WD40 ... over 18?

[Knoll]

The Wife was going to WalMart.  So I asked her to pickup a can of WD-40. 
She did self-checkout.  Screen popped up a message saying she needed to get an employee to approve the WD-40 sale as ya needed to be 18 or over to purchase.

WD-40 ... need to be 18 to purchase?
Huh?

She was hoping to be carded, but that didn't happen.   

[JoJoDapyro]

Kinda like having to give a written history of your family to buy cold medicine.

[BOWMAN53]

happened to me the other day. anything toxic cant be sold to minors.

[JoJoDapyro]

WD40 is toxic?  guess I better stop putting it on food.

[Dharma]

People are "huffing" it. You know, spraying it into a plastic bag, putting said bag over their nose and mouth, inhaling, and getting a high that lasts a lifetime. I remember in the army, the MPs did a search of the barracks for this "video cassette head cleaner" being sold off post. I think it was amyl nitrate. Anyway, dudes were huffing that and that's where I found out people will sniff anything to get high. Supposedly, some soldiers tried to get the fuel out of a TOW missile to huff because they heard it was da bomb. It really was, so the story went. It blew up and killed them.

[RBLusthaus]

Although I don't want to eat it, WD-40 is not toxic.  Fish oil base.  No worries if it gets on your hands - - which is what makes this product so useful compared to other water displacers with other base chemicals like spirits or alcohol.   

Little known fact - and I use the word loosely -  WD-40 sprayed on your fishing bait or lures is better than any other scent product and the bass really nail it.  Once told about this a few years back by some old man at a town fair and have kept a can in my tackle box ever since.  Cant say for sure it is the WD-40, but whenever I use it, I never fail to catch a few.  Just a quick spray on your lure, rubber worn or shiner and bobs your uncle.  Just saying . . . .

Russ

[Dharma]

WD-40 was developed by the defense industry as a water displacer for the balloon tanks on the Atlas ICBM to prevent corrosion. Only later did someone saw, hey, maybe this has other applications. Then they went to the Titan 1 and then Titan 2 ICBMS whose fuel was unstable and sometimes blew up and ejected the warheads outside the silo. I guess WD-40 wouldn't have helped there.

Most stores are doing an over 18 policy on nearly all aerosols, especially if they are petroleum-based, or they think they're petroleum-based. Those are the ones the teens huff.

[bow101]

lol..........thats kind of funny.  PS buy the smaller can It seems that the large can starts running out of steam 2/3 down and it leaks like a stuck hog. ...

[Crogacht]

Maybe the WD-40 over here is different, but it's definitely toxic. Smells more like petrol than fish oil. Seems like it's mostly a cocktail of various hydrocarbons.

[Dharma]

Bear in mind it was developed by the U.S. defense industry for use with a nuclear weapon. They weren't overly concerned with toxicity.

[osage outlaw]

I'm sure it was due to the huffing reason.  We get inmates at work from a local jail on a work release program.  I caught one of them this winter huffing electrical contact cleaner.  He was so high he couldn't stand up or talk.  First time I've ever seen somebody so messed up like that. 

[beetlebailey1977]

WD-40 contains petroleum distillates.......read the label.

[Dharma]

Someone should spread the rumor a person can get high huffing dog crap in a plastic bag. Good way to get the yard work done for you.

[BryanR]

Guess I'm lucky to have a local hardware store nearby.  Their cash register is an adding machine.  I need some new seals for a shower valve, and that old guy knew exactly which drawer they were in.

[Dharma]

In the hardware store here, everything that is small and popular is in locked cages. But you have to know what you're looking for because no one will know what or where it is. You have to peer into the cage, see it, and go get someone to get it out for you. If they're around...