WD40, at worst, in time will make an invisible film of a sort of varnish. That's how it tends to protect iron from re-rusting.
The mystery cleaner is not going to remove corrosion, sorry!
Didn't you guess what it is yet, anybody?
It is.....
GOJO "white creme hand cleaner"
(or any other brand of identical nature--not pumiced, not "orange action")
-----
GOJO is soft, white soap. Soap is an emulsifier.
There's a lot of water in soft soap. Water is a solvent.
GOJO's third ingredient is a small percentage of low-odor mineral spirits.
Cleaning things in general: A paper towel or cloth or brush charged with GOJO. Apply to almost any surface.
Smear it around, wipe it off. No need to rinse with water, not really.
What results: The three cleaners in GOJO work in tandem, together, to lift almost any sort of removable soil.
The grime of ages comes right off. You may need to let the GOJO sit on the surface for a short while, though.
The soap-aspect of the stuff leaves the surface with a nice, slick gloss.
GOJO cleans grubby wall switch plates, latex paint (then rinse with water to keep a flat finish "flat" looking; test first)
GOJO and 4/0 (finest) steel wool will greatly improve the appearance of checked, antique varnish surfaces.
WOODWORK, finished or not, cleans up with GOJO.
Grimy butcherblock, for instance: GOJO, liberally applied and smooshed around with the brush, and wiped off, and repeat the process, sucks filth right out of the pores of the wood, and leaves it looking like waxed wood.
Bikes, chains, greasy parts of any machine: GOJO.
It's a nearly universal cleaner. It's the best laundry-stain pre-treater for oily stains. It's also
safe for hands. Funny, that's the only thing that hand cleaner is promoted for, when in fact, the old soft soap
(your great great grandparents knew of it) is, today, the safest, most natural, most amazing cleaner of any in the household arsenal.
Costs locally: one dollar per one pound tub.
Available at the local auto parts stores.
ALSO SOLD online as Kotton Klenser
(google that, and check the price if you want to laugh at suckers--I use to buy that product until I got my suspicions up, and realized it is nothing else but soft soap)
Caveat: This is not good for scrub-cleaning aluminium, say, with a 3M green abrasive pad. Why? Well, the soap does make a waterproof grease of the aluminum your pad scrubs off! That "soap film" we all know about, is the tendency of soap to also make water-insoluble compounds with some things.
The slickness of a GOJO cleaned surface also owes in part to the mineral spirits content of the cleaner. That will evaporate. The soap stays behind and is a lubricant of sorts, and as like a wax, the soap imparts a gloss to shiny surfaces, and a glow to matte surfaces.
Driving wood screws is much easier if rubbed on soap, or dipped in GOJO.
Find something really filthy in the garage, get a medium bristle brush of the sort we used to call a radiator brush,
and with GOJO and five minutes easy work, make that junk look about like new, just as clean as new.
Also favorited: microfiber cloths. Local auto parts store (Advance, etc) may carry them in bundled packs, very cheap and very good and infinitely reusable by washing.
Microfiber cloths are no bunk. They hold more water than terrycloth, and have far less tendency to scratch fine surfaces. Funny, because they are of a nylon-type synthetic, and when dry, feel awful on the skin, like plastic fabric. But, man, do they clean!
Brushes, GOJO (white creme only!), a pack of microfiber cloths, all available at the auto parts store around the corner.
OH--do you have any brushed finish stainless steel in the kitchen? Any fingerprinting hassles with it? Greasy sink?
Guess what is the slickest remedy? GOJO, of course!
Also pulls the stains from marble, cleans granite, brightens just about everything--kitchen cabinets' finishes, RANGE HOODS (you'll find the work is a joy--no hassles!)
TELL your mates "Honey, let's try this out, you know, if it's good for hands, then it's probably safe to try it elsewhere. I just bet this will clean almost anything"
That way you get the credit for "my" discoveries, because, hell, I have no interest in your wives.
So, go to town! Ha ha! GOJO
:twothumbs
(am a walking advert today)
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cach....htm+kotton+Kleanser&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us
Back when I contributed to Eric Reiss' fine book, I was still using Kotton Klenser.
Today, nah, no more KK here.
GOJO is the same thing, at one fifth to one tenth the price.
PS:
Because it is biodegradable, once opened, a container will begin to yellow with time.
And when a long-disused, opened container really starts to "go off", throw it out; not safe for your hands; the soup is bacterial, a culture for cuticle-infecting bugs.