Angry Face

What color is the lubricant? The only white/clear ones I know of are either PTFE or Silicone, in which case you can test the difference with solubility (dry silicone lubricant is soluble in wet silicone lubricant).

Unfortunately, we don't really have experience here testing between types and more so just finding the most convenient ones to use that are plastic/rubber safe.

Oh, that's too bad. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

I think this thread should help you guys better understand what I'm up against. The orange variant is the one I'd be testing for the presence of a lubricant, whereas I'd like to spray an equivalent solidifying lubricating substance on each part of a brown one, test it, and compare its to the orange's previous results.

As I said before, though, I believe the difference in performance is due to a lubricant, but I need to find a way to test that theory. Can either PTFE or silicone be clear? Because while there is certainly nothing white about the orange variant initially, the plastic at areas of contact do begin to appear slightly "frosted" after heavy use.

Take a look at Captain Slug's lubricant page, it might give you some guidance.

Thanks for the reply, Daniel!

I actually came across that same thread in my initial search, but this time I read the whole thing through. While it is indeed very beneficial to those seeking advice on what types of lubricant to use, I was unable to find any information on how to test for the presence of what I suspect is a dry, solid lubricant. Since it's also apparently invisible and leaves no trace, I think I should be looking into an indication process of the chemical variety.