Page 2 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 61

Thread: No more denatured alcohol in California?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Winterville, NC (eastern NC)
    Posts
    2,360
    Not sure how close you are to a neighboring state, but a road trip may be in order. Some woodworking suppliers will not ship certain products to the wonderful state of California, so shipping is out of the question.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Posts
    1,048
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Wilkins View Post
    Not sure how close you are to a neighboring state, but a road trip may be in order. Some woodworking suppliers will not ship certain products to the wonderful state of California, so shipping is out of the question.
    Unfortunately California isn't a small place. We look long and skinny, but I'm 4-6 hours from Nevada in the skinny direction. (Long direction is probably 16+ hours end-to-end on the Interstate. For Mike I was thinking Arizona, but I'm not sure about direct routes & border cities. I'd forgotten about Tijuana, but I suspect the border checks are much tighter in that direction.

    PS- I was collecting notes intending to solve this, but it got so complicated I just grabbed another can of Seal Coat & decanted it into mason jars (so it won't rot through the can and mess my work table again.)

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Mountain City, TN
    Posts
    573
    In Tennessee, we just make our own!😉

  4. #19
    Well, when you get the stuff, put the top on the bottle and the mixed shellac. Even if you just get a phone call. Many years ago I
    bought a bottle of the highest proof Everclear to dissolve shellac flakes . Had a room mate who drank a lot of beer, but if he ran out he would
    drink what was available. After I went to bed he opened my new bottle . When I woke up I saw he had left the top off. Mixed up a batch
    of flakes and alcohol...flakes did not dissolve. Things are bad when you have to drink the spoiled alcohol ....while flakes get the good stuff.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298

    Pga? Ipa?

    You can buy PGA (Pure Grain Alcohol) for laboratory use, 99.97% proof ethanol, as pure as it gets. A place where I worked bought PGA in pint bottles for cleaning lenses and mirrors and such.
    I found this: https://shopbvv.com/products/bvv-lab...RoC7U0QAvD_BwE
    I have no idea if they ship to California.

    I buy 95% ethanol from a liquor store when I make vanilla extract. I had to ask for it. Not exactly cheap. It might be Everclear too but I'd have to check. (I have 1500ml of extract in progress now. )

    I read that you can use isopropyl alcohol with shellac but I never tried it. Before it became scarce because of the pandemic I bought 99.9% IPA at our local farmers coop for just over $20/gal. A couple of months ago I bought several gallons from Amazon (in quart bottles), these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DDCGPVJ and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078C8JYVV

    As for the regulation banning denatured, I'd take a guess it might be because of changes by manufacturers of DNA in the last few years. I understand it used to be they used ethanol with a bitterant added but a few years ago a look at an updated MSDS for what I used to get at Home Depot indicated it could now contain a large percentage of methanol, bad stuff. I assume they are doing this to reduce costs and get richer.

    JKJ

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Allen1010 View Post
    My go to finish is shellac. I prefer to make my own fresh by dissolving flakes in denatured alcohol. Went to the hardware store to buy some more denatured alcohol for fresh batch of shellac and was very dismayed to learn that apparently there is some kind of regulation that now prevents the sale of denatured alcohol in California. I don't know all the details, but I checked Lowe's, Home Depot, Sherwin-Williams and Dunn Edwards paints and even REI camping store. No joy!

    I have no idea what the rationale is this regulation, and frankly doesn't matter. I'm screwed. Any suggestions for some alternative solvent or how I might be able to get denatured alcohol? Do you think I could buy it online and have it shipped in? I went to the Bev Mo – they have Everclear that is "120 proof, 40% alcohol", do you think that would work?

    I very much appreciate any and all suggestions!

    All the best, Mike

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Posts
    1,048
    Ah ha! I remembered enough I could find it. Allan Speers was on a quest for non-toxic alcohol. He found GRAVES GRAIN ALCOHOL for much less than Everclear and less than double the Bekhol stuff. It won't be available retail in CA, but he could get it shipped to NY, so maybe....

    Good luck & let us know. Thanks!

  7. #22
    What I heard is that it has to be poisonous now ...Uncle Sam says bitter and nasty tasting ain’t enough. Guys who will drink Sterno juice
    filtered through their socks and underwear are not real picky about brands! And they know that if they get sick their lawyer will say “ My
    clients did not know denatured meant poisonous.... they thought that meant “made inside a factory” ....not outdoors”.

  8. #23
    I think the stuff with bitterent was for lab use . Denatured means poisonous. The law requires it to be poisonous, that’s the only way they
    way it can be legally sold without the high tax.

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Nova Scotia, Canada
    Posts
    280
    I just went through a similar search last week. After some searching, I bought a product designed for liquid fuel fireplaces. It is 92% ethanol and 8% isopropyl according to the website. The brand I bought was e-nrg. I got mine at Canadian Tire for any Canucks who are wondering. It had no particular odour and the shellac dissolved reasonably quickly and dried to a hard finish that sanded to a white powder. I had planned to use methyl hydrate which is cheaper and widely available in Canada but some research indicated it had some rather serious health hazards.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Crozet, VA
    Posts
    645
    It appears that e-NRG fuel (for indoor fireplaces) is manufactured in Culver City, so that would lead one to believe it would be available in Cali.
    There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.” - Dave Barry

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    New England area
    Posts
    588

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Marshall, Michigan
    Posts
    204
    Blog Entries
    1
    Way back in the good old days we would buy 95% ethanol for lab use but a federal liqueur license was required. The government being, well, the government I can't imagine those kind of restrictions get loosened over the years only tighter. Maybe it was the volume we purchased. Around 100 gallons in 5 gallon containers.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Posts
    1,048
    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Guest View Post
    Interesting. Here's a page on their site more specific to the question here:

    Denatured Alcohol vs Nondenatured Ethanol

    It has several sections specific to the CA laws.

    (Also this stuff is so expensive because it includes the Federal Excise Tax on booze, but after reading the health effects of Methanol poisoning it might be worth it.)

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Posts
    1,048
    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Guest View Post
    Maybe more interesting, at least for big users, is their 190 proof in 5 gal cans:

    190 Proof Food Grade Ethanol

    At 95% Ethanol (5% water) it's much cheaper per gallon than the 200 proof at the first link and I understand as soon as you expose 200 proof to air it absorbs water down to 190 proof anyway.

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Belmont, CA
    Posts
    71
    I'm also in CA and learned about the law change a few months ago. Just about out so I placed an order for a gallon of DNA from Amazon, looks to be appropriate for shellac, and no indication they won't ship it to me yet: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XSLD2XF

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •