I don't know who spread this rumor that SuperLube could be used to lube switches, but it stops right here and now.
DO NOT USE SUPERLUBE TO LUBE YOUR MX SWITCHES!!!
DON'T DO IT!!! DON'T USE SUPERLUBE TO LUBE SWITCHES!!!
Okay? Okay.
Krytox = yes
RO-59 = yes
Teflon lubricants = maybe
What is the reason for this? I did not desolder my filco, but I used a very small brush and depressed the switch and painted the side tracks with a very light coat of superlube and it helped a lot.
Is the recommendation not to use suberlube based on how it ages or what?
From others' experience:
There are several variants of Krytox lubricants. Some are widely used and are available in small quantity, some are not. If purchased in small quantity, say 1 oz, shipped price is close to $40, which I think is prohibitive for many people. If purchased in larger quantity, it is still expensive. 500g container goes over $200.
I didn't start my lube journey with Krytox. I tried to explore with cheaper alternative first, but after I experienced Krytox, I didn't really feel necessary to look at any other lube. It was that good. I tried superlube, some lube that I could get for cheap at Home Depot, reel oils, and etc. First, they weren't good enough (that is why I continually searched for alternative and began spending bigger $$ on lubes). Second, safety on rubber and plastic were not guaranteed for the cheap lubes since they lacked proper documents(spec sheets and etc).
My initial search for lube was intended to be used on my aging HHKB, so it had to be rubber and plastic safe. Krytox was well known lube solution for Cherry switches among Korean community, yet I didn't know how to get them and I was hopeful that there were good enough alternatives hence my search began. There may be cheaper and equally good solution, but I quickly learned from my search in cheap lube that cheap solutions don't usually work as it should. I am not an expert in lube by no means, so my search in consumer level lube may have been bound to fail and Krytox is probably an overkill. I just don't know of good enough solution that performs as well as Krytox in keyboards though. If I knew I would have recommended them, but I can only recommend and compare the lube that I have experienced and tested.
Edit: You could use SuperLube oil on the springs in place of Victorinox Tool Oil. But that's it. I wouldn't lube my stems with SuperLube any day, when Krytox is available.
First of all, that's way overreacting. Have you tried Superlube for switches? I have and had comparable results with using krytox mixtures. It is perfectly plastic safe.
Referring to the fact that you can lube switches using superlube as a rumor seems to infer malicious intent, which I assure you is not the case. I didn't have access to krytox at the time, tried an alternative and simply reported my results. How is this a rumor?
I have used superlube as a grease alone, as a mixture with its oil for switches, and this was over a period of 3-4 months of daily typing on a board lubed with Superlube grease alone, and with grease/oil mixtures later. It doesn't harm the switch in anyway, and while I can tell the difference between the krytox mixture and my superlube mixture in use, the feel is not inferior in anyway, just different.
The only reason why I went with Krytox in the end was because of the way Superlube degrades. I have opened up the switches months after to do further mods and found that Superlube yellows after exposure to air. That's about it. I have found that krytox doesn't suffer from the same issue, and have similarly reported it when comparing lubes. That doesn't mean that Superlube can't be used.
That said, if anyone is looking to look lube their board once and never touch it again,
there is no reason they shouldn't just go for krytox now, especially with the availability of krytox mixtures now from mkawa and originative, compared to six months ago, when the difference in cost was much higher (25 for a tube of 205, and almost 20 for 103 after shipping (which was really hard to get, except from the two gbs ran by Jocelyn and you respectively), for a total of 45usd in krytox lube, compared to 15 bucks for a large quantity superlube grease and oil).
Comparatively, the krytox is the better choice
now since you could get krytox for 13.50 at originative. If this had been available back then, I probably wouldn't have bothered with superlube in the first place.
