Well cherry bomb, I do have a Ph.D. and have been making lubricants for 25 years although I am not a tribologist. There are ASTM tests for corrosion but I don't know of one for loosening rusted materials. If you have a reference then please pass it along.
When I first bought this formula from the chemist who developed it, I had surface tension tests run on the product to see what its numbers were. Burlite was a 27 dyne's per cm and water is about 75. The key here isn't oil viscosity ie. lightness it's surface tension. There are a number of combinations that will lower surface tension to promote saturated flow in small porosity and with enough back yard chemists trying enough combinations there will be multiple products developed and at that point it becomes a marketing game.
If WD-40 works for you, it is a great water displacer and not much of a penetrant, or your own home concoction then go for it.