What is "lithium soap"

n. (context chemistry English) any lithium salt of a fatty acid, made by the reaction of fat with lithium hydroxide; used in the manufacture of lubricating greases

Lithium soap, often loosely referred to as "lithium grease" or "white lithium", is a soap that is a lithium derivative. Lithium soaps are primarily used as components of certain lubricant greases.

Soaps are salts of fatty acids. In the domestic setting, sodium-based and potassium-based soaps are commonly used as natural cleaning surfactants, but for lubrication and as form-release agents, soaps derived from lithium and calcium are used, due to their higher melting points, keeping them solid or semi-solid at higher temperatures. The most useful of the non-detergent soaps are those based on lithium, as they are free of corrosive properties. The main components of lithium soaps are lithium stearate and lithium 12-hydroxystearate. In addition to soap, soap-based lubricating greases also contain hydrocarbon oils and other components.