Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Where to find 100% isopropyl alcohol

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Posted by Jason Caddell (Member # 5239) on 04-13-2011, 07:40 PM:

I've recently been tasked with figuring out cleaning supplies for the booth. I read around the forum and people seem to recommend using either just warm water or 100% alcohol for platters so I figured I'd try the alcohol. Where can I find this? I've checked Lowe's and Home Depot but cannot seem to find it. I can only find the regular 70% drug store variety. Any suggestions would be appreciated, even if it's that I'm just blind and didn't see it at Lowe's. Thank you.

Jason

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 04-13-2011, 08:17 PM:

Close you can get is 91% at medical stores.

You go 100% and you got some pretty unstable and flammable material in that booth which soaks easily into the skin along with not breathing the fumes if you can help it.

But, save the money (and your health) on getting alcohol to clean platters when a bucket of dish soap and/or just hot water and a few dry towels can do the job tonnage better?

Some folks uses 409 to clean decks, but after awhile, you get a soap film buildup on the deck to where once in a while a good hot water only cleaning rids of this soap film and you get a soapy bucket of water after a while.

Play it safe. good luck and welcome to FT and the forums - Monte

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 04-13-2011, 08:31 PM:

Look in the Paint Department

"Kleen Strip"

S-L-X

Denatured Alcohol

It is in a blue can.

Honor ALL of the precautions on the can.

Do not store it in the booth without the permission of your employer.

KEN

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 04-13-2011, 08:32 PM:

I agree with Monte.

100% may well be available at liquor stores. If not very close to 100%. (In the 1960's a very well qualified professional engineer cleaned his Ampex 350's with booze. Really!) louis

Posted by Jason Caddell (Member # 5239) on 04-13-2011, 08:40 PM:

Thanks guys. I will check the medical supply store for the 91%. I had just read that the 70% drug store variety shouldn't really be used. Maybe I will just try some warm water first. We had used 409 in the past but the new stuff we got seems to not like the platters very much and leaves splotchy marks on them.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 04-13-2011, 08:43 PM:

Ya, 200 proof "Everclear" - 100% grain alcohol. A lot of corrosive substance in that bottle there ... rofl. Seen people try half a shot with that stuff and almost pass out.

(and I heard that story as well that sound engineers would clean tape deck headblocks with their brew...too funny)

If you really want to clean blotchy marks, get a gallon of "Simple Green" and put it on straight on any dirty surface. Stuff really cleans and it doesn't hurt you. I used to use Simple Green to clean carburetor parts when doing overhauls with excellent results - and use hot water to rinse.

-Monte

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 04-13-2011, 10:00 PM:

100% alcohol is not really obtainable. Yes, you can buy "lab grade" alcohol but it won't stay that way for long.

Alcohol is hygroscopic and it will absorb water right out of the air. Pretty much, as soon as you open the top to the container and expose it to air, it starts absorbing water. If you left the top open for any length of time, you would no longer have "pure" alcohol.

You're probably better off buying 91% alcohol from the store.

Besides, alcohol isn't really a great cleaner. It makes an okay solvent for some things but it's not good at dirt and grease removal.

For general cleaning around the booth, I recommend Windex but be sure to get plain, old, ordinary, blue Windex brand cleaner and not anything else. I have found few other cleaners that clean as well as Windex and getting generic "glass cleaner" just doesn't do the job.

Formula 409 is good, too but you have to be sure you wipe the surface completely dry or you will leave residue. Spray the minimum amount, wipe with a clean cloth until the surface is clean then use another, dry cloth to wipe the surface until it is completely dry.

To be honest, cleaning is more about process than it is about what substance you use. If you clean regularly and efficiently, every day, you will end up doing less work and having a cleaner booth than you would if you did a top-to-bottom cleanout of the booth every month.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 04-14-2011, 12:28 AM:

Ya, I've done Windex on platters as well with excellent results for the ammonia in that stuff really cuts through the gunk on the decks and everywhere.

Ammonia is great stuff for cleaning, but never get it close to chlorine bleach, or very dangerous gasses will result.

quote: Randy Stankey
Alcohol is hygroscopic and it will absorb water right out of the air

..why you always use brake fluid out of a sealed container due to the high content of alcohol in that stuff when filling master clutch/brake reservoirs for moisture raises havoc with these pressurized mechanisms.

Posted by Chase Pickett (Member # 5975) on 04-14-2011, 02:58 AM:

Isopropyl Alcohol is different than ethyl alcohol or methyl alcohol. We get 100% Isopropyl alcohol from Grainger, but when it comes to cleaning platters, we use a light coating of windex wiped completely dry with Accu-wipes (a lint free wipe) Honestly, we rarely use the alcohol.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 04-14-2011, 09:21 AM:

quote: Monte L Fullmer
Ammonia is great stuff for cleaning, but never get it close to chlorine bleach, or very dangerous gasses will result.

Aww, you won't let us have any fun! [Wink]

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 04-14-2011, 09:50 AM:

You usually don't have to go to a medical supply store for 91%. You can usually get it at "drug stores" like CVS/Walgreens. But medical supply stores will have it in larger portions/containers.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-14-2011, 10:16 AM:

This reminds me of the news story a couple years ago. A Steelers fan in Chicago was presumably poisoned by some Bears fans after some trash talking went bad at a local bar. The two groups settled down and one of the Bears fans offered another a drink to let bygones be bygones. The drink was spiked with something. The Steelers fan who drank it collapsed and wound up in the hospital. The guy's heart stopped 4 times while medical people were trying to get him stabilized. The Steelers fan wound up with some permanent brain damage and he lost his eye sight.

Supposedly some kind of "toxic grain alcohol" was used in the poisoning, but others suggest the drink may have been spiked with a high dose of roofies. Anyone know more about this story? AFAIK no one was ever arrested for the crime. And I guess the fan's vision loss was permanent.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 04-14-2011, 11:01 AM:

Huffington Post -- 11/17/09

Steelers Fan Says He Was Poisoned

quote:
A Pittsburgh man in town to watch the Steelers play in September says he had to be rushed to the hospital on the verge of death after accepting a drink from a Bears fan.

Police are investigating whether Zack Heddinger was drugged or whether his drink was spiked at Kitty O'Shea's bar where he and some friends went after watching the Steelers lose to the Bears 14-17 at Soldier Field Sept. 20.

Heddinger said he doesn't remember exactly what happened, except that he accepted a drink from a Bears fan after an argument.

"Basically, I guess, my buddies had gotten into an altercation and they offered a drink as a peacemaker from what I understand," Heddinger told ABC 4 Pittsburgh.

Not long after, he says, his friends had to rush him to the hospital. Heddinger could not see and his heart stopped and had to be restarted four times.

At first, doctors thought he had had too much to drink, but eventually they feared something more nefarious was at work, perhaps antifreeze or toxic grain alcohol.

"I literally watched him say, within a matter of hours, 'I'm getting really scared. I can't see anything,'" Heddinger's sister Lisa told ABC 4.

Heddinger survived but two months later his vision still hasn't returned. He's undergoing oxygen treatments to try to restore his eyesight.

Police are checking the bar's video cameras to try and identify a suspect, but no one is yet in custody. A spokeswoman confirmed that an aggravated battery complaint was filed Oct. 22 and the investigation is ongoing.

Kitty O'Sheas is in the Hilton Hotel in the South Loop, not far from Soldier Field and is often a crowded post-game spot.

Hilton spokesman Robert Allegrini said the hotel is cooperating fully with the investigation. He could not confirm whether police had been by to see surveillance tapes or whether anyone with the hotel had spoken with Heddinger.

Heddinger has hired an attorney but is waiting for the police to conclude their investigation before deciding what more to do, Fox Chicago reports.

"I don't think they tried to kill me," Heddinger said. "I think they tried to hurt me, but the killing came pretty close."

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-14-2011, 11:41 AM:

Not that I advocate using Iso for cleaning much of anything in the booth except maybe mag-heads...but how many are working with those nowadays?

Believe it or not, getting high purity Isopropyl isn't all that hard (97-99%) isn't all that hard...beleive it or not, electronics stores have been good sources due to the above mentioned head cleaning. This may prove not to be too good as time goes since magnetic media has fallen on hard times.

But going to a familiar place like Newark Electronics one can get "Tech-Spray" products like 1610-P. http://www.newark.com/techspray/1610-p/gen-purpose-cleaner-bottle-0-5quart/dp/10J6809?Ntt=10j6809

If you look at its MSDS sheet...it contains one ingredient...Propanol-2 (Isopropyl) with a 99.6-100%. It isn't terribly pricey though more so than conventional Rubbing...which will wick water into whatever you clean.

-Steve

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 04-14-2011, 11:48 AM:

Here's a source for CleanTex 99% Isopropyl Alcohol .

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 04-14-2011, 11:50 AM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
Supposedly some kind of "toxic grain alcohol" was used in the poisoning, but others suggest the drink may have been spiked with a high dose of roofies.

Nooo... Sounds like somebody tried to pull the old "Visine Trick."
(Which is: [A] Bullshit and [B] Attempted homicide and [C] Murder if it kills somebody... which it can do!)

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 04-15-2011, 08:55 PM:

Or here: Allied

Posted by Jason Caddell (Member # 5239) on 04-16-2011, 08:59 AM:

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the thoughts and tips.