mineral spirts///naptha whats the differnce

[larry merlau]

i was told to use naptha for a varnish mix, and i have seen and used mineral spirts for thinning and cleaning poly or oil base varnish in the past. my question is whats the diffence between them? and is one better for some things than the other? thanks for the reponses// larry

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Larry, I have only used Mineral Spirits in my witches brew. From what I have read Naptha is faster drying than Mineral Spirits. I generally only get a coat on ever 24 hours, so fast drying isn't a concern to me.

[Jim Becker]

Both are refined petroleum products. Naptha is "lighter" and flashes off faster.

[Bill Turpin]

Naptha and mineral spirits are long used names of petroleum distillate mixtures that have no exact composition. Naptha is a mix of paraffinic, cycloparaffinic, olefinic, and aromatic hydrocarbons. It is made mainly of C4 to C11 components and can contain xylene, toluene, hexane(gasoline), and benzene. It usually has a flash point of less than 70° F. Naptha is MORE EXPLOSIVE than mineral spirits.

Mineral spirits, sometimes referred to as high flash point naptha, has a flash point of 102° to 135° F. MS contains more of heavier components (closer to being axle grease), therefore it evaporates slower.

Both of these products are sort of left overs(garbage) from the distillation process of crude oil. They are like hamburger, which ranges from 50% fat to 98% lean and may contain chips of bone and other unidentifiable flying objects. Most of the big oil companies produce grades of N and MS that are better refined that carry specific trade names/numbers and exact MSDS sheets. However, you will not find these at the borgs for ± $2 a gallon.

Bill in WNC mountains

[John Hart]

When I was in the Aerospace industry, we had to design missile fuel systems using Naptha. It smells like something an addict would love, it works well as a fuel and is used commonly as Rubber Rejuvenator for printer rollers and such.

[Earl Kelly]

Larry, the rule I always used, Naptha if spraying Varnish,because of faster drying, and MS if brushing. Naptha will allow you to spray with minimal or no runs and with MS it's quite difficult to achieve the same sucess.

[Charlie Plesums]

If anyone uses a "Zippo" type cigarette lighter any more, the fuel is typically Naptha, as are most picnic charcoal lighters. Naptha burns at a lower temperature than many other fuels (so is sometimes the fuel used by magicians), and is a great solvent for removing those impossible sticky labels used by retailers.

Isn't this more than anyone wanted to know:rolleyes:

[Bill Neely]

Flame safety lamps use naptha for fuel. :)