Basic question....what should I use to clean up after using epoxy on my wraps? I've seen acetone & denatured alcohol mentioned...which is right or best?

Thanks!

A lot of that depends on how far along your epoxy has progressed in setting up . Isopropyl alcohol will do a great job on epoxy clean up while the stuff is still liquid. As it starts to set or gel, you'll find it no longer has the stuff to really do a good job on clean up. At that point denatured/solvent alcohol does a better job. In fact, the solvent alcohol is probably the one all-purpose solvent you can count on. Acetone is equally good, but evaporates faster and is a bit more flammable.

............

Thanks Tom...I checked the archives on this and saw it was a point of some discussion a WHILE back. I know many people say alcohol is safer, but AMTAK's website says to use acetone for cleanup...I'd rather use alcohol.

Isopropyl is simply rubbing alcohol, right?

Isopropyl is simply rubbing alcohol, right? YES.

FROM - Re: Two Questions, Cliff Hall, Date: 08-24-04 18:17 -

Standard "rubbing alcohol" from a pharmacy is 70% isopropyl alcohol / 30% water. Cost is typically < $1 per pint (or 0.5 liter). It should be a strong enough solvent for most clean-up or wipe-down jobs.

Denatured alcohol is 91% ethanol (the drinking alcohol) that is poisoned with 5% methanol (the wood alcohol, which is VERY toxic).

Acetone is a very strong and very volatile solvent. It damages many surfaces, and it oftens leaves water condensation behind if left to evaporate. Your wife's "nail polish remover" may include oils meant to reduce de-laminating human skin, but those oils can become a slick residue left behind if used on a porous or textured or matte ("water break free") surface.

[Methyl Ethyl Ketone - MEK - is less volatile than Acetone and should be almost as strong a solvent as Acetone for most clean-up jobs.]

Maintain adequate ventilation. Any of these volatile organic solvents can give you one @#$%& of a headache if your exposure is too high.

I use Isopropyl Alcohol that I get from my pharmacy and it works very well as long as the finish or epoxy is still wet and it seems pretty safe to use on all the components.It is 99% U.S.P.

"99% U.S.P." Isopropyl Alcohol = (70% Isopropyl Alcohol) + (30% H2O).

The United States Pharmacopoeia certifies the purity of and the allowable contaminants in drugs and the chemicals used in compounding medicines. All Isopropyl Alcohol sold in a Pharmacy is 70%. The designation U.S.P. means that the product you are buying is in conformity with the fixed standards for purity set by the United States Pharmacopoeia, which in this particular case is a 70% aqueous solution.

Nearly pure Isopropanol (IsoPropyl Alcohol - IPA) at 99-100% purity is not used in pharmacy or medicine. It has too little water in it to be an effective disinfectant. Alcohols kill germs by disrupting the cell membrane (which is mostly fats & proteins), and allowing the water to rush in to the cell (by osmotic pressure) and cause the cell to burst like an overfilled water balloon.

100% Ethanol or 100% IPA is used as a solvent in a variety of chemical laboratory settings. But it is VERY expensive (~ $100 / gallon), because both form azeotropes with water and require special distillation techniques to reach an anhydrous ("no water") state. Either would cost at least 10 if not 100 times the price of grain or rubbing alcohol.

With all due respect, I am 99-100% confident that your bottle is 70%
isopropyl alcohol, at best. Cliff Hall, Chemist & 4th yr Pharmacy student.

Cliff-
My bottle from the target pharmacy very clearly says "91% isopropyl aclcohol by volume." There was also bottles of 70% on the shelf.

Just an FYI that there not all that is available from a pharmacy is 70%...

I too use 91% Isopropyl. I get it at the local CVS Phamacy. Been using it for a long time now. I still keep Denatured---& Acetone around because they do have their uses. A big bottle of 91% Isopropyl usualy goes close to $2.00.Just a bit higher in price than a big bottle of 70%. I have never seen a bottle of 99% yet.

Dear Charlie Comley & Kevin Reed - Thank you for letting us know that in some pharmacies across the U.S.A. that 91% (by volume, "v/v") IsoPropyl Alcohol is available. [This is 88% IPA by weight, "w/w".]

Either 70% or 91% IPA should be a strong enough solvent for clean-up.
"Denatured alcohol" is 91% (w/w) Ethanol (the drinking alcohol) that is poisoned with 5% methanol (the wood alcohol, which is VERY toxic).
Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) would be a bit stronger than IPA or EtOH, but a bit safer than Acetone with respect to vapors & flammability. ALL these volatile organic solvents are hazardous to the brain. Use caution. Ventilate well, avoid skin contact, wipe up spills and avoid open flames.

NEVER, ever use pure LINSEED OIL for a paint brush cleaner. The spontaneous & exothermic heat of reaction that evolves when Linseed Oil dries out and is oxidized by air is sufficient to set on fire the paper in a waste basket.
More than one kitchen cabinet maker has lost his business this way.

The azeotrope for IsoPropyl Alcohol is at 88% (w/w) IPA + 12% H2O.
The azeotrope for Ethanol (EtOH) is at 95% (w/w) EtOH + 5% H2O.
An azeotrope is the highest percentage of purity by ordinary distillation. At least some things 'never' change. ... Cliff Hall

I'm in Canada(not the US) and there are several strengths of isopropyl alcohol available here at my local pharmacy or Wal-Mart.

I have no idea what their true strength or rating is(don't really care either),but they are available labelled as either 70% USP or 99% USP.I use the strongest of the two and it works very well for most of my clean ups.

Something else to keep in mind:

The best alcohol for cleanup is denatured alcohol. However, it is strong enough that it will peel the finish off of many of the matte blanks. For matte blanks, use run-of-the-mill isopropyl alcohol for cleanup. If you rub really hard, you can still damage the finish of a matte blank with isopropyl, but you have to rub pretty hard. On gloss blanks, I use denatured alcohol; on matte blanks, isopropyl.

Now, keep in mind that there are some new gloss finishes that are especially touchy. It might be useful to post a question here before using any solvent on a blank.

DR.Charles eweka
Director,Audit and project Imp.
Min. of Mines & Power
Fed Sec. Lagos Annex

Dear Sir/Madam,

FOREIGN ASSISTANCE NEEDED FOR INVESTMENT


It is my great pleasure in writing you this letter on behalf of my colleagues. Your information was given to me by a member of the Nigeria/African Export Promotion Council (NAEPC) who was with the Federal Government delegation on a trip to your country for a bilateral conference talk to encourage foreign investors. I have decided to seek a confidential co-operation with you in the execution of the deal described hereunder for the benefit of all parties and hope you will keep it confidential because of the nature of this business.


I work as a Director of Audit and Project Implementation in the Minsitry of Energy, Mines and power. In co operation with two other top officials and my colleagues in the Ministry, we have in our possession funds we intend to use for investment abroad. The said funds represent certain percentage of the total contract value executed on behalf of my Department by a foreign contracting firm which we the officials over-invoiced to the amount of US$18.700,000.00(Eighteen million, Seven Hundred thousand USD). Though the actual contract cost has been paid to the original contractor, leaving the excess balance unclaimed.


Since the present elected Government is determined to pay foreign contractors all debts owed so as to maintain good relationship with foreign government and non-government agencies, we include our bills for approvals with the Department of Foreign Contract payment in the Ministry of Finance. We are now seeking your assistance to front as beneficiary of the unclaimed funds, since we are not allowed to operate foreign accounts.Details and change of beneficiary information upon application for claim to reflect payment and approvals will be secured on behalf of you/your company. You do not have anything to worry as you will be paid directly by a Bank in Europe where the Ministry is operating an account meant for it's foreign contractors. Every other arrangement in nigeria has been taken care of.


I have the authority of my partners involved to propose that should you be willing to assist us in this transaction your share as compensation will be (30%),while my colleagues and I receive (65%) and the balance of (5%) for taxation and miscellaneous expenses incurred. The business itself is 100% safe and secure, provided you treat it with utmost confidentiality. It does not matter whether you/your company does contract projects as a transfer of powers will be secured in favour of you/your company and an instruction from the Chief ACCOUNTANT of the Ministry to the Bank in Europe to pay you. Also your area of specialization is not a hindrance to the successful execution of this transaction. I have reposed my confidence in you and hope that you will not disappoint me.

Kindly notify me at cheweka_01@yahoo.com or cheweka@walla.com,for further details upon your acceptance of this proposal.

Thanks for your co-operation.

Regards,
DR.Charles eweka

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