Research HighlightsSoy Lubricants Keep Tools Running Smoothly
Highlights:
- Dynamic Green Products chose to build a bio-based lubricant product line with soy because of its performance, sustainability and more.
- These soy-based lubricants have broken into mainstream retail, thanks to partnerships with Stanley Black & Decker and the Soy Checkoff.
- The company aims to lead industry change in lubricants to replace millions of gallons of petroleum with renewable, biodegradable soy.
By Laura Temple
Squeaky wheels need grease. Oil keeps chains, engines and hydraulics running efficiently.
Most lubricants start with a petroleum base. Scott Porter, CEO and founder of Dynamic Green Products, Inc., has a different vision.
“This company started with the goal of creating bio-based lubricants that out-perform petroleum-based products, while remaining 100% compatible,” he explains.
That required research to find a better foundation that could be manipulated to meet a wide range of needs.
Selecting Soy
While exploring bio-based lubricants, Porter was introduced to Airable Research Lab, which receives Soy Checkoff support from several states, including the Ohio Soybean Council. Through that relationship, he discovered the potential to use soy to create biodegradable lubricants.
Several factors convinced him that soy provides a strong foundation to build a product line.
- A strong supply chain already exists to deliver soybean oil.
- Soy is a renewable product commonly grown by U.S. farmers.
- Existing data demonstrates the sustainability of U.S. Soy. Documented carbon impact information proves the reduced environmental impact of soy-based products.
- Soybean oil boasts a higher thermal range than petroleum, providing more flexibility in developing products.
“Plus, research already existed to guide our team on managing and overcoming technical challenges for using soy,” Porter says. “For all these reasons, we shifted our platform to build soy-based lubricants.”
Since making that shift, Porter’s team has identified soy products that meet different requirements. For example, hydrogenated soybean oil serves as a base for greases, while high oleic soybean oil provides stability at high temperatures for high load, recirculating applications.
“We take a great base oil – soy – and make it work better,” he says. “Our products vary in the amount of soy used, from less than 15% to 98 or 99%. But each one has technical benefits tailored to its use. Plus, our products are biodegradable, with low toxicity and a low carbon footprint.”
With this proven technical foundation, a national Soy Checkoff investment supports commercialization of lubricants from Dynamic Green Products. Porter says the company uses roughly half that investment to buy soy, ensuring farmers get the most from this investment.
“We have been growing at a two- to three-x rate for the past three years because of Soy Checkoff support,” he adds.
The Dynamic Green Products team first focused on bar and chain oil for chainsaws, where all of the oil used gets flung into the environment. Soy-based oil has become the top bar and chain oil sold on Amazon over the past three years. As acceptance for that product has grown, interest in similar products has increased.
Brand Recognition
Dynamic Green Products also partners with Stanley Back & Decker, the world’s largest tool company. The environmental benefits of bio-based lubricants align with both companies’ goals. The partnership also helped Porter’s company break into mainstream retail.
“In lubricants, customers consider price, performance and compatibility,” he explains. “But brand recognition plays a major role. Our strategy is to create products that go with Stanley Black & Decker brand tools, reducing risk and education needs for the general retail market.”
He notes that customers are nine times more likely to buy lubricants that are the same brand as their tools. Because of that, Dynamic Green Products aims to be available where partner tools are sold, including stores like Home Depot and Farm & Fleet, as well as on Amazon.
Leading Market Change
Porter doesn’t expect Dynamic Green Products to become a leading lubricant manufacturer. But he does seek to create a bandwagon for the rest of the industry to join.
“Stanley Black & Decker constantly looks to improve sustainability scores,” he says. “They now use soy-based lubricants in their factories as part of their back-end sustainability goals.”
Because soy does not have any contaminants included on California’s Proposition 65 list or any volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, operators have reported less skin irritation, fewer headaches and other benefits compared to petroleum-based products. These are becoming just some of the reasons others may be willing to pay for soy-based products.
“Companies fear the price of a change like this, but they shouldn’t,” Porter says. “We provide more than just a checkmark in the sustainability box. We deliver higher total value. Soy-based lubricants don’t rely on imported crude oil, they support American farmers, have lower toxicity and can out-perform petroleum without implementing any operating changes. That’s a win for any company that knows how to track the total use-cost of a product.”
He explains that if just the chainsaw oil market follows the market-leading example of Dynamic Green Products, soybean oil would replace millions of gallons of crude oil. As the industry shifts toward soy thanks to its performance and sustainability, it could replace hundreds of millions of gallons of petroleum in the lubricants industry — increasing demand for sustainable U.S. Soy.
Additional Resources
Dynamic Green Products, Inc. – website
Finding Another New Use for Soybean Oil is a Blast – SRIN article
Bio-resins with Soy Oil Could Create a New Product and Market for Soybeans – SRIN article
Soy is Paving the Way for Better Roads – SRIN article
Soy-Based Skin Substitute Expands Uses for Soy Protein – SRIN article
Using Soy Flour in Engineered Wood Products Grows Demand – SRIN article
Published: Nov 24, 2025
The materials on SRIN were funded with checkoff dollars from United Soybean Board and the North Central Soybean Research Program. To find checkoff funded research related to this research highlight or to see other checkoff research projects, please visit the National Soybean Checkoff Research Database.
