On Sat, 19 Nov 2016 00:22:22 +0000, Stormin' Norman wrote:

Ethanol, 2 cycle engine oil, methanol.

That said, you are better off using wd-40, turpentine or mineral spirits instead of gasoline. WD-40 does a
great job removing labels.

Interesting suggestions!
For different reasons.

1. Because I long ago found common household isopropyl alcohol useless as a
goo-be-gone substitute, I had forgotten that they "cut" gasoline 15% in cars
using corn alcohol, so, why hadn't I thought of cutting the gasoline with
"alcohol"?

So thanks for that suggestion - but it seems to come with a problem.

The problem of course, is that ethanol isn't easy to come by cheaply, even
though it, itself, is as cheap as corn. Even in the cheapest grain alcohol
that I can find at a liquor store, it's almost certainly gonna be far more
expensive than the gasoline that I'm cutting.

So, it might work, but it defeats the purpose of a cheap home remedy.
(Unless there is a methanol source that is cheap?)

2. Two stroke engine oil. Again, this is a great suggestion (if it works).
But it too seems to come with a problem.

The problem is that, while we all routinely cut our two-stroke tools'
gasoline with 40:1 and 50:1 two-stroke oil, the cutting is in the opposite
direction. We're actually cutting the oil with gasoline, and not cutting the
gasoline with oil.

So, a reverse dilution of 10 parts oil and 1 part gasoline doesn't seem, on
first inspection, to be a viable solution (because it may be too oily, which
is antagonistic to the original goal).

3. I had tried wd40 in the past and found it not useful but maybe I need to
try it again? Like everyone, I grew up with WD-40 and 3-in-one cans always
on the garage shelf, but over the years, I have found far too many people
suggesting wd40 for far too many things, where, in EVERY CASE I ever
investigated, there was a far better miracle-in-a-can than WD-40.

WD-40 stinks worse than gasoline, by the way, to me anyway - where it gives
me a headache, so, for that reason alone, it would be no good. But even if I
could handle the stink of WD-40, from memory, it's just a "displacement
fluid" which I don't see *any* use of which doesn't have a better solution
for what it does (whether that be cracking nuts or "lubricating" garage
springs or whatever).

In short, I haven't had WD-40 around in years because I stopped believing in
miracles in a can. But if it works at a 10:1 ratio of 10 parts WD40 to 1
part gasoline, maybe that might be feasible?

4. On Turpentime and mineral spirits, I went to the hardware store recently
to get MEK and they can't even sell that in California. I think I was
looking at the other "solvents" like paint thinner, and they can't sell them
either except at "substitutes". I'll have to look again, but I've already
tried all the "solvents" that I had in my garage, which is as cluttered as
anyone's so I had plenty of paint thinners there (but I didn't mention that
in the OP).

Still, they may be the BEST bet yet, so I'm glad you brought them up.
a. Except in California, they're pretty commonly available
b. They're cheap enough to use at 10 parts solvent & 1 part gasoline
c. They are solvents so they won't be antagonistic to the original goal

I'll head off to the hardware store to see what California chemicals I can
find that are cheap and that are solvents that I can cut at a 10:1 ratio of
solvent to gasoline.