Tips For Lubricating Locks
Posted on: 7 February 2017
If you have older locks for your business, there's a good chance that you want them to keep working enough so that you can easily lock and unlock them whenever you need to. You are going to need to do some basic maintenance in order to keep them in good working order. One step of the basic maintenance is to keep them well lubricated so that they turn easily and don't require you to put enough force on the key to mangle it. Here are some tips for lubricating your locks to keep them working.
1. Invest in Spray Graphite
For traditional tumbler locks, the best thing to do is to use powdered graphite to lubricate the locks. You can go to a store or search online for graphite that can be applied in a spray. Once you have it, all you have to do is insert the nozzle into the keyhole and shoot some of the graphite in there for about one second. Try the lock to see if it turns more easily. If it does not, remove the key and spray more graphite inside the lock, again for one second. Keep doing this until the lock turns easily.
2. Use Pencil Graphite in a Pinch
If you need to lubricate your tumbler lock and you need to do it now, without any time to go to the store to purchase spray graphite, you can use the graphite that is in a pencil to do the job. If you have a mechanical pencil, take out one or more sticks of graphite. If you have a traditional wooden pencil, then you will need to use a knife to scrape away the wood until you have at least an inch of graphite full exposed. Remove the graphite from the pencil by breaking it off.
Add the piece of graphite to the lock. Don't worry about keeping it in one piece. Insert the lock and remove it several times. Try doing this fifteen times or more to make sure that the graphite is ground to a powder through the force of the key pressing it against the inside of the lock. After your first fifteen attempts, try to turn the key to see if the lock will turn. If it doesn't keep inserting and removing the key. If it does, then you're all done.
For more information, talk to a company that specializes in commercial locks. They will be able to upgrade your locks.
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