"pimpom" wrote in message
...
David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 7/26/2010 11:49 AM Geoffrey S. Mendelson spake thus:

GregS wrote:

95% is a very good figure. I actually use the NON-denatured stuff.

How about the drinking stuff? (95% "grain" alcohol).

Here I can by a "fifth" (750ml) for less than 250ml of 70% Isopropyl.

Well, that's ethanol, which should also work fine, so long as you
don't mind the 5% water.

I use medical or denatured alcohol as a general-purpose cleaning solution.
When I need stronger stuff, such as on cruds of old and hardened flux or
when there's simply lots of it, I use automobile paint thinner. Wiping
with a piece of cloth or cotton wool is usually enough and I rarely need
to scrub with a brush.

The thinner can dissolve some plastics though. So some care is needed, as
is good ventilation. It looks and feels somewhat oily but dries very
quickly. A one-liter can costs about $3 US here.


Hope you never use it on a board that's got a lacquer type coating on it
then ... :-\

What amazes me, and I can't understand, is why all of these 'substitute'
chemicals are used by people, when the proper ones, designed for the job,
are really not expensive in the first place

Arfa