Feeling the need for a tiny dab of rubber-compatible grease for a brake nipple this afternoon, and knowing how near impossible it is to buy stuff like that here, I used my head, or, more specifically, some of its ear wax (well, probably most of it in fact).
I suppose maybe (unsalted) butter would have done, (Last Tango In Paris stylee), or maybe lard (Last Tango in Barnsley stylee) but I didn’t have either to…er… hand, and I’d guess earwax is more stable.
Can’t claim this as an engineering first, since I vaguely remember Australian aborigines use it, I THINK as a fire drill lubricant.
This trick won’t be available to locals (who don’t do maintainance anyway) since, IIRC, they are genetically deficient in the earwax department, and generally don’t produce much.
This implies if we put our heads together, we could corner the local market, if there was one.