One day I wanted to figure out what made WD-40 so special. Took a while. Then, figured out it was mineral oil + mineral alcohol (mineral spirits). Alcohol carries the tiny drops of oil with it. Evaporates, leaving behind the oil. Brilliant invention. A lot of magic mineral makeup for women works the same way, except it uses a form of silicon alcohol that evaporates within a few seconds leaving behind a tiny film of silicon with the color rock chunks embedded. Very clever.
[I have a giant bottle of the stuff (the makeup base silicon), just because I was in awe of how it works. Feels like talc when it dries. Used it to loosen a stuck hinge. Works the same way as silicon spray…. ’cause it is.. just cheaper]. I think it’s sodium metasilicate – I dunno. I’ll never run out of the stuff ’cause I barely need it except when I don’t have WD-40 on hand. I need coffee.
Oh, and you can substitute talc for WD-40 or mineral oil. Japanese engineering often does that in sealed parts for robotics. No maintenance.