My wife wants to make some hand sanitiser and I believe isopropyl alcohol 99.9% is the main ingrediant (70% plus aloevera water etc) but it got me thinking, as I seem to remember seeing that some lampies use it to pre-heater instead of methylated spirit. So my question is: is it worth me buying a larger 5 litre container so I have some left over from making hand sanitiser. How does it compare in terms of performance to the Meths? I appreciate your thoughts Martin
Not tried burning it, but sounds as though it might be better kept for hand sanitiser. For starting lamps, methylated spirits is the accepted product, and often cheaper in bulk. I have kept a reserve of isopropyl alcohol for years, in case of pandemic. A suitable mixture of isopropyl alcohol, or ethanol with water can be used to sanitise hands but regular use tends to dry and irritate the skin. To prevent this, about 1% or 2% of glycerine should be added to the alcohol and water mixture. To sanitise surfaces, the glycerine should NOT be added as it tends to leave a greasy deposit after the other ingredients have evaporated.
I have used ISO 91% before and leaves a bit of soot but not much, I think you should try it and let us know.
I use it for now. It burns more aggressive compared to meths. It boils while it burns when uses in a pmax style preheater. In a wick style preheater it just burns a lot faster. No problems with soot.
I think you will find that what is sold “over the counter” as isopropyl alcohol will vary between 70% and 99%. This will have some impact on the way it burns (eg the amount of soot it leaves). As a rule ethanol is far cheaper here in Australia than isopropyl alcohol; and ethanol is what is recommended for pre-heating. Tony
Not so sure water content governs soot production. It will affect the boiling up behaviour though. Soot production depends on carbon content and single or double bonds. IIRC IPA has them when Methanol and Ethanol do not. But my schoolboy chemistry was a very long time ago! If Ethanol is so cheap in Oz why aren't the Wino's drinking it? Maybe it has Metho in it and as we know that makes you blind among other things.
@JonD Your schoolboy chemistry is better than mine, so I will defer on soot. What we buy in Australia as “methylated spirits” no longer contains methanol at all (OH&S re ingestion). It is 95% and higher ethanol with bitterant added to stop people drinking it. Not so cheap, due to COVID-19 today, but cheaper than isopropyl alcohol. Cheers Tony
Back in March/April this product quadrupled in price due to demand. The price has now come back down and is only marginally more expensive than it was pre-COVID. I've got plenty of meths, so the question was raised only because of opportunity. Thanks. Martin
Its considerably more expensive than most of the meths available. There're a lot of better uses for it than burning. Though it might have a higher energy content (provided the water content is low enough) than meths, they might not burn as cleanly. You might mix some of it with your regular meths for burning if you're curious about trying them out.
I use it here every once in awhile because Denatured alcohol is outlawed here. Although I heard the dollar Store sells cheap fuel line Anti-freeze (meths).
https://www.walmart.com/ip/HEET-28201-Gas-Line-Antifreeze-Water-Remover/16879746 I and many others SWEAR by Heet, its easy to just order online from Walmart . I have a box full of it. If there is a dollar store equivalent , let me know.
The alcohol can be used but it should be 91% or higher. I use denatured alcohol (marine stove fuel). Over here, right now anyway, it's actually cheaper for me than the 91% alcohol. I've never noticed any soot build-up with the denatured alcohol. Used it for many years.
I decided against it, mainly on the grounds of the original idea of making hand sanitizer was not economical. Around £18.75 for 5 litres, add on the Aloevera and Teatree another £5 - £6, and then to find a local home bargain store selling 5 litre bulk sanitizer at £20, it didn't make any sense. Aside from its possible secondary use with lamps lol. Martin
With 99.9% purity, I'd reckon it won't be cheap. In my opinion, this product would serve better as a higher grade thinner for certain etyl-zinc silicate paints or as a general cleaning fluid for some clean-room apparatus.
