Does anyone remember, before wire-eze, that we used Lux Flakes or Ivory Flakes? One of my jobs as an apprentice was to mix the soap and apply to the pulls.
Sam

I remember Ivory Soap too, and also used baby powder!

Old Timers!!

Wire pulling compound is required to be listed.
www.ul.com

That was about the same time as turning all your wire junctions down and fluxing them so you could bring the solder ladle up to them. You would then pull away slowly so the solder made a ball and then tape them up. HMMM

In the late sixties we used squirt bottles of Ivory dish detergent for wire lube. What a mess.

I come across black pipe pulls that I have always suspected baby powder. It is now confirmed!

Humm, Memories

Baby Powder....

My ex wife used to ask "Where were you today?"

"At work" I would say, "Why?"

"Humm, you smell as though you were somewhere else you should not be" she replied.

Took her to a weekend shut down (underground) cable pull 1 day, she sat in the car and watched, never asked the question again, but she would always ask after that!
How's your back, that looks like hard work!!

The good old Days.

I can also remember blowing baby powder through a straw, and sometimes cigarette smoke into black iron conduits in the NYC hotel rooms that I rewired near the garment center!

We pulled the old wires out first, and then pulled in new TW?

I can also remember using a 12 AWG RH that looked like a 8 AWG!

Way back when, we used “Ideal 31-251 Wire Lube“. It fit an apt description of pulling soap. It seemed to precede the wax-based stuff by about a decade. Had spongy, semi-melted ice-cream consistency and a wheat-dough color. Anyone remember that stuff?

[Pure talc {USP- or NF-grade} has no odor, so no suspicious accusations.]

Joe Tedesco wrote:

Well now that explains everything



-Randy

And then there was the time we tried to remove the old feeders in that hotel in all of the risers, it would be simple we thought and then the reality set in!

Grease! and it was like phenolic, as hard as a rock, we were in trouble for sure, had to install all new raceways --- Master Electric from 39 th street in NYC lost lots of money on that job!

Lesson learned? look a little closer before giving the bid.

Losta —

So underwriter’s now owns the “Good Housekeeping” seal, too?

Bjarney wrote:

Doesn't your local AHJ look for it?

-Randy