Soap is what is used to make an oil into a grease -- it makes it goopy
enough that it won't run off of parts. Soaps have hydrophobic (and
usually hydrophilic) ends on the molecule; the hydrophobic ends stick
to the oil molecules and bonds them together with various intensities.
Various soaps are used for various purposes, a lithium-based soap
being one of the common ones.
Donald.
> Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 07:56:19 -0500
> From: Douglas Braun & Nadia Papakonstantinou <dougnad@bellatlantic.net>
>
> At 01:47 AM 3/9/01 , Michael D. Porter wrote:
>
> >The Lubrizol site is excellent. As for a suitable grease, any natural or
> >synthetic grease meeting NGLI #1 waterproof would be suitable. The boat
> >trailer bearing grease is a waterproof grease, simply meaning that it is
> >not water-based (a lot of greases, strange as it seems, are!), and will
> >not wash out.
>
> I have seen conventional wheel bearing greases being called "soap based".
> Is that the type of formula that does not get along with water?
>
> Doug Braun
> '72 Spit
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