On Thu, 24 Apr 2014 14:08:44 -0700 (PDT), whit3rd
wrote:

On Tuesday, April 22, 2014 12:44:11 PM UTC-7, wrote:
I have an 1936 vintage Kitchenaid stand mixer. This mixer is a real
workhorse and gets lots of use. Back in 2000 the grease needed to be
replaced. Upon opening the gearbox I could see that the old white
grease had dried out quite a bit. Anyway, I replaced the grease with
more white grease. Now, 14 years later the white grease I put in has
lost a lot of the oil and has turned into glue. The stuff won't even
wash out with solvents that usually work on grease.

It could be that the grease has taken on moisture, rather than dried
up; try waterless hand cleaner (non-pumice type) to loosen it.
Consider water-pump grease (for moisture tolerance) or maybe
silicone grease (plumbers use it for water faucets). Or,
just more white grease: fourteen years isn't bad.

Petrolum jelly is food-safe, as are various (commercially available
by the barrel) products. It might be useful to consult your local
appliance-parts purveyors for a recommendation, too.
The grease has "saponified" - or turned to soap. Grease is an
oil/soap mixture. All kinds of different "soaps"