I’ve had these steel fans over a decade and I maintain them with a little grease each summer. This summer in particular, I think the grease in the can is degrading and I’ve needed to do this maintenance three times this year so far. Not wanting to futz with this another time this year, I tried a new lubricant: baby oil (the mineral oil base kind of baby oil).
Works great and now my living room smells ever so slightly of baby.
Bicycle or motorcycle? As I recall, it’s just mineral oil. Would probably be okay for a bicycle, but I’d prefer chain lube or chain wax for a motorcycle.
Definitely bicycle. Yeah, it is just mineral oil. I think the chain oil I use has a bit more viscosity I think, but I’ve not directly compared.
That, and I believe chain lube has something in it to help it stay adhered to the links instead of just flying off.