I get maybe a year from a water spray bottle before it stops working properly even with a clean nozzle.

I had the bright idea of using a salt shaker filled with water. I have several sizes and they have different affects. Not as good as a spray but better because they always work.

Then I got to thinking what is wrong with the spray bottle? I placed a couple of drops of olive oil on the plunger and bingo it works like new
.
.

zeuspaul wrote: ↑Tue Jun 13, 2023 3:24 am I get maybe a year from a water spray bottle before it stops working properly even with a clean nozzle.

I had the bright idea of using a salt shaker filled with water. I have several sizes and they have different affects. Not as good as a spray but better because they always work.

Then I got to thinking what is wrong with the spray bottle? I placed a couple of drops of olive oil on the plunger and bingo it works like new
.
.

spray bottle.jpg

Yep.
Sometimes the whole mechanism gets jammed up.
I use a product called CRC-226.
It's a food grade light mineral oil you can find in the electrical section at Home Depot.
I've used it for close to 30 years.
A thousand uses and it won't polymerise like vegetable oil.
A cheaper pharmaceutical grade mineral oil can be found at any grocery store in the pharmacy laxative section.
It's just thicker.
I use it on my cutting boards.

Thanks for the plunger tip. I'll have to try that next time. Usually the problem with mine is that it starts leaking onto my hand when I squeeze the trigger. I've not been able to fix that. Lately I've been buying a slightly heavier duty kind that says on the bottle it's for use with chemicals and cleaning supplies. They seem to last longer but I can never get more than one season out of them.

On the other hand, my 2 gallon sprayer has been in use for about four years now. I quit being lazy and do the triple rinse after each use, pressurizing it on the third rinse to clear the tube and nozzle. It's kept it working fine, just a little lube needed on the plunger now and then.

I’d struggled with spray bottles for forever, and then a couple years back my wife picked up a 2-pack of very cheap spray bottles at a huge and chintzy retailer we try not to frequent but can’t entirely avoid living where we do. Those dang things have been both highly functional and indestructible. I can only assume that we got lucky. Hopefully posting about it hasn’t ruined it.

I just got these a week or two ago. I had the same frustrations so trying to find a higher quality bottle. By the time I've run them through their paces for a few years to test longevity this thread will probably be long buried unfortunately...

worth1 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 13, 2023 5:11 am Yep.
Sometimes the whole mechanism gets jammed up.
I use a product called CRC-226.
It's a food grade light mineral oil you can find in the electrical section at Home Depot.
I've used it for close to 30 years.
A thousand uses and it won't polymerise like vegetable oil.
A cheaper pharmaceutical grade mineral oil can be found at any grocery store in the pharmacy laxative section.
It's just thicker.
I use it on my cutting boards.

okay. crc-226.
how bout trolling motor shafts? Fiberglass mk shaft in a hard plastic sleeve/bushing.

JRinPA wrote: ↑Wed Jun 14, 2023 11:54 am

worth1 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 13, 2023 5:11 am Yep.
Sometimes the whole mechanism gets jammed up.
I use a product called CRC-226.
It's a food grade light mineral oil you can find in the electrical section at Home Depot.
I've used it for close to 30 years.
A thousand uses and it won't polymerise like vegetable oil.
A cheaper pharmaceutical grade mineral oil can be found at any grocery store in the pharmacy laxative section.
It's just thicker.
I use it on my cutting boards.

okay. crc-226.
how bout trolling motor shafts? Fiberglass mk shaft in a hard plastic sleeve/bushing.

It would probably free it up

This is a really good spray bottle that I picked up at Wal-Mart for a little less than $4.
Super happy with it.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bottle-Crew- ... hbdg=L1102

@friedgreen51 , I think that's the one that Pickles got the other day to replace my leaky one. So far, so good! Works really well so we'll see about the longevity.