# Sta-Bil (gasoline treatment) reinvents itself **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 4, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414 "2026-11-04T17:48:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/1 "2026-11-04T17:48:03Z")
For 60 years Sta-Bil has been the choice for adding to fuel that has to be stored. It works great. Things like snow blowers that sit for 9 months between uses start right up. Sta-Bil is heavily involved in all forms of motorsports. When I bought a Predator engine from Harbor Freight I see they require the use of Sta-Bil to maintain the warranty. I noticed recently that they now have a product for “In Season Use”. It’s not clear what advantage it might offer. So now they sell a Sta-Bil for the times you don’t need Sta-Bil. The original product is now called “Storage Sta-Bil” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/2 "2026-11-04T17:53:05Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I noticed recently that they now have a product for “In Season Use”. It’s not clear what advantage it might offer. Probably for ethanol mixes. A heavy dew is enough to introduce water into ethanol. A five-gallon can that lasts a half-season might benefit from it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/3 "2026-11-04T17:57:37Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > It’s not clear what advantage it might offer. Recent research by the Sta-Bil company may have found that year-round use of Sta-Bil increases the sale of Sta-Bil. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/4 "2026-11-04T18:08:29Z")
'Zactly. STP fuel additive lived on that motivation for decades. May still. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/5 "2026-11-04T19:21:23Z")
It says that the in-season product has PEA cleaners. That means polyether amine cleaners; the same stuff that Chevron Techron and Gumout Regane has. It’s good to clean deposits out of carburetors, combustion chambers and fuel injectors. And in carbureted and port fuel injected engines, it’s great at removing intake valve deposits. So @Little_Nemo has it mostly right; they’re trying to use their brand recognition to market an everyday fuel system cleaner as “in season protection”. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/6 "2026-11-05T12:36:24Z")
Originally I started using Sta-Bil 360 Marine for an outboard motor to protect against ethanol. The outboard went away a long time ago, but I still use it for all of my yard equipment, mostly for ethanol, but it does protect for storage up to a year. So it’s been (kind of) every-day use for me for years since I don’t over-winter things - I’ll probably cut my grass more often December to February than I did during the drought of this past summer. I can’t see how the new product is much different, except that it seems to be less concentrated than the Marine stuff. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/8 "2026-11-06T17:52:08Z")
> [@Bayaker](#): > > I can’t see how the new product is much different, except that it seems to be less concentrated than the Marine stuff. I’m not familiar with the marine grade but 1 ounce of the original Sta-Bil treats 2.5 gallons of gas and the In Season treats 5 gallons. I use the original all year long also. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/9 "2026-11-06T23:30:27Z")
The original stuff is basically a chemical blend that’s intended to react with oxygen before the gasoline and stave off other chemical reactions that make gasoline spoil in storage. The in-season stuff clearly doesn’t need to worry about that, so like I was saying earlier, it’s a fuel system cleaner more than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/10 "2026-11-07T13:32:41Z")
Sta-Bil sounds like the name of a He-Man character. > **[Check out this chat](https://chatgpt.com/share/6aef2809-b6b4-83e9-8f10-7dd9a3bf21f7)** > > Here's a chat someone thought you'd want to see. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/11 "2026-11-07T16:18:01Z")
With the 360 Marine stuff 1 ounce treats 10 gallons. I have a 4-stroke chain saw that might get used once a year, and it starts right up every time using the marine grade, so the long-term aspect works. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/12 "2026-11-08T01:22:17Z")
And Cool Stickers ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/13 "2026-11-08T02:53:39Z")
Isn’t there a joke about what STP stands for? Like Ford stands for “Found on Road Dead”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/14 "2026-11-08T18:44:44Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Isn’t there a joke about what STP stands for? Ma’am, please. Leave the oil product jokes to the men fokes. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/16 "2026-11-08T19:34:39Z")
Like I was saying, it’s not the same formula. If you read the website, it’s much more like Chevron Techron or Gumout Regane, with polyether amine fuel system cleaning additives, not sacrificial anti-oxidants like the traditional Sta-Bil formula. They’re just using their name to market a different sort of product. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/17 "2026-11-08T19:44:36Z")
@mixdenny Bless your kind heart for thinking of my fragile sensibilities. 😋 ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sta-bil-gasoline-treatment-reinvents-itself/1034414/18 "2026-11-08T22:48:21Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Bless your kind heart for thinking of my fragile sensibilities. Ooo, I got a “bless your heart” Oh, wait…