Lube Your Nuts?

fractalz said:
I still use the age-old pencil technique.
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About 30 years ago I bought a small tube of powdered graphite that I still use to this day for the nut...have found it works well enough to not have to explore other options. In a pinch I'll just use a pencil in the slots (a mechanical pencil is thin enough to get into the smaller slots).
 
Just recently tried the Big Bends on a Fender that seemed to be temperamental either in the bridge or string tree. Fixed the problem using a very small amount on each. Expensive, but at this rate it's a lifetime supply. The applicator makes it clean and easy. That (somewhat) justifies the cost for my purposes.
 
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I've looked around a whle ago and found several recipes. Some even contained actual lube for... organic purposes. Most just combine Vaseline with pencil dust. I tried the pencil dust on its own but it didn't do anything for my Duesy. Also it looks funky on a white nut. So I tried a bit of Vaseline with a tiny amount of silicone oil for viscosity. Works wonderfully. But one has to be very careful with silicones around guitar wood. it will seep into the wood and cause it to be really hard to paint. It will cause dimples in many finishes.

A luthier told me once that citrus fruits contain silicones! Don't eat oranges near your guitars and wash your hands afterwards!

I recently bought some Super-Vee Super Glide Nut Evolution Lubricant. Looked interesting. Haven't tried it yet.
 
My homebrew recipe consists of bee's wax lip balm with a tiny dash of graphite powder. It works great, costs next to nothing and can be found pretty much anywhere.
 
I use big bends because the syringe it comes in makes it really easy to apply and it's clear colored. I use it on the nut slots, fixed bridge saddles and Floyd Rose posts.

I used to use powdered graphite that's for door locks but it was messy. Mixed with Vaseline it's less messy but doesn't look too good because it looks like a black colored grease.

I've read that a lot of people use white lithium grease with Teflon powder .
 
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