
The high-speed printing presses that produce newspapers and magazines contain hundreds of rollers and cylinders that must be lubricated with oils so clean they won't leave spots on white paper traveling through at speeds up to 50 feet per second. These specialized inks and lubricants are formulated to never mix, since even a tiny drop of oil contaminating the ink would ruin thousands of pages in seconds. Modern printing facilities use food-grade lubricants on presses that produce food packaging, ensuring safety if microscopic amounts transfer to materials that will touch edibles. A single large printing press can use over 100 gallons of lubricant per year, all carefully managed to prevent the dots and streaks that would make printed images unusable.