Go for the WD-40 fix. It has so many uses that a small can is never a waste of money.

"... hoping I could use something I have around the house already..."

First have you pin-pointed exactly where the squeak is coming from?
Knowing exactly where and what is squeaking may go a long way in the best approach.

As far as "around the house already", I've found WD-40 to be almost indispensable; always try to have a can around the house, but I can understand your maybe going with something a little more ... shall we ... say organic?

Now that I think of it - if you can locate the squeak - maybe try melting some candle wax (your waxed paper idea reminded my of that).

A lot of "cures" can get messy, even the wax, so you may want to keep in mind doing the work outside and then - if your chair is on a surface susceptible to staining - to placing something under the chair for the first week or so after applying the squeak stopper.

WD 40 is Water Displacement formula #40.

It's a shitty lubricant.

Try a good moly grease. Take the thing apart and grease it up.

i'm assuming this is metal and plastic office type chair - if it's metal on metal making the squeaking then a good lubricant would do the the trick. I'd recommend 3 in 1 oil because it'll stay in the joint for a good long time and is good to have around the house. If it's metal to plastic or plastic to plastic the squeaking is probably coming from wear or cracks which is harder and possibly not worth fixing. If you find the problem spot you can try taking a utility knife and trimming back the part that's rubbing. If the plastic is doing something functional where trimming will mess it up just look around downtown areas - plenty of abandoned office chairs in good condition hanging around.

I joined just to share a warning and a tip with everyone on this subject. After I sprayed WD40 on a computer chair, the squeaking stopped, which was great. The next day the WD40 must've soaked in and lubricated the mechanism so well that the chair adjustments would not stay in one position. Without pressing any levers, the seat started tilting back and forth just from my weight, and if I leaned back in the slightest the back of the chair would recline. I almost threw it away, which would've been a real shame, but then got an idea. I turned the chair upside down and sprinkled baking soda liberally on the mechanism where it was supposed to grip but wasn't. I worked the powder in with my fingers and also by opening up a bit more space with a flathead screwdriver, holding down the levers to release the tension, while also moving the seat and the seatback back and forth to make sure the powder got everywhere. The entire process took less than 10 minutes, and the result -- no squeaks, no problems! (plus the baking soda seems to have absorbed some of the WD-40 smell, an unexpected bonus).

Where would the wax paper go?
I mean in your mental picture of things chair-like where would it go?


WD 40 is a 5 minute fix. The stuff pre pretty useless for most of the things people try to use of for.
It is composed of:
Fuel oil
deoderized mineral spirits
some very small amount of microcrystalline paraffin
And propellant

That's it.

If you can figure a way that any that stuff will help with whatever you want to do then great. But Fuel oil won't last longer than a few minuted as a lubricant.

To fix a squeak you need to get something in between the parts that are rubbing. This can be heavy grease or a nylon washer.
If it's a cheap-shit-chair (less than $400 new) toss it out. If it's a nice HON chair,it is worth you taking it apart and re assembling it with a heavy lithium grease.