What Is White Lithium Grease?
The thick grease that keeps metal parts quiet for years, where WD-40 only manages days.
A thick, white, long-lasting grease made for metal-on-metal contact: door hinges, garage-door tracks, latch bolts. Unlike penetrating oils such as WD-40, which are solvents that evaporate within days, lithium grease has enough body to stay between the moving surfaces for years, which is what actually keeps a hinge quiet.
The distinction that matters: penetrating oil frees stuck parts, grease keeps moving parts quiet. WD-40 on a squeaky hinge flushes out the noise for a week, evaporates, and leaves bare metal grinding again. A film of lithium grease on the hinge pin stays put through thousands of swings. Both belong in a toolbox, for different jobs.
A $6–$8 tube or spray can lasts a decade of household use. Use it on hinges, sliding-bolt latches, garage-door rollers, and anywhere steel rubs steel. Skip it on rubber and plastic parts (it can swell some rubbers; silicone grease is the safe pick there) and on anything food-adjacent.
Fixes that use this
Walls, Doors & Floors
Fix a Squeaky Door Hinge for Good (WD-40 Isn't Enough)
WD-40 quiets a hinge for a week. Pulling the pin and coating it with silicone or lithium grease fixes it for years. Here is the 5-minute method.
Time5 min per door Cost$6–$8 easy