Lubricant for Rubik's Cube

Jeff Simmermon posted this 1980s ad for a substance called Cube Lube, "an incredible lubricant specially formulated for the cube and other mind-boggling puzzles that move."

Cube Lube (And I Am Not Lying)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

More at Boing Boing

Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Cpt. Tim

My first reaction was like “This is news boing boing? cube lube? who hasn’t heard of…”

oh yeah. not everyone is as big a nerd as me.

Cube lube is pretty good, a silicone spray works well too, you just have to keep it moving for a bit because if you just spray it in and let it sit it can have the opposite affect and stick the cube together.

Also there’s a site that sells awesome replacement stickers for your cube called cubesmith, i got these thick tile like stickers that are textured kinda like skateboard grip tape. they’ve lasted over a year and still look brand new.
trr

Sorry, but K-Y is not sugar water. It’s mainly glycerin and propylene glycol, IIRC.
OK, I looked (at wikipedia) and it’s glycerin, hydroxyethyl cellulose, and propylene glycol. It’s got some sorbitol in the liquid version but “jelled sucrose” it is not.

I agree that Cube Lube is probably silicone based.
Graphite would be messy. A suspension of powdered PTFE (Teflon) is another (less likely) option (like they use in the Poinewood Derby cars when powdered graphite is not allowed due to the mess.)

Sheesh, I’m about to run out of parentheses. ;-)
Lauren O

This reminds me of the time one of the kids on my Quiz Bowl team was fiddling around with another team member’s Rubik’s cube.

“This is nice. This is so tight. All it needs is some more lube.”

He didn’t understand why the rest of us burst out laughing.
LogrusZed

TRR: You know that glycol is sugar-alcohol, right?

Here is the entry on glycol, which is glycerin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerin

K-Y = is sugar water, gelled. Yeah, it’s not raw sugar, I could have been more specific but it wouldn’t have made my statement any more clear to a layperson.
Anonymous

Hee hee… why not:

Rubik’s Lube?

-Raz
Justin Ried

What’s wrong with plain old petroleum jelly? I’ve had lots of Rubik’s Cubes over the years (and Rubik’s Revenge) and Vaseline has never steered me wrong.

Cube Lube has a much cooler name, though…
Tenn

I went on a Rubik’s-ing binge yesterday and also a browsing Rubik’s binge, and I found that they actually offer kits to make your own cube to your specifications- complete with cube lube.
Jack

Justin, Vaseline? On lots or Rubik’s Cubes? Really?

Wait, apparently I am old thanks to what I am seeing from the kids on the YouTube.
EH

I remember using 3-in-1 oil.
Takuan

so,is there like a contest where people solve Rubik’s cubes in a fundamental way?
neurolux

I would think the long chain molecules in petroleum jelly would slowly dissolve the plastic in a Rubik’s Cube.
DavidPFarrell

Be careful when using spray lubes, silicone or otherwise – the propane/butane used as a carrier for the lubricant can melt your cube.

In fact in the spray-lube tutorials where they say things “your cube will be stiff and gunky” that is because the pieces are melting!

For some awesome silicone liquid lube that does wonders for many twisty puzzles, look in the PuzzleProz store here:

http://stores.ebay.com/PuzzleProz

“Type A” Speed Cube + PuzzlProz lube For The Wins!
arkizzle

OK, this is a repost, but it’s relevant:

From the HOWTO Anonymize Your Digital Photos thread, and refers to Jessica Fridrich.

Turns out, besides arming the machine to hunt down freedom-lovin’ photo-bloggers, she’s a crazy fast Rubik’s Cuber achieving up to TEN MOVES A SECOND ! !
Check out this video of her solving the cube in 14.33 seconds, and read about the multiple conditional algorithms (up to 100) she uses in her head, to achieve it.
joespro

I think this is the single greatest thing I have ever seen, ever. Truly.
Anonymous

Or how about an all-magnetic (ie. you can pull it apart) one made out of dice? MAKE vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNWTv0h5Yz0
ivan256

#18:

OMG, you don’t know about Speed Cubing?
Takuan

I can certainly see how this would relieve the discomfort
MitchSchaft

Taht’s actually true for vaseline and NOT spray lubricants.
Oskar

Yeah, to all you non-cubers out there: you have to lube your cube if you want to get even remotely fast. I use silicone spray which works brilliantly once you’ve applied it and used it for a few hours (although in the beggining, it feels like you’ve coated your cube with glue), and then lasts forever (well, it lasts until the cube is otherwise worn out and you have to buy a new one anyway).

I don’t really think a special lube is really needed specifically for Rubik’s Cubes. Just buy some silicone spray.
LogrusZed

Also useful if you have an 8-bit digital dong.
ESQ

Graphite power works well, but the cube is for chumps… I’m 10 pieces away from solving my 12-color Megaminx. =)
trr

No, Logruzed,
I know that glycols are not sugars. Glycols do not contain aldehyde or ketone functional groups. Sugars do. Glycols are diols.
Also, glycerin is not a glycol. Glycerin is a triol.
And neither glycerin nor propylene glycol are made with sugar as a feedstock. Interestingly, glycerin is a major byproduct of biodiesel production.
If you were really trying to dumb it down, OK, but you should not have used the word ‘sucrose’, in that case.
gottabefunky

Would this technically be a “cubricant”?
alexx

they still sell that stuff. my calc teacher in high school (just a couple years ago) used it on his.
Bob Doles Communist Doppelganger

You know, my cube movement has been a little sluggish lately.

I wonder if it works on time cubes?
OM

…ISTR this is simply a thicker form of K-Y.
Jack

They still sell this on eBay. Just do a search for Cube-Lube. But it’s now $3. What a bargain!
romwell

Heh, it’s fun how people never heard of Cube Lube… I am not a cuber (just got my cube half a year ago and still have to crack it), but even I know what it is +)
LogrusZed

OM: Kind of unlikely since KY is basically jelled sucrose (sugar water). This is probably some kind of silicone lubricant or possibly graphite; but graphite, while being a good dry parts lubricant (not those parts) usually stains your hands.
gabu

Sounds like a Borg marital aid.
ill lich

I remember kids using petroleum jelly on their Rubix cubes to make them twist easier, but I also seem to recall that petroleum jelly eventually caused them to fall apart as well.
RJ

I thought we just had a discussion about this kind of thing. A lot of people were singing the praises of cornstarch.