If you’ve been on our blog at all, you’ve quickly learned that SACS preaches the good word of keeping up on your garage door maintenance! And a key part of that is understanding proper lubrication procedures for different parts of your garage door, as well as knowing what kind of lubricant you should be using in the first place.

Obviously, you want your garage door to operate smoothly and quietly, which is why you take the care to lubricate important pieces every few months. However, it seems like the more you spray that WD40 in there, the worse things get. What’s going on with that?

WD40 is Not a Garage Door Lubricant.

While WD40 is a super-handy, jack-of-all-trades lubricant, it’s not actually a lubricant at all; it’s a water displacement product. It’s a solvent that’s designed to keep water away from and unable to adhere to the surface of something. The protective value of WD40 is minimal; it’s simply not for that.

If you use WD40 on your garage door parts, you’ll put extra wear and tear on them. For instance, WD40 can actually soften and deform nylon rollers. Plus, it’ll attract dirt and debris, making for gunked up tracks and gears, and a noisy, rickety garage door.

So What Is a Good Garage Door Lubricant?

The good news is that while the WD40 myth is pervasive, it’s not like identifying and finding a proper lubricant is difficult; you can find them at any hardware store. There are 3 types of lubricants that are best for garage door parts. With any of these, make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions:

• Silicone lubricant: Silicone lubricant is a clear, non-greasy lubricant that is ideal for garage doors. Silicone lubricant is non-toxic and biodegradable, and it does not attract dirt or dust.
• Lithium grease: Lithium grease is a thicker lubricant that is more durable than silicone lubricant. Lithium grease is also water-resistant, so it is a good choice for garage doors in wet climates.
• Teflon lubricant: Teflon lubricant is a synthetic lubricant that is very slippery. Teflon lubricant is a good choice for garage doors that are prone to binding.

How to Lubricate Your Garage Door Parts

Just like there are lubricants you should and should not use in your seasonal garage door maintenance routine, there are also parts you should and should not lubricate during said routine. The best way to go about maintenancing your door is to inspect everything and then gently clean everything – all the nooks and crannies – except for the springs; don’t touch those. 

Once everything’s clean and ready to be sealed for the season, lubricate the rollers, hinges and bearing plates. Do not lubricate the tracks, as this will encourage debris and dirt to gunk up the tracks and make your garage door opener work too hard to drag the door through sticky tracks. 

Once you’re all done, don’t forget to wait a few hours until the lubricant has a chance to settle into surfaces before you use your garage door again. And there you go! You’ll probably be surprised at how smoothly and quietly your garage door functions once you ditch the WD40 and go for a proper garage door lubricant.