I remember the name Zep. But not what it was like using it.
Edit: come to think of it, I seem to remember this was the green stuff with abrasive. Like a green mud. I remember the dual opening can described.
Goop, if that's what it was, was a strong lye based soap. But at least it didn't have abrasives. Anyway, none of the stuff worked if you had to bust tires. Some of the tire changers wore gloves. But I needed more control. I was a thin guy and not strong back then. (Now I'm a fat not strong guy. Progress! ) I had to rely on timing. I never changed a split rim truck tire the whole time. That was better side-stepped in my estimation. The store where I did my first stint as an official mechanic there was a tire cage with two of the bars bent out from one of the rims going off during inflation. It was like that when I got there. Anyway the managers didn't push it since they could see how slight of build I was.
You may have to remember on your own. I was a weekend-warrior that happened to be in close contact with professional mechanics at a job I had.
My ground-in dirt came from years of pulling out and rewinding 3" fuel hoses stored on reels... at this job... refueling commercial aircraft.
Timing was the key when wrestling these hoses, not strength and gloves just got in the way. Sometimes strength is confused with being in shape.
(After that job i never saw 180 again).
![:-\](/forum/Smileys/fun/sleepy.gif ":-\")
The only 'soaps' I recall using were:
1) Tide Laundry Detergent; the powder. (Tide would remind me of any cuts that may need a second look).
2) Lava; the green bar. (Lava worked best on dried acrylic paint or slightly dirty hands).
Unfortunately ground-in dirt needs to be ground-out. Tide + stiff bristled brush = cleaner hands.
Sometimes I would skip the fingernails if i was headed back to the auto-parts store. A sort of 70s style status symbol.
I've been doing that one for years (sand works ok in a pinch too). 
