Yahoo Finance WD-40 CEO reveals 3 of the craziest ways his lubricating spray has been used
WD-40 (WDFC) Chairman and CEO Garry Ridge has seen some wild uses for the well-known lubricant during his 33 years at the company.
In short, it’s truly a multi-use product as advertised.
“We actually have 2,000 uses for WD-40 that is published on our website,” Ridge told Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade, adding the company ran a contest several years ago to see how people were using the product. It received 230,000 submissions.
“There was a lady in the Midwest, she used to feed her birds with a bird feeder out in her yard that sat on a pole and squirrels used to run up the pole. She used to spray the pole with WD-40. It didn’t hurt the squirrels and the food stayed uneaten. Many years ago, WD-40 was used to release a burglar from an air conditioning duct. He was robbing a bank I believe,” Ridge explained.
Ridge has gotten in on the multi-use fun, too. “I am an Aussie, so I have a barbecue. I love shining my stainless steel barbecue with WD-40. I have the cleanest barbecue in San Diego. I guarantee you that,” added Ridge.
Many others appear to be looking to WD-40 down the aisles right now on what Ridge calls “isolation renovation.” — or the COVID-19 pandemic causing people to renovate and fix their home while being quarantined.
WD-40’s fourth fiscal quarter sales rose 5% year-over-year, the company reported Tuesday evening. Sales surged 15% and 18% in WD-40’s Americas and EMEA regions, respectively, on the back of demand for trademark WD-40 and cleaning products like Lava soap. WD-40 sales in Asia fell 43% amid pressure in China as its industrial economy struggles to recover from the pandemic. Global e-commerce sales surged 58%.
Operating earnings improved 6.5% from the prior year to $24.5 million.
WD-40 shares spiked 17% in Wednesday’s trading session.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-anchor of The First Trade at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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