Is there a particular brand or type of dry silicone spray you recommend. I'm checking ebay and finding dry and extra dry.

I have some old door locks which I'm certain are needing cleaning but I can't take them apart. Should I spray electrical cleaner or something similar in to rinse them then use the silicone when they've dried?

That's only in your imagination. Graphite is so soft and slippery it leaves just a very thin dry lubricating film, the majority will fall out of the openings for the wafers in the cylinder. Of course it may not help if if you apply graphite to a cylinder that is already gunked up from previous application of anything other than graphite.

"Still it has kept my locks working since the 1970s."

No, it hasn't ~ you posted a graphic thread of just how the lack of lubrication slowly grinds a lock cylinder & parts to death....

I took training to learn how to do things properly , growing up in cold & wet New England meant lots of stiff / dead / worn out locks, Auto, Home, every where .

Decades ago was a product called "Lock Ease", graphite in a liquid base, the base evaporated leaving nice slippery graphite to properly lubricate the locks as all lock manufactures recommended . it came in small blue metal cans and was cheap .

Chrysler & Jeep Dealers sell "heat riser solvent" in aerosol cans, it's wonderful stuff, being graphite mixed with a thin carrying fluid that rapidly evaporates after use leaving dry graphite behind . the can is stubby like a shaving cream can and has a plastic snorkel glued into the nozzle so it's always there and you can't help but spray deeply into the lock cylinder where it's needed .

A few times I've been far from home and encountered a sticky / frozen up lock cylinder, off to the Jeep Dealer I go where once in a while a lazy ass Parts Guy claims to not know what I'm asking for, I then go to the Service Dept. and grab a can off a mechanic's cart, if they still refuse to sell it I just use a quick spray to get things working properly again .

MOPAR PART # 04318039AB .

Every Fall I go 'round every lock in my home and spray some in to keep them working fine and easily, it's *very* good stuff .

Graphite doesn't clump up and cause problems, period .

I wonder if PTFE lubricants might also work ? .

The instruction to 'turn the steering wheel 90 degrees' is also a red herring, all one needs to do is move the wheel *just* enough to take the load off the locking pin before trying to twist the key ~ the key should never, EVER be forced unless you want to learn how to change the lock cylinder or wait for the tow truck .

That is part of my point. If there was no lube in mixed in it would not lubricate and get rid of the squeaks.

I wonder if WD-40 makes a product with powered Graphine suspended in the WD-40.

Of course the possible uses are on the Can. As I said I don't find WD-40 to work as good as real penetrating Oil for things you typically use penetrating oil for.

You are welcome to your opinion.

In the thread I posted within this thread the the ears of the tumbler broke off after 33 years of use and 10 years of me owning it and using WD-40 in it. That was the only time the tumber it self failed in the 10 years I owned it. After 33 years of use there is no indication that the tumbler failure was premature.

Keep in mind when we buy used Cars we have no idea how the past owners treated the Car.

In a lock shop the Locksmith was on the phone and he was telling someone that what causes the Tumblers in cars to go bad was hanging a large wad of keys off of the Key that goes in said tumbler.

There is nothing in WD-40 that clumps up.

Correct, large dangling rings of keys is death the ignition lock cylinders ..

I didn't say WD40 clumps up, you did .

What wd40 does is : wash all the accumulated dust and crud out allowing the now clean AND DRY lock to operate sans the lubrication it needs .

wd40 is trash and should be discarded as it always creates problem down the road .

The failure of some others to look ahead isn't my opinion .

One of my old Mercedes has over 420,000 miles on it's original cylinders, ALL of them . I copied the original key and it's fine, never jambs / sticks . I lubricate it with liquid graphite every time I think I can feel a difference in twist, about once a year .

This is an extremely entertaining thread.
 

It's beginning to rival the oil thread.

Not really ;

You have to work very hard to kill an engine by using the wrong oil....