[FitnessMechanic]

Hello out there! I'm new to chemistry but enthusiastic to learn. I'm an auto mechanic/technician and my main job now is repairing fitness equipment. I currently spend about $40/gal on a white "milky" liquid I use under the walking belt of treadmills; however; I'm searching for a way to make it myself. I assume it is paraffin, when I scrape it off the rollers when changing a belt it is a hard-ish wax. My only experience with paraffin is with my Mom's paraffin that is liquid when hot but dries solid after it cools. If I get a block of paraffin what will keep it liquid in the container like how it is when I buy it from the parts store? I have done some research on emulsifying, but I prefer to have a solid plan before risking my clients equipment on "homemade" materials. Feel free to email me and I'm more than willing to trade for any electrical/tool/mechanical know how in exchange! (F.Y.I.) I do know Silicon is a great option and is already liquid but it is very expensive. Thanks in advance -Ian

[MOTOBALL]

I would go with the "like dissolves like" rule-of-thumb, which suggests liquid paraffin; this is available at your local CVS/Walgreens etc.

Add your shavings of paraffin wax to the liquid paraffin with stirring (NO heating) until you get the consistency that you want.  Try this on a small scale (maybe egg-cup of liq. paraffin) to test the hypothesis, then scale up if it works.

Please let us know the outcome !!

Regards,

JMB