Abstract: Environmentally safe and compatible fluids that are useful as lubricants, and especially as hydraulic fluids, in mobile machinery are formulated to be non-contaminating when accidentally contacted with surrounding vegetation, and removable from vegetation by simply washing the vegetation with tap water. The fluids of the invention are polyalkylene glycol-based and having an ethylene oxide to propylene oxide ratio of from about 68:32 to about 78:22.