alcohols such alcohols may be primary secondary or tertiary alcohols and may be monols or polyols e g diols or triols the number of alkoxy units present in such polyalkoxylate lubricating oils is suitably from 5 to 20 units per molecule the most preferred polyalkoxylate lubricating oils are those described in british pat no 1 482 963 namely one or more compounds of formula str1 wherein a b and c are zero or integers and the average total of a b c is from 5 to 18 preferably from 12 to 17 suitably a mixture of compounds is used which is prepared by reacting trimethylolpropane with ethylene oxide in amounts such that each mole of product contains on average from 5 to 18 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of trimethylolpropane the fatty acid component of the lubricating composition is an unsaturated or saturated aliphatic carboxylic acid of from 10 to 20 carbon atoms preferably from 14 to 18 carbon atoms preferred aliphatic carboxylic acids include lauric acid myristic acid palmitic acid oleic acid linoleic acid and linolenic acid with oleic acid being more preferred the polyalkoxylate lubricating oil is the major component of the lubricating composition although the amount of fatty acid present in the lubricating composition may vary between wide limits the amount of fatty acid present is preferably between.