The standard “factory-lubed” switches will have pre-apply lubes on the following parts: 1) bottom housing stem rails, 2) spring, 3) stem and 4) spring cylinder.
Factory-lubed switches can be further categorized as machine lubed and hand lubed.
The technology of machine lubrication is not yet well developed and thus the amount of lube applied on every switch cannot be consistent. This could sometimes cause the switches to be overlubed with spillage. On the other hand, the lubes applied by hand lubrication will be more uniform and controllable, with comparably higher labor costs.
In some scenarios, “factory-lubed” means that the switches are being briefly lubricated during manufacturing. Therefore, we want to clear up a bit about the difference below and it is important to be 100% transparent for customers on what they would get.