that actually was the forerunner of duct tape. Canvas material at the time was called duck and back then, an adhesive would be spread on one side of the canvas and then stuck to something needing fixing to provide a seal while holding the parts together.

Meanwhile, WD40 was abbreviated from the term "Water Displacement, 40th formula”, suggesting it was the result of the 40th attempt to create a water-resistant product. The spray, composed of various hydrocarbons, was originally developed in the mid-50’s to coat and protect the outer skin of the Atlas missile, the first ICBM, from rust and corrosion. No doubt there was likely some duct tape also used on that missile since it was and still is government-issue, as evidenced by this photo from the recent Mars rover mission.

Another impressive use of duct tape came in 1970, during the infamous Apollo 13 lunar mission that went awry. During the mission, two external oxygen tanks exploded that forced the astronauts to move into the spacecraft's lunar module, where carbon dioxide levels rose precipitously. The crew used duct tape (among other items) to patch together a CO2 filtering system featuring an incompatible round hole and square filter as shown in this photo.

After the military use, coincidently, WD-40 was found to have many household uses and was made available to consumers in 1958. However, neither product was sold by Albers Hardware in Ft. Loramie, because if they had, Dad would have bought some, as he was a loyal customer of that old hardware store, a trait that I also inherited. In fact, at one point after retirement, a golfing buddy suggested I work part time at an Ace Hardware where he worked. Considered the offer but never followed up. Maybe I missed my calling?

Over the years, WD40 has found some very creative uses, such as cleaning stainless steel appliances, removing super glue from your fingers, coating the front of your car to keep bugs from splatting, breaking in a new baseball glove, removing crayon marks on walls, and more. In fact, this link documents over 2000 different uses for WD40! But don’t believe them all as shown in this video.

It wasn’t until college that I discovered duct tape and WD40, when both were readily available to create our various engineering projects for class. I recall several projects where we had to improvise on the fly and used both products. We quickly learned, "If it doesn’t move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and it shouldn’t, use duct tape.” The following engineering flow chart says it all!

Couldn’t resist including these photos about the two products:

My wife would not think highly of this cologne:

But would agree with this adage:

Nothing’s perfect!

Sounds good to me:

Too late for me:

Found this to be true:

Ouch, but whatever works:

Nerd glasses - duct tape worked great:

What’s the rule - If it supposed to be moving and isn’t, use WD40:

Now the varieties of each product are endless! Go figure?

Any duct tape or WD40 stories to share, Fish Report readers?

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