How to Lubricate Your 3D Printer (Yes, We Made a Blog Post About It)
Yep. Apparently OilStick has a blog now.
There's really no reason that this should exist, but our marketing guy said we needed it. He used phrases like "organic search," "topical authority," and "thought leadership."
Thought leadership.
For a f***ing tube of oil.
Congrats Google, you won.
Why Does OilStick Need a Blog?
Because somewhere along the way, the internet decided that simply making a useful product and putting it on a website wasn't enough.
Apparently, selling the thing is only Step 1. Now we also have to publish a weekly column explaining why we sell the thing.
Sure we could pretend this is part of our ✨ brand storytelling initiative ✨ but honestly we're just hoping a search engine notices phrases like:
- best lubricant for 3D printers
-
how often should you lubricate your 3d printer
- 3D printer maintenance guide
- best oil for linear rails
- tools for maintaining your 3d printer
See? An SEO consultant would call that “organic.”
Felt pretty forced to us...
But Here's The Actual Advice
If you own a 3D printer, you actually should lubricate it occasionally.
Linear rails, guide rods, basically anything metal sliding against other metal.
When those parts dry out, friction goes up, movement gets rougher, wear increases, and eventually your printer starts making noises that sound expensive. So here's what you do:
- Clean the rails if they're dirty.
- Apply a light film of lubricant. (A little goes a long way)
- Move the print head back and forth to distribute it evenly.
That's honestly about it.
Most printer manufacturers recommend doing this ~3x per year, but it really depends on how much you print. If things sound rough or feel sticky, that’s usually your cue.
Maintenance isn't complicated. People just like to make things sound complicated because then there wouldn't be enough material for blog posts.
Now For Some More Search Terms Since Apparently That's How This Works
- How to lubricate a Bambu Lab printer.
- How to lubricate a Creality printer.
- How to lubricate an Elegoo printer.
- How to lubricate a Prusa printer.
- How to lubricate linear rails.
- What oil should you use on a 3D printer?
- Can you over-lubricate a 3D printer?
If you found this article searching any of those phrases, you're part of the problem.
Final Thoughts
To all the people that somehow made it through this entire thing, congratulations. You just read an entire blog post from a company that sells lube in a tube. Your family must be so proud.
But hopefully this was at least mildly entertaining. We'll probably be back with some more exciting articles such as:
The 10 Hottest Trends in Lubrication for 2026
5 Oils That Changed the Way We Think About Friction
The #1 Trick Big Lube Doesn’t Want You to Know
But anyways....
Welcome to the OilStick blog.
God help us all.