Ethyl Rubbing Alcohol

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davek

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 20, 2014
685
952
Wiki - denatured ethyl alcohol:
Different additives are used to make it difficult to use distillation or other simple processes to reverse the denaturation. Methanol is commonly used both because its boiling point is close to that of ethanol and because it is toxic. Another typical denaturant is pyridine. Often the denatured alcohol is dyed with methyl violet.[3]
There are several grades of denatured alcohol, but in general the denaturants used are similar. As an example, the formulation for completely denatured alcohol, according to 2005 British regulations was as follows:[4]
Completely denatured alcohol must be made in accordance with the following formulation: with every 90 parts by volume of alcohol mix 9.5 parts by volume of wood naphtha or a substitute and 0.5 parts by volume of crude pyridine, and to the resulting mixture add mineral naphtha (petroleum oil) in the proportion of 3.75 litres to every 1000 litres of the mixture and synthetic organic dyestuff (methyl violet) in the proportion of 1.5 grams to every 1000 litres of the mixture.
The European Union agreed in February 2013 to the mutual procedures for the complete denaturing of alcohol:[5]

Per hectolitre (100 L) of absolute ethanol: 3 litres of isopropyl alcohol, 3 litres of methyl ethyl ketone and 1 gram denatonium benzoate.

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So you don't know what they've added to ethyl alcohol to denature it. Theoretically it would vaporize at the same temp as ethanol but slight residues could be possible I guess.
Isopropanol is fine, especially if you let the pipe sit for a long while. If you are in more of a hurry or want to be really sure then potable spirits would be best.
You *can* find 99% isopropanol if you look. That would be best I think. Water takes a while to evaporate and could preserve some alcohol in solution.

 

jpmcwjr

Modern Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
26,199
30,136
Carmel Valley, CA
After any alcohol treatment to the bowl: Rinsing the chamber with hot water followed by paper towel drying/light abrasion to the chamber, then resting overnight cures all ills that I've been able to notice.

 

andrew

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,066
447
Winnipeg, Canada
I never can find 99%... used to all the time. Thought it kind of weird.

They keep it behind the counter at pharmacies where I live and you have to ask for it, and there's a 2 bottle maximum. I think it's because it's an essential ingredient in making marijuana oil, actually the only ingredient besides the marijuana, kind of like how cold medications with ephedrine are now regulated.

 

hawke

Lifer
Feb 1, 2014
1,346
4
Augusta, Ga
I confess I haven't read all the replies, however...
Ethyl Alcohol is simply the same which is in beer, wine, or liquor. It is safe for consumption and has interesting effects on the human, Hahaha. It is distilled from fruits and/or grains etc. Wood grain alcohol is not suited for human consumption and poisonous. Isopropyl alcohol is well suited for cleaning out pipes, the higher percentage the better.
Note that Isopropyl alcohol, a totally different chemical than the alcohol of beer, wine, or liquor is not suited for human consumption. The lethal dose of isopropyl alcohol by mouth in adult humans is about 8 ounces. Alcoholics in dire financial straights are known to purchase it for consumption and can survive at times.

 

blackbeard

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 13, 2015
706
0
I have a quick question. When doing a salt and alcohol treatment....if you wanted to really pull everything into the salt....Why not about a 70% so it doesn't evaporate so fast? Should I test it or can someone explain. I understand that the higher percent is so it doesn't stay in your pipe....however....if you need a deep clean and are willing to let it rest longer....wouldn't it help?

 

pastordaniel

Lurker
Sep 20, 2015
25
1
I am still amazed that this post is getting responses. You guys are awesome! Such wealth of information (but maybe i should have paid attention more in my chemistry classes). :oops:

 

blackbeard

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 13, 2015
706
0
Certainly going to. Because the 91% didn't do the trick for a very rough falcon bowl. Problem is....I need two pipes that are equal in dirty....might try my old nylon pipe with the removable bowl. Someone with more pipes willing to give this a go as well due to my lack of very many? If I get any more old dirty pipes, I'll try...but it may be a while. Gotta have a pretty similar test to be sure.

 

jpmcwjr

Modern Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
26,199
30,136
Carmel Valley, CA
On second thought, even those with many pipes will have a hard time coming up with identically smoked and deposited pipes. And then after the side by side cleaning, testing may not reveal a detectable difference unless they were both very contaminated.
So, physics suggests you are right, and so, go for it (without the testing).

 
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