Not survival-related, but I thought the chemically informed people here can help.

What's the difference between silicone lubricant spray and silicone grease? I want to protect rubber, o-rings, car door seals, diving equipment. I know that for diving equipment you need a special grade for the stuff you may have to breathe through. But what about everything else?

I did a search online, and people have asked this question without getting a solid answer. I learned that the lubricant contains stuff other than silicone in the aerosol spray. Silicone grease can be hard to remove and can harm car paint. Different brands of silicone lubricant can affect the rubber differently in the long run. But I still don't know what the difference is.

I'm interested in this, too.

There are wiser heads on this topic than mine, but here's what I've found.

Looking through a few MSDSs for the silicone spray lube, it appears the active ingredient is polydimethylsiloxane. Same for the silicone grease lubricant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydimethylsiloxane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_grease

The spray lubes have mostly light hydrocarbon propellants (and a few proprietary odds and ends for voodoo purposes).

For the greases, there are a LOT of formulations. Everything from food grade rubber gasket lube to dielectric grease to heat transfer grease. Not all appear to be designed as lubricants.

I can tell you that the automotive dielectric grease I used to lube flashlight o-rings was scurvy stuff for that purpose. Great for battery posts though.

EDIT: Here's a link for a company that formulates all sorts of stuff. http://www.novagard.com/compounds/Rubber-Plastic-Lubricant.html To the right there are technical data sheet links that make interesting reading (to me, anyway). Standard disclaimer.

Bingley .. TMI mate.
don't need to know about your personal life :-)

Pete2

I'd wager your post reveals more about your personal life than the OP's.

Hahaha! Good riposte, Doug.
I'd venture further down this path - but it will only increase the tacky subject matter. These types of comments are best left to bikers' forums. So in the interest of restoring civility ...

This channel will now return to its normal programming folks !!

Pete2