How to Design a Best Practice Lube Room

12 augustus 2025

Why a lube room matters

Lubricants are the lifeblood of your machinery – but their reliability depends heavily on how they’re stored, handled and dispensed. Contamination, temperature swings, and poor organisation can quickly degrade lubricant quality, leading to premature equipment wear.

A best practice lube room ensures lubricants are kept in the right condition from delivery to application, following the “ 6 Rights ” of lubrication:

  • Right type
  • Right time
  • Right quantity
  • Right place
  • Right way
  • Right condition

When designed well, your lube room becomes a contamination-controlled, safety-compliant hub that reduces downtime, lowers costs, and extends machine life.


The groundwork: steps before designing your lube room

Before construction or retrofitting begins, these preparatory steps will save you costly changes later:

  1. Consolidate lubricants – Reduce the number of types and brands to simplify inventory and handling.
  2. Create a Plant Lubrication Identification Standard (  PLIS ) – Use colour codes, symbols, and viscosity labels across all containers and equipment.
  3. Verify incoming lubricant cleanliness – Measure against ISO 4406 standards, apply PLIS on arrival.
  4. Check compliance – Understand and follow local fire safety, health and environmental rules.


Selecting your lube room type

Ask the right questions early:

  • Location: Will you use an existing room or build new?
  • Position: Inside the plant or as an outdoor containerised unit?
  • Packaging: Continue using existing drums/IBCs or switch to bulk storage tanks?

Outdoor and mobile lube rooms can be insulated, climate-controlled, and even decentralised for large sites. Indoor setups often provide better environmental control but may require more structural modifications.


Storage best practices

New lubricant supply

  • Store in a cool, dry, clean area, away from dispensing zones.
  • Use FIFO (first in, first out) to manage shelf life.
  • Remove expired lubricants (typically after 1–3 years).

Lubricants in use

  • Choose the smallest packaging suitable for consumption to avoid long storage times.
  • Filter all lubricants to the agreed ISO 4406 cleanliness level before use.
  • Store in closed systems to avoid airborne and moisture contamination.
  • Fit tanks with desiccant breathers and dedicated, non-drip quick-connect hoses.


Dispensing with precision

  • Use sealable, colour-coded, clearly labelled dispensing containers (e.g., OilSafe).
  • Keep containers clean inside and out.
  • Store dispensing tools in closed cabinets with retention trays.
  • Keep spouts closed when not in use to prevent contamination.

Dispensing can be centralised using an oil tap bar – with one tap per lubricant, each fitted with PLIS, anti-drip taps, and spill pans.

Colour-code OilSafe drums

Essential features of a best practice lube room

  • Dedicated lube storage & dispensing equipment ( always one equipment per lube )
  • Select a clean room with light coloured walls ( white/gray )
  • Sufficient lighting ( LED tubes ) and needed power plugs
  • Install lube storage ( drums/tanks/reservoirs ) only on proper retention equipment.
  • Use as a rule-of-thumb 110% retention capacity ( can vary with local regulations ). All type of retention pallets or bunds are acceptable ( steel-plastic ). Care should be taken to avoid cheap light weight plastic. Drain valves are useful, not necessary.
  • Mobile Containers Solutions ( like Lubristation LCU ) can be equipped with full retention flooring. The floor can be made of galvanized steel grid ( preferred ) or plastic grid . A combination of steel checkered plate to accommodate tanks or drums and galvanized grid for the free walking section is ideal.
  • Mobile units in open air should be isolated ( steel wall +PU foam ) in order to keep the inside temperature stable and protect from extreme sun and freezing temperatures.
  • Mobile Container solutions can be equipped with air conditioning and/or heating.
  • All storage designs should be equipped with proper ventilation, minimal natural air flow or powered by electrical fans.
  • All storage tanks ( steel, plastic, Stainless steel ) or drums/jerry cans ( steel or plastic, 200-50-25 l ) should be sealed off from air. This means the suction tube hose combination needs to be fixed and sealed on the drum or tank.
  • Extra equipment should include MSDS folders, wipe material, absorbents ( pads, rolls, ..).
  • Closed cabinets with retention shelves used for small lubrication equipment like grease pumps, grease cartridges, spare parts,.. Open racks for storage of Oilsafe cans and similar.
  • Grease in bulk should be stored in dedicated grease pump systems ( GreaseStations ) . These stations should be equipped with Heavy duty grease pneumatic grease pump, follower plate protecting grease inside the drum and cover with correct dimensions. These Stations can be used to fill manual grease pumps with risk of contamination or can be mounted on trolleys to grease machines in site.
  • Filter carts for dedicated use on machinery or for bulk transfer of new oils can also be stalled on retention equipment ( spill pallets /spill floor ). Filter carts also need to add PLIS.


A best practice lube room is a clean, well-lit, climate-controlled area with sealed storage, dedicated dispensing equipment, proper identification, and full safety compliance. It keeps lubricants at the highest possible quality from delivery to application, protecting machinery and reducing costs.


Looking to upgrade your lubrication storage? Lubretec offers expert design, equipment and turnkey lube room solutions tailored to your plant’s needs. Contact us today to start your project.