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Why is propanol better cleaner than ethanol?
David Peters wrote:
Why is isopropyl alcohol (propanol) reckoned by many people to be a better general cleaner around the house than the ethyl alcohol (ethanol) which is found in methylated spirits? It isn't. Ethanol has a lower toxicity. However, denatured ethanol (meths) has pyridine added to it. Apart from being one of the most vile smelling compounds, pyridine is relativly toxic. So, given the choice between ethanol and isopropanol, I'd choose ethanol. But given the choice between meths and isopropanol, I'd choose the latter any day. -- Grunff |
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On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 13:59:36 +0100, Grunff wrote:
David Peters wrote: Why is isopropyl alcohol (propanol) reckoned by many people to be a better general cleaner around the house than the ethyl alcohol (ethanol) which is found in methylated spirits? It isn't. Ethanol has a lower toxicity. However, denatured ethanol (meths) has pyridine added to it. Apart from being one of the most vile smelling compounds, pyridine is relativly toxic. It also rots rubber, which is why you should never use meths for cleaning tape recorder pinch rollers. So, given the choice between ethanol and isopropanol, I'd choose ethanol. But given the choice between meths and isopropanol, I'd choose the latter any day. |
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On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 15:17:55 +0100, Custos Custodum
wrote: It also rots rubber, which is why you should never use meths for cleaning tape recorder pinch rollers. Why does it do that? is it the methanol or the pyridine ? |
#4
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According to Custos Custodum :
On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 13:59:36 +0100, Grunff wrote: David Peters wrote: Why is isopropyl alcohol (propanol) reckoned by many people to be a better general cleaner around the house than the ethyl alcohol (ethanol) which is found in methylated spirits? It isn't. Ethanol has a lower toxicity. However, denatured ethanol (meths) has pyridine added to it. Apart from being one of the most vile smelling compounds, pyridine is relativly toxic. It also rots rubber, which is why you should never use meths for cleaning tape recorder pinch rollers. Um, I think someone's confused. Methanol (which does eat rubber) is _not_ denatured ethanol - it's methyl alcohol, aka methyl hydrate aka CH3OH, aka "wood alcohol". Ethanol is C2H5OH (aka ethyl alcohol). Isopropyl alcohol is the next alcohol in the series: C3H7OH The methanol/ethanol/propanol/butanol etc naming conventions follow the same prefixes as methane/ethane/propane/butane etc. (1, 2, 3 and 4 carbons). Methanol is considerably more toxic than ethanol. I don't know what the Grunff is referring to when he says "meths". if he means methanol, he's wrong. -- Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them. |
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Chris Lewis wrote:
I don't know what the Grunff is referring to when he says "meths". if he means methanol, he's wrong. In the UK, you can purchase something called 'methylated spirit' or 'meths' for short. This is typically 97% ethanol, 3% methanol, and a touch of pyridine + purple dye (to stop people drinking it). -- Grunff |
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Grunff wrote:
Chris Lewis wrote: I don't know what the Grunff is referring to when he says "meths". if he means methanol, he's wrong. In the UK, you can purchase something called 'methylated spirit' or 'meths' for short. This is typically 97% ethanol, 3% methanol, and a touch of pyridine + purple dye (to stop people drinking it). I doubt if the purple dye (IIRC methyl violet) would stop anybody ;-) It's the pyridine that really gives it a nose! I wouldn't use meths for cleaning alone, as there's always the likelyhood of leaving some dye residue. Properly denatured ethanol would be better, but I think the Exercise men would take a dim view of retail sales - although one can buy "duty-paid" pure ethanol (at about 75GBP per Winchester), and the C&E probably won't bother so much (but you will be very, very much poorer...) -- -- Ron Jones Don't repeat history, see unreported near misses in chemical lab/plant at http://www.crhf.org.uk |
#7
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Chris Lewis wrote:
According to Custos Custodum : On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 13:59:36 +0100, Grunff wrote: David Peters wrote: Why is isopropyl alcohol (propanol) reckoned by many people to be a better general cleaner around the house than the ethyl alcohol (ethanol) which is found in methylated spirits? It isn't. Ethanol has a lower toxicity. However, denatured ethanol (meths) has pyridine added to it. Apart from being one of the most vile smelling compounds, pyridine is relativly toxic. It also rots rubber, which is why you should never use meths for cleaning tape recorder pinch rollers. Um, I think someone's confused. Methanol (which does eat rubber) is _not_ denatured ethanol - it's methyl alcohol, aka methyl hydrate aka CH3OH, aka "wood alcohol". Ethanol is C2H5OH (aka ethyl alcohol). Isopropyl alcohol is the next alcohol in the series: C3H7OH The methanol/ethanol/propanol/butanol etc naming conventions follow the same prefixes as methane/ethane/propane/butane etc. (1, 2, 3 and 4 carbons). Methanol is considerably more toxic than ethanol. I don't know what the Grunff is referring to when he says "meths". if he means methanol, he's wrong. Methylated spirits is etahnol with enough mathoanol to make it undrinkable exceptr by bums. And Pyridine to make it obvious it's not bacardi. |
#8
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David Peters wrote:
Why is isopropyl alcohol (propanol) reckoned by many people to be a better general cleaner around the house than the ethyl alcohol (ethanol) which is found in methylated spirits? Probably because it's a little less volatile and so doesn't evaporate before you've wiped it off. For the same reason it is used in industry because less of the vapour escapes the containment or extraction system. |
#9
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On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 19:29:12 +0100, "Ron Jones"
wrote: I wouldn't use meths for cleaning alone, as there's always the likelyhood of leaving some dye residue. It's not too hard to find uncoloured meths. Try a real hardware shop, or a painters' supplier. OTOH I still haven't found a source for it without the pyridine. |
#10
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On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 16:04:06 +0100, Andy Dingley
wrote: On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 15:17:55 +0100, Custos Custodum wrote: It also rots rubber, which is why you should never use meths for cleaning tape recorder pinch rollers. Why does it do that? is it the methanol or the pyridine ? Not sure about the methanol, but pyridine is certainly used in industry as a solvent for rubber. |
#11
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On Sat, 04 Jun 2005 04:05:59 +0100, David Peters
wrote: On Fri 03 Jun 2005 23:16:22, The Natural Philosopher wrote: Chris Lewis wrote: According to Custos Custodum : On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 13:59:36 +0100, Grunff wrote: David Peters wrote: Why is isopropyl alcohol (propanol) reckoned by many people to be a better general cleaner around the house than the ethyl alcohol (ethanol) which is found in methylated spirits? It isn't. Ethanol has a lower toxicity. However, denatured ethanol (meths) has pyridine added to it. Apart from being one of the most vile smelling compounds, pyridine is relativly toxic. It also rots rubber, which is why you should never use meths for cleaning tape recorder pinch rollers. Um, I think someone's confused. Methanol (which does eat rubber) is _not_ denatured ethanol - it's methyl alcohol, aka methyl hydrate aka CH3OH, aka "wood alcohol". Ethanol is C2H5OH (aka ethyl alcohol). Isopropyl alcohol is the next alcohol in the series: C3H7OH The methanol/ethanol/propanol/butanol etc naming conventions follow the same prefixes as methane/ethane/propane/butane etc. (1, 2, 3 and 4 carbons). Methanol is considerably more toxic than ethanol. I don't know what the Grunff is referring to when he says "meths". if he means methanol, he's wrong. Methylated spirits is etahnol with enough mathoanol to make it undrinkable exceptr by bums. And Pyridine to make it obvious it's not bacardi. I don't believe there is any methanol in UK "methylated spirits". See the link in my footnote to my original posting which says: "in the case of mineralised methylated spirits, with every 90 parts by volume of spirits there shall be mixed 9.5 parts by volume of wood naphtha and 0.5 parts by volume of crude pyridine, and to the resulting mixture there shall be added mineral naphtha (petroleum oil) in the proportion 7.5 litres to every 2,000 litres of the mixture". http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uks...n_5.htm#mdiv14 These are simply the additives for the different classes of methylated spirits. What constitutes the basic 'spirits' is presumably defined elsewhere. |
#12
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David Peters wrote:
On Fri 03 Jun 2005 23:16:22, The Natural Philosopher wrote: Chris Lewis wrote: According to Custos Custodum : On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 13:59:36 +0100, Grunff wrote: David Peters wrote: Why is isopropyl alcohol (propanol) reckoned by many people to be a better general cleaner around the house than the ethyl alcohol (ethanol) which is found in methylated spirits? It isn't. Ethanol has a lower toxicity. However, denatured ethanol (meths) has pyridine added to it. Apart from being one of the most vile smelling compounds, pyridine is relativly toxic. It also rots rubber, which is why you should never use meths for cleaning tape recorder pinch rollers. Um, I think someone's confused. Methanol (which does eat rubber) is _not_ denatured ethanol - it's methyl alcohol, aka methyl hydrate aka CH3OH, aka "wood alcohol". Ethanol is C2H5OH (aka ethyl alcohol). Isopropyl alcohol is the next alcohol in the series: C3H7OH The methanol/ethanol/propanol/butanol etc naming conventions follow the same prefixes as methane/ethane/propane/butane etc. (1, 2, 3 and 4 carbons). Methanol is considerably more toxic than ethanol. I don't know what the Grunff is referring to when he says "meths". if he means methanol, he's wrong. Methylated spirits is etahnol with enough mathoanol to make it undrinkable exceptr by bums. And Pyridine to make it obvious it's not bacardi. I don't believe there is any methanol in UK "methylated spirits". See the link in my footnote to my original posting which says: "in the case of mineralised methylated spirits, with every 90 parts by volume of spirits there shall be mixed 9.5 parts by volume of wood naphtha I think that IS methanol^^^^ and 0.5 parts by volume of crude pyridine, and to the resulting mixture there shall be added mineral naphtha (petroleum oil) in the proportion 7.5 litres to every 2,000 litres of the mixture". http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uks...n_5.htm#mdiv14 |
#13
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David Peters wrote:
On Fri 03 Jun 2005 23:16:22, The Natural Philosopher wrote: Chris Lewis wrote: According to Custos Custodum : On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 13:59:36 +0100, Grunff wrote: David Peters wrote: Why is isopropyl alcohol (propanol) reckoned by many people to be a better general cleaner around the house than the ethyl alcohol (ethanol) which is found in methylated spirits? It isn't. Ethanol has a lower toxicity. However, denatured ethanol (meths) has pyridine added to it. Apart from being one of the most vile smelling compounds, pyridine is relativly toxic. It also rots rubber, which is why you should never use meths for cleaning tape recorder pinch rollers. Um, I think someone's confused. Methanol (which does eat rubber) is _not_ denatured ethanol - it's methyl alcohol, aka methyl hydrate aka CH3OH, aka "wood alcohol". Ethanol is C2H5OH (aka ethyl alcohol). Isopropyl alcohol is the next alcohol in the series: C3H7OH The methanol/ethanol/propanol/butanol etc naming conventions follow the same prefixes as methane/ethane/propane/butane etc. (1, 2, 3 and 4 carbons). Methanol is considerably more toxic than ethanol. I don't know what the Grunff is referring to when he says "meths". if he means methanol, he's wrong. Methylated spirits is etahnol with enough mathoanol to make it undrinkable exceptr by bums. And Pyridine to make it obvious it's not bacardi. I don't believe there is any methanol in UK "methylated spirits". See the link in my footnote to my original posting which says: "in the case of mineralised methylated spirits, with every 90 parts by volume of spirits there shall be mixed 9.5 parts by volume of wood naphtha and 0.5 parts by volume of crude pyridine, and to the resulting mixture there shall be added mineral naphtha (petroleum oil) in the proportion 7.5 litres to every 2,000 litres of the mixture". http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uks...n_5.htm#mdiv14 IIRC wood naphtha = wood alcohol = methanol -- -- Ron Jones Don't repeat history, see unreported near misses in chemical lab/plant at http://www.crhf.org.uk |
#14
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I wouldn't use meths for cleaning alone, as there's always the
likelyhood of leaving some dye residue. On Sat 04 Jun 2005 11:26:47, Andy Dingley wrote: It's not too hard to find uncoloured meths. Try a real hardware shop, or a painters' supplier. OTOH I still haven't found a source for it without the pyridine. That uncoloured meths you refer to should not have pyridine. As I understand it this link defines what can be sold in the UK as "methylated spirits". http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uks...n_5.htm#mdiv14 If it helps, the contents page is at at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uks..._en_1.htm#tcon It says that UK "Industrial Methylated Spirits" has no colouring and also no pyridine. And it has 5% wood naptha. If it has colouring then my reading says it would be UK "Mineralised Methylated Spirits" which has colouring and also pyridine. This has twice the wood naptha at 10%. I wouldn't think that the last class "Denatured Ethanol" is something which is commonly sold to the public. |
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On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 15:33:25 +0100, David Peters
wrote: That uncoloured meths you refer to should not have pyridine. As I understand it this link defines what can be sold in the UK as "methylated spirits". http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uks...n_5.htm#mdiv14 This is "Mineralised Methylated Spirits" made by Barrettine. Exactly the same label as for their purple product and the same smell of pyridine, but no colour. It says that UK "Industrial Methylated Spirits" has no colouring and also no pyridine. And it has 5% wood naptha. There's a spec for it, but I haven't found a supplier in less than 40 gallon drums. |
#16
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David Peters wrote:
I wouldn't use meths for cleaning alone, as there's always the likelyhood of leaving some dye residue. On Sat 04 Jun 2005 11:26:47, Andy Dingley wrote: It's not too hard to find uncoloured meths. Try a real hardware shop, or a painters' supplier. OTOH I still haven't found a source for it without the pyridine. That uncoloured meths you refer to should not have pyridine. As I understand it this link defines what can be sold in the UK as "methylated spirits". http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uks...n_5.htm#mdiv14 If it helps, the contents page is at at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uks..._en_1.htm#tcon It says that UK "Industrial Methylated Spirits" has no colouring and also no pyridine. And it has 5% wood naptha. If it has colouring then my reading says it would be UK "Mineralised Methylated Spirits" which has colouring and also pyridine. This has twice the wood naptha at 10%. I wouldn't think that the last class "Denatured Ethanol" is something which is commonly sold to the public. Quite right. If fact there there tends to be 2 main grades of IMS: 74op = colourless dry ethanol/methanol, now usually called 99% IMS 66op = same but damp with water (made from ethanol/water azeotrope IIRC) now usually called 95% IMS [op means "over proof", that means 74op = 174 UK proof. 100 proof = ethanol:water mix which when wetted with gunpowder will flash when lit (about 56.5% IIRC)] There are also a few other grades of denatured ethanol, for use when the methanaol would give rise to unwanted impurities - cyclohexane, toluene, pyridine are all known. I would guess all grades of ethanol are unavailable to the general public - except the purple one and "duty paid". (unless you brew it yourself... hic..) -- -- Ron Jones Don't repeat history, see unreported near misses in chemical lab/plant at http://www.crhf.org.uk |
#17
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According to Ron Jones :
David Peters wrote: On Fri 03 Jun 2005 23:16:22, The Natural Philosopher wrote: Chris Lewis wrote: I don't know what the Grunff is referring to when he says "meths". if he means methanol, he's wrong. Methylated spirits is etahnol with enough mathoanol to make it undrinkable exceptr by bums. And Pyridine to make it obvious it's not bacardi. I don't believe there is any methanol in UK "methylated spirits". See the link in my footnote to my original posting which says: "in the case of mineralised methylated spirits, with every 90 parts by volume of spirits there shall be mixed 9.5 parts by volume of wood naphtha and 0.5 parts by volume of crude pyridine, and to the resulting mixture there shall be added mineral naphtha (petroleum oil) in the proportion 7.5 litres to every 2,000 litres of the mixture". http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uks...n_5.htm#mdiv14 IIRC wood naphtha = wood alcohol = methanol Yeah. Methanol is one of the main ingredients of the gas given off when you heat wood to high temperatures. Principle component that causes the "flame" in burning wood. It used to be called wood alcohol, because the primary source was charcoaling ovens - capture the gasses, let it condense, and voila, wood alcohol. [Naptha is an old fashioned name. Used because it approximates the same thing as petrochemical naptha - which is pretty much a "heavy gasoline". Wood alcohol produced by classic means isn't very pure.] Books describe it as "destructive distillation of wood". Nowadays, most of it is a petrochemical industry product, and much purer. -- Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them. |
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On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 23:39:26 +0100, "Mike" wrote:
Probably because it's a little less volatile and so doesn't evaporate before you've wiped it off. For the same reason it is used in industry because less of the vapour escapes the containment or extraction system. That would be my guesstimate although I can't give a good explanation why this should be so. I'm no chemist. It is only one carbon atom higher and that shouldn't affect the evaporation that much. Home use solvent alcohols are mainly ethyl alcohol because they are cheap to manufacture from fermentation or from raw stock (CO, H2). The adulteration by methyl alcohol is from historical times when wood alcohol was used to make grain alcohol undrinkable. Grain alcohol was too useful a solvent to use for just drinks alone. But drinks alcohol was one of the few staples the lord could depend on for taxes (salt and grain harvests being some of the others.) By adding wood alcohol (from charcoal manufacturing distillates?) even the dumbest village yokel knew that adulterated alcohol would make him blind, make him lose his bodily functions or more likely kill him. Wood alcohol in the test tube oxidizes into formaldehyde, then to formic acid and finally CO2 and water. In the body oxidation stops at formaldehyde the stuff used in biology class to preserve specimens. Nerves being the most sensitive get "preserved" first, thus blindness and ataxia. By the time there is enough to kill you the result will be a well pre-preserved corpse. Ethyl alcohol on the other hand oxidizes to acetaldehyde, acetic acid then to CO2 and water. |
#19
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On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 17:44:57 GMT, PaPaPeng wrote:
On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 23:39:26 +0100, "Mike" wrote: Probably because it's a little less volatile and so doesn't evaporate before you've wiped it off. For the same reason it is used in industry because less of the vapour escapes the containment or extraction system. That would be my guesstimate although I can't give a good explanation why this should be so. I'm no chemist. It is only one carbon atom higher and that shouldn't affect the evaporation that much. Home use solvent alcohols are mainly ethyl alcohol because they are cheap to manufacture from fermentation or from raw stock (CO, H2). Its not just the molecular weight that changes and effects the evaporatoin, especially in small chain alcohols. There are both molecular shape factors and hydrogen bonding changes that also influence the evaporation/heat capacity. The adulteration by methyl alcohol is from historical times when wood alcohol was used to make grain alcohol undrinkable. Grain alcohol was too useful a solvent to use for just drinks alone. But drinks alcohol was one of the few staples the lord could depend on for taxes (salt and grain harvests being some of the others.) By adding wood alcohol (from charcoal manufacturing distillates?) even the dumbest village yokel knew that adulterated alcohol would make him blind, make him lose his bodily functions or more likely kill him. Wood alcohol in the test tube oxidizes into formaldehyde, then to formic acid and finally CO2 and water. In the body oxidation stops at formaldehyde the stuff used in biology class to preserve specimens. Nerves being the most sensitive get "preserved" first, thus blindness and ataxia. By the time there is enough to kill you the result will be a well pre-preserved corpse. Ethyl alcohol on the other hand oxidizes to acetaldehyde, acetic acid then to CO2 and water. Gary Dyrkacz Radio Control Aircraft/Paintball Physics/Paintball for 40+ http://home.comcast.net/~dyrgcmn/ |
#20
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"Gary Dyrkacz" wrote in message ... Probably because it's a little less volatile and so doesn't evaporate before you've wiped it off. For the same reason it is used in industry because less of the vapour escapes the containment or extraction system. That would be my guesstimate although I can't give a good explanation why this should be so. I'm no chemist. It is only one carbon atom higher and that shouldn't affect the evaporation that much. Home use solvent alcohols are mainly ethyl alcohol because they are cheap to manufacture from fermentation or from raw stock (CO, H2). Its not just the molecular weight that changes and effects the evaporatoin, especially in small chain alcohols. There are both molecular shape factors and hydrogen bonding changes that also influence the evaporation/heat capacity. I believe that in most short chain hydrates in the liquid form (water, methane, alcohols, etc) it is the weak hydrogen bonds between molecules that affect the evaporation most. Water would be wholly gaseous at room temperature/standard pressure without this. |
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