There have been a number of recent posts about various alcohols for cleaning.
I wonder if there has been confusion between ethanol (EtOH) (grain alcohol) and isopropanol.? When distilling? grain mash, the best alcohol concentration you can get is about 70% EtOH and 30% water.? To get 99% EtOH, like Everclear, you have to dry the EtOH / H2O mix with a desiccant like silica gel.? 99% EtOH will avidly absorb water from the atmosphere until it reaches the 70/30 ratio again.
If EtOH is sold without a liquor tax stamp, it is denatured with something like Methanol, isopropanol, acetone, or MEK to keep it from being consumed internally.
Isopropanol (Often sold as rubbing alcohol) is very definitely toxic, and does not require denaturing.
Methanol (wood alcohol) is also toxic, and causes blindness if ingested in a significant quantity.? Methanol comes off the fermented mash in the early stages of distillation, in the "heads", and is supposed to be discarded.
Dave
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On 2/16/2025 6:39 PM, Steve Byan via groups.io wrote:
The 91% isopropyl at my CVS has a bitterant added to it to prevent people from drinking it. It leaves a white residue behind. Since discovering that, I use only 99% isopropyl. Try asking the pharmacist for the 99% variety, some pharmacies stock it. Otherwise you can buy it from electronics distributors such as Mouser and DigiKey.
