I have a square one (sphere core) that turns horrifically. It squeaks when I turn it. I was wondering, because I don't want to spend money on lube, what kind of alternative lubes are out there?

AW

I buy "LifeSpan Fitness 100% Silicone Treadmill Belt Lubricant":

http://www.amazon.com/LifeSpan-Fitness- ... l+silicone

The cost per ml is much lower than Lubix and other lubricants marketed for cubing.

Can you tell what's an approximate viscosity of this lube?

Hmm I don't know. It seems low but I don't have a lot of context.

I'm not sure I can measure the viscosity either.

I'm open to ideas. I can buy Lubix too and compare the two if there is some test you think would be good to compare the two.

Get a cheap Petroleum jelly and ignore all the negative replies to this advice.

No I don't think you can measure viscosity at home, at least with the amount of lube that you have. I was thinking more of some kind of an approximation. If you don't have lubix (I don't), I can't ask you to buy it just to satisfy my curiosity. It just thought it would be helpful if you could describe if it's like water, like softsoapl, or maybe like honey.

It's more like water.

You can definitely compare two viscosities even if you can't put an absolute value on them. One idea I have is to place two drops of equal volume on a slope and observe which one "runs" faster.

The other idea is to roll a heavy steel ball on a surface that has been coated with one and measure drag. Comparing the drags will tell you their relative viscosities.

I lubricated mine with silicone spray, it worked perfectly and it only cost me about 6 bucks (50 swedish Krona). (I have since used it on almost all of my puzzles, the can is still half-full)

I use Traxxas RC car differential oil. You can buy it from Amazon in many different viscosities. (I use 30k.)
http://www.amazon.com/Traxxas-Oil-Diffe ... ential+oil

Supposedly, the 50k is comparable to Lubix, but I like mine thinner.