...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?
[OP]
Contributor
...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?
Contributor
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!
Last edited by Richard Coers; 04-09-2020 at 10:11 AM.
Contributor
Can you get Everclear there? It is up to 95% ethanol, reportedly the best kind of alcohol for use with shellac.
[OP]
Contributor
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.
Contributor
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.
Last edited by Richard Coers; 04-09-2020 at 10:53 AM.
Contributor
Derek,
Everclear is 190 proof (95%) grain alcohol and is drinkable. You can get or order it at your local liquor store.
Cliff
The problem with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.
Charles Bukowski
[OP]
Contributor
So can Everclear be used just like Denatured, isopropyl? Is it all the same?Originally Posted by Cliff Polubinsky
Contributor
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.
Moderator
Ethanol alcohol is distilled from fermented plants and grains. It's the stuff people drink. The "proof" is the percentage of alcohol x 2: 100 proof is 50% alcohol.
You can buy 200 proof ethanol (anhydrous, no significant amount of water) from laboratory supply houses for scientific use. Google 200 proof ethanol. I use it for cleaning lenses.
You can buy 190 proof (95% ethanol) from a liquor store. It is an expensive way to buy alcohol for the shop. I use it to make vanilla extract from vanilla beans.
Denatured is ethanol with a chemical added to make it undrinkable. In the last few years many supplier have been adding methanol which is bad stuff to even get on your skin.
Isopropyl alcohol is completely different than ethanol. I buy 99% isopropyl by the gallon at the farm store. I haven't tried mixing it with shellac since I have gallons of DNA on hand but I read it will work fine.
JKJ
Last edited by John K Jordan; 04-11-2020 at 11:49 PM.
Contributor
I've heard that drinkable grain alcohol for medical use can be sold without the high tax if it is sold "flavored" with Bitrex,
"the world's most bitter substance". Bitrex can be bought on eBay and is a great way to keep deer from eating your
plants.
Contributor
I don't know if this is a problem where you live, but in hot and dry climates shellac can dry problematically fast. I have found that 99% Isopropyl helps retard the drying time and encourages shellac to flow out better in comparison to DNA. For this reason alone, I prefer Isopropyl. And the added benefit is avoiding the toxicity of DNA that has been discussed above.
Regarding dry time, adding a small amount <5% of lacquer retarder will help slow it down further if needed.
[OP]
Contributor
So, here's another question...I have some 62% alcohol hand sanitizer. Can I add 91% Isopropyl Alcohol to it to bring it up to 70% and if so, how much would I have to add? It's the gel type, with aloe and stuff.
Moderator
I don't remember the details of mixing alcohols and I don't know if there are any special considerations for mixing ethanol and isopropyl alcohol, but basically mixing solutions to get a different solution is a bit of algebra. There is plenty on the web but I found a simple calculator for you:
https://www.1728.org/mixture.htm
First, important, click on B to set the calculator to changing the concentration of a solution.
Enter the volume of the solution you have in "Solution 1 volume" (whatever it is)
Enter the concentration of your existing solution in "Solution 1 concentration" (62 in your case)
Enter the concentration of what you are adding in "Solution 2 concentration" (91 in your case)
Enter the desired concentration in "Solution 3 concentration" (70, you said)
Then click "Calculate" to get the volume of the 91% to add to get 70% concentration
The math is given lower on the page. It's pretty simple so you might just skip the calculator.
But you might first want to check into the chemistry of mixing alcohols.
A pharmacist told me the minimum recommended concentration for killing viruses was 60%.
JKJ
Contributor
The alcohols should be completely miscible, i.e. they will not separate at any concentration.
Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!
Cost prohibitive in Cali as far as I have been able to find.
"Shoes for industry"
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
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