My attempt to fix a squeaky floor with baby powder backfired hard

I dumped a whole bottle of baby powder into the gaps between my hallway floorboards hoping it would stop the squeaking, but instead it turned into this weird paste when the humidity got high. Now I've got white streaks seeping up through the cracks every time it rains, and it looks awful. Has anyone else tried a lubricant trick that just made things worse, or is there actually a solid way to get baby powder out of deep gaps?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordanblack1mo ago

Hang on, I gotta push back a little. Baby powder is mostly talc or cornstarch, so it's basically a fine powder that turns into a thick, pasty mess when wet. That's not really a lubricant, it's more like a filler that's going to cake up. You'd have way better luck with something like a dry silicone spray that's actually meant for this kind of thing, but you can't just dump it in either. As for getting it out, have you tried blasting it with compressed air or a shop vac with a thin nozzle attachment to suck the loose stuff out before it turns into more paste when it rains again?

smith.anna1mo ago

Totally agree with @jordanblack on this one. Baby powder in a lock is just asking for a gummy mess later. Compressed air is probably your best bet to blast out whatever's loose before it gets wet again. Maybe try a silicone spray after it's totally dry and clean.

the_linda1mo ago

Hold on, did you say someone put baby powder in a lock? I had to read that twice. That's like dumping flour in a keyhole, I can't imagine how that would end well. You're right that it'd turn into a pasty mess the second any moisture hits it. Compressed air sounds like the only sensible fix before it really clogs things up.