Apparently, if your padlock is getting hard to turn—not completely stuck, just stubborn—you can spray lubricant right into that hole. Not like cooking spray or something (don’t do that), but real lock lube. WD-40 works, or graphite spray. Whatever’s designed for tiny metal parts.
You stick the little straw into the hole and give it a quick shot. Doesn’t have to be a whole thing. And that lube, it’ll slide right into the mechanism where you can’t reach otherwise. I guess it gets between the pins and springs and whatever else is in there, and just… unsticks stuff.
I tried this once with an old combination lock I thought was toast. I was gonna toss it, but figured I’d give it one last squirt for science. Waited a few seconds. Tried turning it. It actually clicked. I stood there for a second like, “Did I just fix a lock with a straw?”
Honestly? Felt kind of powerful.
