15 replies to this topic

[Mad Mark]

So wasnt sure where to put this but I just found out the hard way that oil apparently ruins some plastic. whatever hot wheels uses for there plastic will split when oil is applied. wondering how I never had this experience on any slot car related parts. or I have and didnt associate it with oil causing it.

kind of putting this here as a warning to be careful what your live comes in contact with.

[Mad Mark]

Ruined these mint redline wheels with oil.

[Bill from NH]

There are oils that can be safely used with plastics. I think I got some from Professor Motor 4 or 5 years ago.

[Dave Crevie]

Yes,some additives used in motor oils have a solvent effect on plastics. These remove the chemicals added to the plastic to keep them plyable. The plastic becomes brittle. In some cases, the additives actually dissolve the plastic.
Hobby shops have lubricants specially formulated oils for plastics. All LaBelle oils are plastic safe. Also, check with Mike Swiss about his oil. I believe it is plastic safe.

[Mad Mark]

Yes,some additives used in motor oils have a solvent effect on plastics. These remove the chemicals added to the plastic to keep them plyable. The plastic becomes brittle. In some cases, the additives actually dissolve the plastic.
Hobby shops have lubricants specially formulated oils for plastics. All LaBelle oils are plastic safe. Also, check with Mike Swiss about his oil. I believe it is plastic safe.

Now I’m sorta paranoid about using my oil on anything!

[Brian Czeiner]

It may not be just the oil. "Plastic" is a very generic term and many of them have a shelf life. The evidence is in all kinds of products from Hot Wheels to full sized cars or your house. We have all had a knob, clip or other do-dad break on some appliance or car part.  Your back story wasn't very detailed but it seems to me the complete wheel has a crack in it too. I've seen that in many old redlines. I'm sure you know, but there is a website out there for replacement/custom redline parts.

 

https://www.redlineshop.com/index.htm

[Mad Mark]

It may not be just the oil. "Plastic" is a very generic term and many of them have a shelf life. The evidence is in all kinds of products from Hot Wheels to full sized cars or your house. We have all had a knob, clip or other do-dad break on some appliance or car part.  Your back story wasn't very detailed but it seems to me the complete wheel has a crack in it too. I've seen that in many old redlines. I'm sure you know, but there is a website out there for replacement/custom redline parts.
 
https://www.redlineshop.com/index.htm

They were perfect before oil was applied. even modern repro wheels crack exactly the same. not sure what these are made out of. I’m in a redline group would on FB and specifically asked how to remove the wheels and was even talking about using oil and no one said anything.

I made this same post on that group after this happened and some people know about it (thanks for telling me before! lol)Even the old cards had a warning not to oil the bearing it ruins the wheels. guess it did it even when new.

[Dave Crevie]

I didn't find anything on the Redline website about oils to use on the plastic wheels. Did find this pretty good video on painting the die cast bodies.

 

https://youtu.be/MXa...GY9carMyVt5jMJM

 

Back to oils, this is an excerpt from a technical bulletin by the plastics division of Miller Industries, that explains the interaction of certain oils with plastic. Although it is intended for the plastic container industry, the chemistry remains the same regardless of type of plastic or oil is used.

 

 

Not knowing what type of plastic Hot Wheel's wheels are made of, I can't recommend an oil. But my guess is that they are made of Delryn. In that case, no oil would be my recommendation. As we found with pinewood derby cars so many years ago, oil can actually slow a car down. Now that goes against common sense, but we couldn't argue with actual results. 

 

 

 

[Martin]

No oil would be my recommendation, we all used graphite powder on the axles of Pinewood derby cars. 

[Mad Mark]

I didn't find anything on the Redline website about oils to use on the plastic wheels. Did find this pretty good video on painting the die cast bodies.
 
https://youtu.be/MXa...GY9carMyVt5jMJM
 
Back to oils, this is an excerpt from a technical bulletin by the plastics division of Miller Industries, that explains the interaction of certain oils with plastic. Although it is intended for the plastic container industry, the chemistry remains the same regardless of type of plastic or oil is used.
 
  Screenshot 2025-04-25 084640.png
  Screenshot 2025-04-25 084725.png
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  Screenshot 2025-04-25 084903.png
 
Not knowing what type of plastic Hot Wheel's wheels are made of, I can't recommend an oil. But my guess is that they are made of Delryn. In that case, no oil would be my recommendation. As we found with pinewood derby cars so many years ago, oil can actually slow a car down. Now that goes against common sense, but we couldn't argue with actual results.

Interesting thanks. the oil I use is actually Castrol Brayco. a drag racer gave it to me and said it’s some skunkworks mil spec stuff haha. I’m using the oil to remove the wheels not to make them roll good also.

[Mad Mark]

No oil would be my recommendation, we all used graphite powder on the axles of Pinewood derby cars.

Yes no more oil. I was using the oil as a penetrant not for rolling resistance. heard stories of people ruining cars taking wheels off so wanted to be extra careful. but I don’t think some hot wheel people have the finesse of pro slot racers also haha.

[Dave Crevie]

Just plain liquid dish soap will help get the wheels off. And won't attack the plastic. 

[Bill Seitz]

I've not heard of oil effecting plastics, but there are so many different kinds of plastic and oil. Some plastics are quite brittle or become so very quickly when exposed to the environment. So, oil or no oil, the plastic may just crack and break with age - and not much age at that. If I were selecting a benign oil, I'd try a vegetable oil over a petroleum-based one.

[Dave Crevie]

This problem was first encountered in the late 1950's when the model railroad industry started importing brass locomotives from Japan. These locos had plastic gears, where the U. S. models all had brass or steel gears. The petroleum based oils were causing the Japanese gears to become brittle, which would split or loose teeth. Some good ole' Southern boys developed a synthetic oil that did not effect the plastic gears. They marketed it under the trade name LaBelle. That company has since grown to supply all sorts of model railroad products. Their line of lubricants are a bit pricey, but superior.

[John Luongo]

good info. years ago a friend of mine built that renwal "visable V-8" plastic model using motor oil as a lubricant. you guessed it- he seized the engine after running it for a while.

[Bill from NH]

There was a Lionel train shop in Manchester, NH called "Mountain Trains". They carried the line of LaBelle products, oils & grease. I bought a tube of oil there.