26 Jan
1998
26 Jan
'98
9:14 a.m.
At 08:47 AM 1/26/98 -0600, you wrote:
Jeff,
I don't know if it's true but I've been told that different companys use
different things to "denature" alcohol. I was told that they can use any
additive that makes the alcohol undrinkable and that one common addative is
kerosene. FWIW I usw A LOT of denatured alcohol for cleanning electronics
and the brand that I use does not seem to leave a resisdue. I've had no
problems using it. I can find the original can and get the brand name if
you like.
Joe
That's ok, old warnings from the past are
hard to get rid of. One
that I heard just tonight was "if you aren't careful when you make your
own booze you can go blind". This came from the era when alcohol was
prohibited, and some unsavory people would repackage denatured alcohol
(ethanol with a percentage of methanol in it to render it poisonous so if
you drink it you will either go blind, or die, thus prevent you from
getting pleasure from UNTAXED alcohol). After a while, they switched to
formula 19 (methyl isobutyl ketone I think) as the denaturant so you don't
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ok, so *thats* why modern denatured alcohol smells like that! I
recently bought some from a hardware store to clean circuit boards,
and it smelled very strange to me-- it had an MEK 'edge' to it. The
last time I used denatured alcohol was almost twenty years ago-- I
was un-aware that they had changed the 'formula'.
Anyway, I'm seriously considering shelling out some real $$$ for
ethanol-- this new denatured stuff leaves a residue which the old
formula did not. (Anybody remember 'Zeracol' ?)
Jeff