How to clean/lubricate a rubik's cube

Being able to solve a Rubik's cube is pretty cool. World Class Speedcubers average around 11-12 seconds these days. But speed does not only depend on fast fingers and brain power. You need a good cube. In this instructable, I will show you how to keep your cube turning at high speeds.

Step 1 The Materials

Things you'll need:

1 Rubik's cube

1 screw driver (optional)

2 tissues

1 can of Silicon oil

Comments

[Wroger-Wroger]

Spray the silicon into a glass, cover with plain paper and then let the acetone evaporate out over a day or two - cold weather 2 or 3 days, warm weather 1 day;

Then apply the lubricant to the pieces with a cotton bud, as you assemble them.

Simple.

[seabeepirate]

Use CRC Heavy Duty Silicone lubricant very sparingly. If you read the label it says specifically in bold caps "NOT FOR USE ON PLASTICS" and then a little ways down the label "WARNING: Contains Acetone". For those of you who don't know(knowing you guys there's probably not many), Acetone is a solvent that dissolves most plastics. They use a specific plastic that doesn't react to Acetone to bottle it for sale in stores along side the nail polish remover.

Acetone however also evaporates pretty quickly, so if you only spray a VERY small amount into your cube(as the directions above say) and then continue to work it until the Acetone evaporates, you should be OK. If you spray too much CRC Heavy Duty Silicone lubricant into your cube you'll actually destroy it because the Acetone will dissolve vital parts before it can evaporate. That sticky feeling you first get after spraying the lube in is actually the plastic trying to fuse together, keep working it so that it can't seize.

I learned the hard way, I completely ruined a cube by spraying too much into it. I thought if a little got it working OK a lot would make it work great, but instead the Acetone just melted the swivels on the main posts and now it just falls apart if you try to solve it.

I personally like to use graphite powder, but it makes a mess and leaves a grey residue all over your fingers.

[Wroger-Wroger]

Spray maybe a thimbleful of the silicon into a glass, cover with plain paper and then let the acetone evaporate out over a day or two - cold weather 2 or 3 days, warm weather 1 day;

Then apply the lubricant to the pieces with a cotton bud, as you assemble them.

Simple.

[lawlufunny]

Hey guys i just got a new dayan guhong v2 cube. When i turn the green side i hear this clicking noise. I'm thinking it has something to do with the spring. Any ideas on how to fix this?

[juliaKen]

Learn Rubik's Cube tips they'll help as well!!

[ramsterrambo]

hey dude, you speed cube and if so wat type of cube is that

[javierjjs]

I'm pretty sure it's a lanlan.

[minime12358]

I was wondering the same thing: Its not a rubiks or an edison as far as I can tell based on several pics

[.Unknown.]

I have this '3 in 1' silicone spray, with WD-40 on the side of the can. Claims to be safe for metal, wood, rubber and plastics....but in the small print, it says that it contain petroleum distillates, hydrocarbons, (that's just because of the spray can, right?) and "prolonged exposure to plastic and rubber not recommended". Unfortunately, I read this AFTER I lubricated my cube.....What's gonna happen to it? Right now, I don't really notice much difference before the lube.

[spark master]

actually WD 40 WARNS you that it can melt some plastics. It tells you to check on a scrap. You can also use gear grease meant for VCR's as well as graphite.

[minime12358]

With wd40, youll notice a difference almost immediatly after you spray it. It turns terrribblly really quickly. patroleum is okay for a cube, but after a long time its not to great.

[spock155]

NEVER and I repeat NEVER buy a Rubik's Cube from Zumiez...

[fearme36]

yeah cuz they cost aboout 15 kagillion bucks!

[minime12358]

Never... I repeat never buy a rubiks cube... period. THey really arent that great, they lock up to much etc. I have a competition coming up, and they require you to use rubiks brand.. which is not normal whatsoever

[musicninja17]

Require? Must be non WCA....weird....

[minime12358]

Yah, It wasnt. It was a You Can Do the Rubiks Cube event. 8 people, 25 cubes, 1:47.77 seconds :D

[om_shiv151]

petroleum jelly works nice

[wolf555hound]

yea, but over a while the pretroleum can melt the plastic.

[vignesh1230]

Petroleum jelly will not MELT the plastic in your cube. The black residue that comes off when cleaning your cube after long periods of using petroleum jelly is just residue left by the the pieces rubbing against each other. I have been using my petroleum jelly lubricated Rubik's cube for around 15 years now and it hasn't melted(O.o) yet. So don't be afraid to use petroleum jelly in your Rubik's cube.

[fart1995]

no it wont melt it, but petroleum will eat away at it over time, so i dont know if you have some hulk cube, but it seems like an exageration.

[Win Guy]

Well, how long is it gonna take?

[musicninja17]

Why risk it when there are WAY better alternatives.
Silicone spray. Crc. Jigaloo. And the best: Lubix.

[cowscankill]

I suggest using some fine sand paper and sanding down all of the inside before cleaning and lubricating. Makes the cube work like a dream if it happens to be very tight.

[fredricksburgthethird]

you type silicon but the can at the end says silicone.

[CaptainCrash]

It's the same thing I'm just too stupid to spell it correctly.

[Win Guy]

Understood ;)

[ralfo9]

while it's taken apart... i had this friend, capable of solving the cube very fast. but i had TWO small identical cubes. so i took them apart, and did put them together exchanging two pieces. so each cube had one color with ten pieces and another with only eight pieces. i gave to my friend, and he tried to solve it, but i didn't work out, of course, he tried over and over, getting nervous and upset, until i solved it...

[steelers67]

i tried this with silicon lubricant and it made it worse!!

[aznxsushi]

The way i did it was to sand down the middle pieces a bit and used Vaseline lotion to lube it up. now it can lock up as much and is a lot faster and smoother.

[PalaDolphin]

I tried the exact brand of silicon lubricant shown in your picture and it melted the plastic on my cube. Now the cube is literally frozen. The whole reason for searching for a site like this was to avoid permanently damaging my Rubik's Cube with lubricant, which is exactly what happened. Originally, I had a new cube one week old and my times where averaging 1:45 from the get-go, much faster than my old cube. Then, after one week, it tightened up. That morning, I'd gotten a solution time of 1:34. Then it all of the sudden got very humid and the cube got somewhat sticky. My times fell to 3 minutes plus. This is frustrating because I was just learning a technique to rotate each face with a single finger, helping speed up my two-handed solution and mandatory for a single handed solution. So, I searched and found this Web site. When I bought the silicon lubricant and applied it, the plastic melted and froze the cube. I spend another $10 on a new cube and am wondering what to do to correct the old frozen cube? I'm also wondering what lubricant I should use on the new cube if and when it gets a little sticky? Has anyone tried graphite?

[Wroger-Wroger]

Spray the silicon into a glass, cover with plain paper and then let the acetone evaporate out over a day or two - cold weather 2 or 3 days, warm weather 1 day;

Then apply the lubricant to the pieces with a cotton bud, as you assemble them.

Simple.

[vignesh1230]

Okay if you used silicone spray you have to at LEAST work it in for around 1-5 mins. If it has gotten tight just use a flat screwdriver and knock one edge with a hammer. Then remove that edge and disassemble the whole cube. Soak the cube in water or grease remover and this time lubricate it with less silicone spray. It should work.

[the duct tape skater]

I used petroleum jelly and it worked really good

[musicninja17]

Graphite works very nicely, but it has the tendency to kind of leak out and get your hands all black...

[CaptainCrash]

hmm...what kind of cube were you using? maybe it was made from a weird kind of plastic. I've been using this since I started cubing and it has never given me trouble. the only time it has ever made my cube worse is when there s a lot of dust build up inside. It makes it feel "gummy" after applying the lubricant. But I usually clean that out first.

[PalaDolphin]

Update: After leaving the cube alone for a couple days, and viewing other YouTube videos on how to lube and not to lube (how Shakespearian) your cube, I went back to my old silicon lubricated cube to see if anything could be done to revive it. The cube was initially completely frozen, but after “breaking” its silicon hold, it had become looser than ever before. By “breaking”, I mean that instead of the cube being very sticky to move, it had frozen completely. But, when I forced it, it had let go of its silicon hold and rotated freely. It was no longer sticky, but glided with little friction. It’s not as fast as some of the cubes I’ve seen on YouTube where the guy is rotating it with one finger, but it’s getting there.

After examining the contact surfaces, by rotating a face 45°, I found a gray residue. It seems to be embedded in the surface, as opposed to loose falling out. I included a picture.

Next, I’m going to do as some videos have suggested: disassemble the cube, lay out all pieces, spray silicon lubricant on all contact surfaces, and let it dry 15 minutes. Someone also suggested filing down these surfaces with a nail file, but I’m thinking of using very fine sand paper. I’m going to try each step and document my findings. I’m in search of the ultimate lubrication technique.

[Wroger-Wroger]

Spray the silicon into a glass, cover with plain paper and then let the acetone evaporate out over a day or two - cold weather 2 or 3 days, warm weather 1 day;

Then apply the lubricant to the pieces with a cotton bud, as you assemble them.

Simple.

[ljrox123]

i think i know what you did. you didn't work your cube after applying the silicone. if you let it dry it turns into "glue" basically.

[PalaDolphin]

I'm using the standard Rubik's Cube you can buy from Target for $9.84. I followed your instructions to the letter: I disassembled it and wiped all surfaces with many paper towels, removing some residue built up from one week's worth of daily usage. After reassembling it, it did work smoother. Then I popped out one edge piece and sprayed silicon in the spring area, which leaked throught the cube and melted the plastic. Since posting my first comment, I've heard others have this sticky result after using silicon. They said it disintagrate the plastic, but when the residue is removed it's much faster. They then worked it in and then applied Vaseline. I haven't tried this yet.

[Wroger-Wroger]

Spray the silicon into a glass, cover with plain paper and then let the acetone evaporate out over a day or two - cold weather 2 or 3 days, warm weather 1 day;

Then apply the lubricant to the pieces with a cotton bud, as you assemble them.

Simple.