2019 test6 productsShop Chemicals & Lubricants
Which Penetrating Oil Brand Wins?
We compared 6 penetrating oil options head to head. Gibbs came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Runner-up
FreeAll
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Coating Observation | Vertical Climb 5min | Vertical Climb 24hr | Thread Penetration After Climb | Ruated Nut Penetration | Final Ranking | Breakaway Torque |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Gibbs | made it all the way down to the washer after application; not quite as much viscosity as FreeAll or 3-in-One | already climbed all the way up to the Plexiglas in about 5 minutes, very good at creeping vertical surfaces | climbed about an inch and a half up the rusty steel pin, the most of the four real penetrating oils tested | went about a quarter of an inch up into the threads, done a little bit better than Mouse Milk | did a little bit better job than FreeAll as far as making penetration at both ends of the nut | first place, winner of the showdown | not tested |
| 2FreeAll | done a very good job of coating the nut and bolt, some FreeAll made it all the way down to the washer | done a very good job, although not quite as good as Gibbs | gone up about an inch and a quarter up the rusty steel pin | went up the threads about an eighth of an inch | seems to have done a slightly better job than 3-in-One Oil at penetrating the rust | second place | not tested |
| 3Mouse Milk | made it all the way down to the washer, very low viscosity | started to climb the bolt within about 5 minutes | moved about an inch and a quarter up the rusty steel pin | climbed all the way up the bolt and began penetrating the rusty threads, exact depth not quantified in the transcript | not quite as good as Gibbs, but did a pretty good job making penetration at both ends of the nut | third place | not tested |
| 43-in-One Oil | appeared to have the highest viscosity of all products tested, thoroughly coated the entire nut and bolt | doesn't look to be quite as good as FreeAll, but still doing a pretty good job of climbing a vertical surface | did not do quite as good as FreeAll, about an inch and an eighth up the rusty steel pin | climbed up at least a quarter inch, close to a third of an inch up the threads, called a very respectable job | obviously did a better job than diesel; some 3-in-One penetrated at the base of the nut and at the edge where the threads meet the nut | not named in the top 3 (Gibbs, FreeAll, Mouse Milk), implying fourth among the real penetrating oils | 117.5 ft lbs (bolt #2) and 148.2 ft lbs (bolt #4) per video chapter markers |
| 5Diesel | clearly coated the four bolts, looked like it did a pretty good job | actually done a pretty good job of climbing this bolt, all the way up to the Plexiglas | gone up nearly 2 in up the rusty steel pin, the most distance climbed of anything tested including the real penetrating oils | made it into the threads by about a quarter of an inch | left an oily film all over the nuts and bolts but no visible sign it penetrated the rust | not ranked among the winning products despite climbing the farthest; the video notes that climbing ability alone does not make a good penetrating oil | not tested |
| 6Water | bolt and nut looked thoroughly coated with water, some water remaining on the washer | has not done a very good job at all | may have gone up about a quarter of an inch, did not reach the Plexiglas | did not reach the edge of the Plexiglas so no thread penetration was measured | does not appear that water did any sort of penetration | worst performer; video explicitly recommends a penetrating oil over water | not tested |
How it was tested
- vertical climb / creep up a rusted bolt, checked at 5 minutes and 24 hours
- penetration into rusted threads once the fluid reaches the top of the bolt
- loosening (breakaway) rusty lug nuts after a single 1-hour application
- visual coating and viscosity observation after application
“Gibbs did a terrific job winning this showdown, and of course Free All came in a second place, as well as Mouse Milk third.”
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