...and I'm not joking. I live in CA and can no longer get a gallon of Denatured Alcohol. Can anyone help me out with a solution?
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...and I'm not joking. I live in CA and can no longer get a gallon of Denatured Alcohol. Can anyone help me out with a solution?
Choose another type of finish? Sure hope people aren't using denatured alcohol in hand sanitizer. It's very toxic and not a lot of difference between skin absorption and drinking it. If you are talking about CA just not selling it, buy Everclear instead. Much more expensive!
Can you get Everclear there? It is up to 95% ethanol, reportedly the best kind of alcohol for use with shellac.
Ok...I need an education here as to what's the difference between Denatured Alcohol and Everclear. I use it for cleaning clock and knife parts and occasional, for finishes.
Denatured alcohol was developed during prohibition. It has toxic additives to keep people from drinking it. Unfortunately, people still did and they went blind, and/or died. An estimated 10,000 deaths during prohibition. It's very toxic and is hazardous if absorbed through the skin. For cleaning, acetone would be a much better choice, but still best to keep it off your skin.
Yes, get yourself some 99% Isopropyl Alcohol. I have obtained it by the gallon from Amazon. Under normal conditions, you can find it in printing supply places quite reasonably. The traditional non-digital printing presses use it to clean rollers.
However, as I'm writing this, I'm thinking the medical crisis might have disrupted the availability of Isopropyl alcohol because it is used in sanitizers. If this is the case, then you may have to consider the Everclear route, or take a drive to Arizona or some other state and get DA.
Other ideas: Behlen makes a proprietary shellac solvent called Behkol. I have seen it on Shellac.net. Not sure if they would ship to CA, but you can try. Also, I have heard that camping fuel can be used to dissolve shellac, but I've never tried it, and maybe it depends on the brand of fuel.
When the morons who got that ruling passed first succeeded I went online and ordered a couple of gallons. It was delivered no problem. I tried again just the other day but, the ruling has caught up with the suppliers and it's no-go. I use a lot of shellac and figure when the time comes I will find some way to get some. California is a long state but, it is also narrow. Maybe a team-buy and a 3 hour drive to Arizona or Nevada is the answer. I never let a trip to the river or Vegas go to waste. Waterlox and ARS used to be my "gotta get" items while over the border. Now I'll add DNA.
Derek,
Everclear is 190 proof (95%) grain alcohol and is drinkable. You can get or order it at your local liquor store.
Cliff
Uh, no. Not in California. (It's a liquor law, not an air pollution law.) We're limited to 151 proof.
Denatured alcohol is just pure Ethanol, like EverClear, with poison added. Typical poison is Methanol (which makes you twitch, go blind, and then die with too much exposure. Healthy stuff. Not!) Many people's exposure is limited, so they don't worry about it (or don't know) and seem fine. Many threads here on substitutes, workarounds, and concentrations of various brands of denatured (some are high and some have less.)
If you find the "best" solution, please share! I'd like to be able to use shellac more and without so much stress.
BEHKOL is made for shellac use, it works and is much cheaper than Everclear.
Another alternative is indoor fireplace fuel. It's essentially pure ethanol with a bittering agent added to make it undrinkable. Generally available on Amazon in quarts and cases of quarts. As far as I know it's not as toxic as DNA, and I've used a couple of gallons of it with shellac with good results. however, I was in my local pro paint store yesterday and saw they had gallons of DNA for $15, so I may go back to that.
Check amazon, Cleanstrip Green alcohol. it is ethanol (grain alcohol) vs methanol (petroleum based) with an additive to stop being able to drink it. To make it "denatured". It is much like everclear but not able to be consumed. I checked amazon for 94132. and it is in stock @17.40 QT ! and deliverable to San Fran by may 7th.....By truck.....Look into it. Also the green alcohol might be available locally from an ACE hardware store. I have not personally used it but if could get some and try. Ethanol is also sold as "stove fuel"..just check the labels for the additives..they should be less than 5% to work with shellac...That's what I would do.....just say'n......
When ethanol is distilled, 95% EtOH/H2O is the product since it forms an azeotrope with water which boils at a lower temperature than the pure alcohol does. The only way to overcome that is to add a third solvent, such as benzene, that will form a triple azeotrope where 99+% ethanol is the product. Very rarely is such a product needed, though. (How I remember this from chemistry lab over 40 years ago is amazing to me when I would be hard pressed to tell you what I had for dinner last night.:D)
Denatured means that 1 or more of a number of other compounds has been added to make it hazardous to ingest. Methanol was used formerly but it is very hazardous - even with skin contact. BTW, methanol was/is called wood alcohol since it is derived from cellulose.
Coleman fuel and its like is mainly naphtha. It is a good paint thinner but not for shellac. I get mine at walmart house brand for about $8.00 per gallon which is cheaper then paint thiner.
Bil lD.
I just received an order of two gallons of isopropyl alcohol and I have a few gallons from Home Depot. It looks like now the Isopropyl is out of stock, which I did not expect since last I heard there is a ton of alcohol being made but they do not have things such as containers (and similar) to put it in or the chemicals to thicken the hand sanitizer.
Alcohol must be shipped by ground. I just shipped some hand sanitizer and I had to ship by ground because it is flammable.
So they no longer allow Alcohol in California?
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....nd-Substitutes
Think of it as just another tax. Why ban Denatured alcohol?
You can order it from Wal Mart.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Denatured...case/253415165
Coleman stove fuel is mostly naphtha. Alcohol stoves are available for camping so if you can get some fuel for those, it might work.
I use a small amount of alcohol for shellac and still have about a half gallon. I looked at HD and none available right now.
Mike
I don't believe BEHKOL is available anymore. I concur with the Everclear recommendation.
Only 50-50 rubbing alcohol in California unless you opt for food grade alcohol which is very pricey, but not much more than a good film finish. You’ll find it at food suppliers and chemical suppliers.
I’ve switched to water based finishes and the General brand is excellent, with no drips, runs, and is very fast drying. I can lay on several coats a day and being water based is tintable.
"We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Good to see you've made that first step.:D
Stainless beer keg and some plumbing fittings will get you some ethanol, but not above the 95% mentioned already.
So I've been told. Seriously. I aint ambitious, or thirsty enough. Yet.
Might not want to use any copper on the outlets though. Some small chance you could use that as a defense in court. as the copper is there to snatch the sulfur compounds out that make it taste nasty.
I was the one who pulled the MSDS ages ago. Yes, indeed, there is dramatically more ethanol in the Green Cleanstrip denatured alcohol compared to the normal one.
>80-100% ethanol in Green Cleanstrip, with 3-7% methanol, 1-5% acetic acid, and a tiny bit of heptane and methyl isobutyl ketone
30-60% ethanol and 30-60% methanol in regular Kleen-strip denatured alcohol (love how they give ranges), and a tiny bit of heptane and methyl isobutyl ketone.
Anyone have a good source of 100% Ethanol or 99% Isopropyl alcohol that will ship to Florida?
Alan,
Do you have a Safeway grocery store near you? If so, check their in-store pharmacy area for 16oz 99% Isopropyl alcohol. At my local store it was available for $2.59. It looks like the photo below:
BTW, both Walgreen's and CVS sell a 91% version of the same thing for an even lower price. I have never tried it because I've always been able to get DA or 99% IPA. I have wondered if the additional water content in the 91% would be a noticeable problem. I wonder what the water content is in Sealcoat. I know there is some because I've had the bottom of the can rust on me.
Attachment 429937
Well this is a long shot, at least until the crisis ends, but here goes - If you can find a printing supply place in your area that is not temporarily shut down, chances are they will stock 99% IPA. Printers use it to clean rollers. In my area, there are a couple of paper distributors that carry it alongside the paper they sell to printers. Alternatively, you could call around to a few print shops, and they might sell you a gallon from their own stock.
Another option is to check with some electronics supply places. The kinds of places that people obtain parts for homebrew computing and stuff like that. IPA is extensively used in electronics.
If ya'll lived closer, I would loan you a can. :(
I shipped hand sanitizer to my Sister, who is exposed to Corona patients all day long (she is shoving tubes down their throat when they can no longer breath on their own). Cost more than the hand sanitizer to ship it, and it was a pretty big bottle. I purchased a bunch before things went nuts because I wanted to put some in my classroom and also for daughters dance studio; and then everything closed down and I was sitting here with a bunch of hand sanitizer..... So I started giving it away
How much do you need for your project? I have 8 quarts of Isopropyl and 4 gallons of Alcohol fuel for stoves (Denatured from Home Depot). I use enough of it that i keep it on hand.
Thank you for pointing this out, wasn't aware of it. And it looks like Rockler and Woodcraft both stock it in 32oz for $12.95, so that might be the best bet for OP until Coronavirus is no longer disrupting the availability of IPA. It looks like the Mohawk product is mostly Ethanol. I do not see an indication that it will not ship to CA either.