Isopropyl Alcohol?

Why would someone recommend a Wal-Mart to a person living in New Zealand?

The rest of the world doesn’t consist of Wal-marts and McDonalds (Thank God)

THINK before you post.

I think often enough it is a case of not reading before posting. Most guys are just eager to help and don’t pay attention to details or to what has been posted already by others trying to help. When I noticed Steve was from New Zealand I Googled Isopropyl and New Zealand and came up with a relevant hit for him.

BTW, I think you may find a Rotten Ronnies in New Zealand…but I could be wrong. They built one in Russia as I recall. [xx(]

A couple of years ago, I tried stripping paint off of a Walthers car with 70% IPA without much success. I then tried 91% and the paint came off easily. I do not know if I got some bad 70% or if there is something about Walthers’s paint. I always go straight for the 91% now.

My mistake. I didn’t look at the OP’s profile info to see where he was from.

I didn’t know that rubbing alcohol was controlled in Canada. Down here I buy it 10 or more bottles at a time and nobody thinks twice about it.

I haven’t had much occasion to do any paint stripping of late so my last purchase of isopropyl was a few years back. I bought a quart can labeled - are you ready for this? - isopropyl alcohol at a Payless Cashway.

I’m not promoting the use of xylene but I have been using paints that contain it for most of my 58 years with no harmful after effects yet. But I do use a paint mask and only in well ventilated areas.

As for the alcohol I use it too and it is great for cleaning track without leaving a residue. I also use it on plastic before painting to remove the oils left by handling.

Isopropyl alchohol, to my knowledge, is not controlled in Canada. I can go down to my local drug store right now and buy bottles of 99% isopropypyl alcohol without any problem.

With respect to stripping power, I also found that the 70% version is not very effective, whereas the 90% + concentrations are best.

Badger

To the best of my knowledge it is not controlled. However I think retailers are encouraged to be suspicious of “societal outcast looking long hair types” purchasing it in volume… [;)]

It’s kind of like the common things that are being abused by some minority factions here in Canada…vanilla extract, Listerine, Lysol, Draino, contact cements…the list goes on. None of these are controlled but if a purchaser looks like a candidate to use a product in a harmful or illegal manner, retaillers are encouraged to not make the sale. Mostly it’s just a big pain in the rear for the average modeler who needs 45 gallons of Isopropyl for…[%-)]

[:D]

There are additives in the 70% solution so it can be used on the skin without causing harm. The 91% solution is just that - 91% alcohol. This is mostly used for sterilization and is not intended for rubbing on the skin as it will dry it out. I remember when we were warned not to use the 70% solution to clean the heads and capstans on tape decks due to the additives. Back then we used either the 91% solution or carbon tetrachloride (DON’T USE!).

You don’t have to tell me twice not to use carbon tet. I was nearly killed by it back in the late sixties and still have some of the health problems caused by it. That’s some extremely dangerous stuff! I quickly switched to alcohol as a track cleaner.

This is slightly off topic, but I recently purchased some India Ink and 4 bottles of 91% alcohol, with the thought of mixing up several strengths of black weathering liquid. But, I’ved started worrying that the 91% strength is going to take the paint off of my rolling stock.

Should I switch to 70% or use the 91% and just be careful? I am planning to take a cheap boxcar and give it a whirl, but thought I would ask here as well.

Thanks for any help.

That’s the mixture I use. Although I use it primarily on wood with excellent results, I have also used it on styrene with fair results. It didn’t remove the paint. Experiment on a junk car.

Xylene is a component of lacquer thinner and will eat/dissolve most plastics. The 91% Isopropyl alcohol will strip paint without messing up the plastic. I’m not enough of the chemist to say just what adding xylene to the alcohol will do, but I wouldn’t want to put anything I cared about into such a mix. It might not survive.

Down south here, in the USofA, you can get pint bottles of 91% Isopropyl at drug stores, or the drug aisle of the supermarket.

I had no trouble buying a 500 ml bottle of 99% in the pharmacy section of a supermarket. But, I would think that a bulk purchase of lots of bottles would get their attention. It’s a shame that honest people have to be inconvenienced because of the actions of a few dishonest people. Cold medications are now behind the counter because they can be used to make street drugs. As for the question of additives in 70%, when I purchased a bottle of that, I asked the pharmacist about additives and she said that to her knowlege there were no additives to make it easier for rubbing, that it was pure alcohol (diluted, of course to 70%).

IPA is known in England as Servisol and sold through Maplins chain of electrical parts stores. It may go by the same name in other parts of the world.

Jon

I’ve found denatured alcohol to work better than the isopropyl. the isopropyl tends to leave a film behind on the rails on our club layout. The denatured stuff cleans great and evaporates fast and doesn’t leave a residue or film behind. It may be easier to purchase as well. Try a hardware store versus a drug store. I just purchased some and didn’t need ID.

Actually, you can find McDonalds all over our planet!

I bought 50mL of 100% Isopropyl Alcohol today for $4.50 from the Pharmacy, it was already bottled but kept out back. A lot cheaper than Dick Smiths @ $5.98 for 25mL but at least I know it’s available.

I looked for Isopropanol and Servisol, they are both available but come in spray cans.

While out I picked up some waterproof India ink, it becomes waterproof on drying but can be washed off hands and clothing with soap and water. Would I use water or Isopropyl alcohol to dilute this for washes?

Oh and New Zealand HAS been invaded by McDonalds!

Yep…

http://www.mcdonalds.co.nz/HTML/home/

Rotor

I’m a little floored by the prices. 50ml is hardly enough to ballast much track - I bet I’ve used almost a liter on my layout. Prices here are much lower, for 91% at least, and the bottles are much larger. I’m not sure I’ve every seen 100% on the shelves, though.

Jim