Hi everyone I need your help. I got a new cube last week and it was very good right out of the box. I wanted to try to make it better. I lubed it using Silocone spray which I used on my other cubes and when I put it back together it was worse the before. The cube is binding. Is there any way I can fix this?

Thanks
Dave

Its a regular Rubiks that I bought at Toys R US.

Did you make sure to use a pure silicone spray? Some sprays contain petroleum distillates that will eat plastics, causing puzzles to get gummy and bind.

Yes it was pure silicone

Well it's hard to say what exactly is wrong without examination, especially if other cubes are just fine. I wonder if the puzzle's composition is somehow different than others and is reacting poorly to the lubricant.

I'll give you an example. A couple of years ago I was in the process of taking apart several super 2x2x2's while in the process of making some Franken Towers. I noticed that one particular piece of one of the 2x2x2's had a slightly different hue than the others. While the other pieces were a deep black plastic color, this one particular piece had a slightly brown tinge, almost sparkly and golden in a swirled pattern that you could only see at a certain angle to the light. It reminded me of a piece of cat's eye stone.

And it also gave off a very noxious odor when I cut it with the dremel. All other pieces give off a distinct plasticky scent when cut with the dremel since there's a slight bit of melting. This particular piece gave off a rather toxic chemical smell that almost gagged me. I've never seen another piece that was quite like it, and I've definitely cut apart and examined a lot of super 2x2x2's.

The point I'm making is that different batches of puzzles can have different ratios of chemicals used to make them, so maybe that particular puzzle has a few pieces that reacted poorly to the silicone.

Or maybe there's some other mundane reason for it. Try taking the puzzle apart and reassembling it. If that doesn't work, then inspect the puzzle closely and see if there might be an edge or two causing the binding. And examine the pieces to make sure they're not tacky or feel strange.

I've lubed 2 Rubik's 3x3x3s and 1 Rubik's 4x4x4 and each time it was pretty sticky for the first 3 days but after that it improved significantly.

I think it partly depends on the way your cube was designed and just small manufacturing defects. I lubed my sister's cube and mine the same way yet hers, althought it turns well, has a smooth sort of resistance to it while mine is much more slippery (but locks up more).

My 4x4x4's feel turned out somewhere in between the two above but I am very satisfied with it. From my personal experience as well as what I've read online, I think it's largely due to luck. But either way, the spray should have helped somewhat so wait a few days and check it out again.

Jin, Thanks for all of the advice. When I get home form work in the morning I will try your sugesstions. Hopefully I can fix it.

If the peices arn't actually fused together, and its just stickier, my guess is the spray hasn't dried fully. I usually spray it, play with it a bit to work the spray around, and then disassemble it and let it dry for a bit. put it back together again. if its still sticky repeat the play/take apart and let dry mode.

Don't use too much spray at once... that will cause it to be sticky and be worse... as I've heard...

Well here is an update. I took the cube apart again and clened it off and reassembled and got it back close to the way is was before. I might have to do it again. I sould have left it alone as it was almost perfect right out of the box. Thanks to everyone for all of the advice.

Dave