The knob is hard to turn. I am afraid of turning it too hard or too much and breaking it and having a much worse problem.
4 Answers
No, and No.
WD-40, 3-in1 and other oils will wash out.
You want what is called plumbers grease. Its sold in little tins or small plastic cups. About 1oz or so. Shut off the water to the faucet, might need to be done at the main water to the house. Remove the handle, remove the ‘packing nut’ (the nut just below the handle) now temporarily re-attach the handle and use it to unscrew the ‘stem’ from the faucet. Lefty Loosey (counter clockwise). The stem and handle should come out.
Check the washer in the end of the stem to make sure its intact.
Now you can lubricate the threads on the stem with the grease, re-install everything. If you get a leak from around the stem/stem nut then you may need new packing material. A drippy faucet indicates a bad washer.
This project should not take more than a few minutes. It will take you longer to get to the hardware store to get the grease.
Use WD40, or 3-in-1 Oil.
use oil or even wd40
loosen the packing nut 🙂