Hetman USG....WTF?

[tubatodd]

Backstory: A friend gave me all of his Hetman oils and greases about 10 years ago. I've used all of the piston valve oil, some of the rotor and spindle oils and most of the greases since then.

Today, I went into my bag of lubes and grabbed some Hetman USG (Ultra Slide Grease). It's thick & sticky stuff. Probably the stickiest I've ever seen. Anyway, I put some on the downward facing slides (those that don't get a lot of push/pull while playing). Seemed ideal for a air tight fit and to be able to make small adjustments.

After I was done, my hands were a sticky mess. I had a REALLY hard time removing it from my hands. Regular hand soap did nothing. 91% rubbing alcohol (a degreaser I've used for removing stickers and decals) did nothing. Dawn dish detergent didn't do much....at first. I was in a bit of a panic.

What I had to do was make sure I rubbed as much as possible off on a paper towel and have the absolute least amount I possibly could left on my hands. Then I used Dawn dish detergent again and kept washing my hands for a while with a huge lather. After rinsing off, it finally came off.

Does anyone else use this grease? I think I know now why part of bag of Hetman goodies from my buddy included 4-5 containers of USG. That's 437 years worth of the stuff. He'd never get to use it.

[Craig F]

Try acetone or fingernail polish remover or WD-40 or PVC pipe cleaner. They are stronger solvents.

[tubatodd]

Try acetone or fingernail polish remover or WD-40 or PVC pipe cleaner. They are stronger solvents.

Yeah I probably could/should have tried acetone. I'm glad it didn't get to that point.

[Sousaswag]

I’m kind of nutty about slide grease, and tend to use disposable rubber gloves when I re-grease my slides. I have to wash my hands 3 or 4 times with the regular stuff I use to not feel sticky.

Particularly with something like that, I’d use gloves next time.

Maybe?? As suggested above, nail polish remover would work.

[MiBrassFS]

Flux brushes work great when applying slide grease. I usually trim off about 1/4” or so of the bristles to make the brush a bit stiffer.

Clipboard Feb 24, 2025 at 8.21 AM.jpeg (9.46 KiB) Viewed 3491 times

[arpthark]

Flux brushes work great when applying slide grease. I usually trim off about 1/4” or so of the bristles to make the brush a bit stiffer.


Clipboard Feb 24, 2025 at 8.21 AM.jpeg

Something I run into is that the Hetman grease I use when I am tinkering around in my unheated shop tends to pretty much solidify in the cold, so I end up having to use body heat (i.e., my fingers) to get it to soften up enough to apply it. I do like the idea of cutting the bristles so that it has a bit more stiffness. I will have to steal that one when it warms up a bit!

[hubert]

Nasty stuff. Instead of it I nowadays use woolgrease (lanolin): cheaper, effective, nAtural and durable.
Hubert

[arpthark]

Pretty sure Hetman is lanolin based. It smells like it, at least.

[MiBrassFS]

I don’t use any Hetman or derivative product. I usually use Tune Lube. Ferree’s makes and sells it.