If you’re like most people, you’ve got a dusty blue-and-yellow can of WD-40 sitting in the garage or under the sink… and you only touch it when a door squeaks.
Totally fair.
But here’s the thing: WD-40 is quietly one of the most useful “cleaners” in your house—and almost nobody uses it that way.
At Tidy Casa we’re constantly testing weird tricks to make stuff shine again. WD-40 is one of those “sleeper” products that keeps proving itself.
Let’s talk about what it actually does, where it’s awesome, and where you don’t want to use it.
What WD-40 Actually Does (In Normal-Person Language)
WD-40 is really good at two things:
1. It’s a solvent
That means it helps break down oils, grease, sticky residue, and tape gunk.
The main ingredients are “petroleum distillates” (fancy way of saying it’s in the same family as mineral spirits). When you spray it on:
- It loosens sticky stuff like tape residue, sticker glue, and road grime.
- It slides between the gunk and the surface so you can wipe the mess off instead of scraping forever.
2. It displaces water (“WD” = Water Displacing)
WD-40 also pushes water off the surface:
- Helps dry off damp or lightly rusty parts
- Slows down corrosion
- Makes it easier to clean and maintain metal over time
So, it’s not a “soap” or disinfectant. It’s more like a gunk-breaker + metal protector that happens to be great for some cleaning jobs.
Quick Safety Stuff (Read This Before You Spray)
Before we go room-by-room, a few ground rules:
- WD-40 is NOT food safe.
Don’t use it on cutting boards, countertops where you prep food, inside the fridge, or anything that touches what you eat. - It’s flammable.
Keep it away from open flames, hot stovetops, and don’t go wild near gas appliances. - It’s a spot cleaner, not a Mop & Glo.
Don’t spray it all over your floors. Super slippery. Bad idea. - Always test first.
Try a tiny hidden spot on painted walls, furniture, and finishes to make sure it doesn’t leave a weird shiny patch.
And most important:
After you use WD-40, clean the area with soap and water, especially if it’s something you touch a lot (like fridge handles or door knobs).
Where WD-40 Shines in the Kitchen
You can’t use it on food surfaces, but it still has some all-star jobs in the kitchen.
Stainless Steel Appliances
Overpriced stainless-steel cleaners? You can skip a lot of those.
WD-40 can:
- Remove fingerprints and smudges
- Help with light rust spots
- Leave a thin protective coating that helps resist future scuffs
How to use it:
- Spray a small amount on a microfiber cloth (not directly on the fridge).
- Wipe with the grain of the stainless steel.
- Buff with a clean, dry part of the cloth.
- If it feels oily, follow with a quick soap-and-water wipe.
Sticker & Label Residue
Perfect for:
- Price tags on glass jars
- Sticker residue on metal pans or plastic containers (that aren’t touching food)
- Old tape marks on cabinets or tile backsplashes
Just spray your cloth, press it on the sticky spot, wait a minute, then wipe.
Bathroom: Shower Heads, Metal Bits, and More
The bathroom is another place where WD-40 can quietly do work—just keep it off the floor of the tub and shower.
Shower Heads
Hard water and calcium buildup make shower heads look rough and spray weird.
WD-40 can help:
- Loosen mineral deposits on the outside of the shower head
- Protect the metal from rusting as quickly
Spray on a cloth, rub the metal parts, wipe clean, then rinse. For heavy buildup inside the nozzles, vinegar soaks are still king—but WD-40 helps with the outside finish.
Metal Fixtures & Rusty Screws
You can use it to:
- Shine up metal brackets, screws, and trim
- Clean rusty screw heads around fixtures or vents
- Help loosen slightly rusty or stuck bathroom hardware
Again: small amount, on a cloth, then wipe and wash.
Walls: Scuffs, Marks, and Crayon Art
If you’ve got kids, pets, or just real life happening in your house, your walls probably have… “personality.”
WD-40 is great for certain marks on painted walls, doors, and trim:
- Scuff marks from shoes or chairs
- Fingerprints and mystery grime around light switches or door frames
- Crayon marks (especially waxy crayons)
Important:
Always test a hidden area first. On some paints—especially flat or matte—WD-40 can leave a slightly shinier patch if you scrub too hard or don’t wash it off.
How to do it:
- Spray WD-40 onto a cloth.
- Gently rub the scuff or crayon mark.
- Wipe with a clean cloth.
- Follow with a little dish soap + water to remove the residue.
Around the House: WD-40’s Greatest Hits
Across pretty much every room, WD-40 is a champ for the small, annoying stuff:
1. Door Hinges and Strikes
- Cleans off old grime and dust
- Helps stop squeaks
- Protects the metal a bit over time
Wipe off any extra so it doesn’t drip or stain nearby surfaces.
2. Locks and Latches
- Frees up sticky locks
- Cleans and protects metal faces and latches
- Helps moisture and light rust stay away
If a lock is totally seized, you might need a dedicated lock lubricant, but for light crud, WD-40 often does the trick.
3. Window Tracks (Metal Parts)
- Loosens dirt and grime in metal tracks and slides
- Helps windows open and close more smoothly
Don’t soak the whole track. Spray onto a cloth or small brush, rub the metal, then wipe and vacuum out loosened debris.
4. Sticker & Tape Residue
This is one of my favorite uses:
- Old tape from hanging holiday decorations
- Sticker residue on glass doors
- Labels on plastic bins and storage tubs
Spray, wait, wipe. Super satisfying.
5. Rusty Screws, Nuts, and Small Fixtures
All those little metal bits hiding in corners:
- Rusty screws in door plates
- Metal brackets in closets
- Small hardware in laundry rooms, garages, and bathrooms
A quick WD-40 treatment can clean them up and make them look less “I forgot about this house for 10 years.”
The Simple “How-To” for WD-40 Cleaning (Every Time)
No matter where you use it, the basic process is almost always:
- Spray WD-40 onto a cloth (not directly on the wall or appliance if you can avoid it).
- Apply and scrub the spot you’re trying to clean.
- Wipe dry with a clean cloth or paper towel.
- Follow with soap and water on surfaces you touch often (fridge handles, doors, locks, etc.).
Think of WD-40 as a special forces cleaner. It’s not your everyday mop water—it’s the stuff you bring in when normal cleaners can’t quite get it done.
Final Thoughts (From a Cleaning Nerd)
We use a lot of different products at Tidy Casa, WD-40 isn’t one in our normal cleaning kit. That said, I’m always testing new ones. WD-40 isn’t the answer for everything, and it’s definitely not something to spray around food or all over your floors.
But for:
- Sticky labels
- Crayon on walls
- Scuffed baseboards
- Rusty little metal bits
- Fingerprinted stainless steel
…it’s honestly a rock star that’s probably already in your house.
If you’d rather not geek out over solvents and water displacement and just want your home to feel clean without thinking about it, that’s literally what we do all day.
We clean homes in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tucson, and we’d love to take this kind of stuff off your plate.
👉 You handle life. We’ll handle the WD-40.