Acetone vs Isopropyl Alcohol

[Inferno]

I used to use gasoline. But that was when I only knew gasoline. One day I got some pure tolulene. I loved that stuff for degreasing. I liked that it evaporated so fast. I had 4 gallons of the stuff. Til one day I needed it and it had all evaporated. I was 16.
I went back to gasoline. And I always smelled like gasoline. After a while, I didn't want to smell like gasoline. I was 18.
I entered the printing industry and learned of the value of degreasing with kerosene. It was SLOW, oily. and left a residue but it kind of worked. Not as good as gas, and certainly not as good as tolulene.
Over the years I've had access to MAY chemicals designed for one purpose. Removing ink (oil based, so oil was the carrier) from any and everything. Sometimes you needed something aggressive, sometimes something mild. All to remove, essentially, oil (and take the pigment with it).
For ink REMOVAL when it's still wet, something that doesn't evaporate too quick, and will dissolve the oil easily, and not cause the attack of the other materials (as well as paint on the machine) was a tricky thing to find. We referred to them as weak, adequate, good, excellent, aggressive and DEADLY chemicals.
Sometimes I used ISO 99.9%. It was because it was quick drying and didn't leave a residue. I would use that to clean a printing plate if needed in a small area. An entire plate took a different, non solvent, approach but that's for a different article.
When I did a press wash (changing ink colors) I needed something that would carry the ink/oil to the scraper blade. Problem was this stuff took a while and usually left a residue.
Don't worry, there's a point in here somewhere.
When I did a wash with regular press wash, I often followed with ISO to wash out the residue. It worked most of the time. Other times I used something a little more aggressive which I had to be careful with because it would suck out the necessary oil that the rollers have just to survive and the rubber rollers would, over time, degrade. And then if I really had to remove some oldass ink, I needed something that would actually break down the structure of the dried ink.

Now to the point.

I had to do all this while NOT killing the paint on the machine.

So, there's no single good answer for solvent for degreasing. ALL of the factors need to be considered.

Having said that, in my home shop, I only use three degreasers.

ISO 99.9
MEK (Methyl Ethyl Keytone)
And soap/water (might be any combination including Simple Green)

I don't use gas as, often, I'm also trying to remove the gas varnish from a carb or something. It also leaves a residue that stinks for a week or so.
I don't use acetone as it's not necessary if one has been gifted 15 gallons of MEK. It also fogs some plastics and not others. If I don't care about plastic getting damaged, MEK is better. It does evaporate a tiny bit faster and will absolutely devour latex or nitrile gloves though.
I don't use kerosene as it's just slow, ineffective and takes 40-50 years to evaporate off the part. I don't like cleaning the cleaner off a part.

There are so many I've seen above that I've tried and just find them next to useless compared to what I use. Sorry if that's offensive. We all have our opinion.

A caveat on MEK. I'm told it's now almost impossible to find in quantity without a license in many places as it can be used to make Meth. It's also one of the BEST ways to bond many plastics (which is originally what I've always used it for). It can be stored in only certain types of plastic containers. I have a few in the back of my car, now, to transfer out of the 5 gallon pails in my garage.


Anyhow... YMMV

 

[SouthernChap]

I don't use kerosene as it's just slow, ineffective and takes 40-50 years to evaporate off the part. I don't like cleaning the cleaner off a part.

Ah...hairy balls.

Okay, maybe I'll get some more IPA then. I don't have any specific degreasing to do right now. The acetone vs IPA question just was one that had been popping into my head from time to time and I finally got round to asking.

Mostly my degreasing has been cleaning up small parts, removing the excess of anti-rust gunk off Chinese tooling (and my little 7x14) and occasional prep for Evaporust soaking on eBay job lot toolbox buys.

 

[woodchucker]

I used to use gasoline. But that was when I only knew gasoline. One day I got some pure tolulene. I loved that stuff for degreasing. I liked that it evaporated so fast. I had 4 gallons of the stuff. Til one day I needed it and it had all evaporated. I was 16.
I went back to gasoline. And I always smelled like gasoline. After a while, I didn't want to smell like gasoline. I was 18.
I entered the printing industry and learned of the value of degreasing with kerosene. It was SLOW, oily. and left a residue but it kind of worked. Not as good as gas, and certainly not as good as tolulene.
Over the years I've had access to MAY chemicals designed for one purpose. Removing ink (oil based, so oil was the carrier) from any and everything. Sometimes you needed something aggressive, sometimes something mild. All to remove, essentially, oil (and take the pigment with it).
For ink REMOVAL when it's still wet, something that doesn't evaporate too quick, and will dissolve the oil easily, and not cause the attack of the other materials (as well as paint on the machine) was a tricky thing to find. We referred to them as weak, adequate, good, excellent, aggressive and DEADLY chemicals.
Sometimes I used ISO 99.9%. It was because it was quick drying and didn't leave a residue. I would use that to clean a printing plate if needed in a small area. An entire plate took a different, non solvent, approach but that's for a different article.
When I did a press wash (changing ink colors) I needed something that would carry the ink/oil to the scraper blade. Problem was this stuff took a while and usually left a residue.
Don't worry, there's a point in here somewhere.
When I did a wash with regular press wash, I often followed with ISO to wash out the residue. It worked most of the time. Other times I used something a little more aggressive which I had to be careful with because it would suck out the necessary oil that the rollers have just to survive and the rubber rollers would, over time, degrade. And then if I really had to remove some oldass ink, I needed something that would actually break down the structure of the dried ink.

Now to the point.

I had to do all this while NOT killing the paint on the machine.

So, there's no single good answer for solvent for degreasing. ALL of the factors need to be considered.

Having said that, in my home shop, I only use three degreasers.

ISO 99.9
MEK (Methyl Ethyl Keytone)
And soap/water (might be any combination including Simple Green)

I don't use gas as, often, I'm also trying to remove the gas varnish from a carb or something. It also leaves a residue that stinks for a week or so.
I don't use acetone as it's not necessary if one has been gifted 15 gallons of MEK. It also fogs some plastics and not others. If I don't care about plastic getting damaged, MEK is better. It does evaporate a tiny bit faster and will absolutely devour latex or nitrile gloves though.
I don't use kerosene as it's just slow, ineffective and takes 40-50 years to evaporate off the part. I don't like cleaning the cleaner off a part.

There are so many I've seen above that I've tried and just find them next to useless compared to what I use. Sorry if that's offensive. We all have our opinion.

A caveat on MEK. I'm told it's now almost impossible to find in quantity without a license in many places as it can be used to make Meth. It's also one of the BEST ways to bond many plastics (which is originally what I've always used it for). It can be stored in only certain types of plastic containers. I have a few in the back of my car, now, to transfer out of the 5 gallon pails in my garage.


Anyhow... YMMV

HD had an MEK substitute the other day, but only in Gallons. I use it for bonding plastics.. I don't need a gallon, and I am worried that the substitute might not bond plastic.
All the good chemicals are gone.. funny thing is that they are still available for industry, but not retail.. I can't imagine retail is that big a use that they needed to eliminate them. I didn't know MEK was used for METH..
I mostly use Simple Green as much as possible. It's non-toxic and does a pretty good job. Zep Purple for more stubborn stuff, but it will take the paint off, and it will etch Aluminum, also a little dangerous to your skin, and not good for my septic.. So I use it limited..

I like Acetone and Denatured alcohol as well. One more thing, TSP is a great cleaner and paint prep. It gives a nice tooth. I would boil off paint of my SB rebuild using a camping stove and BIG POT. The paint came off in sheets that way. And left me a ready to paint surface. But it would flash rust immediately.

 

[Jake M]

I realised I was a terrible sim pilot, both rotary and fixed wing and stopped enjoying myself.

Maybe you should have washed that stuff with acetone?


If the IPA does what you want a solvent to do... Go with it. If you go back to using that forgotten supply of it, and find it's not as good as you remember, use it up and make a different selection next time. This is a category where I make a consious effort to NOT get one of everything that's nice to have, but to keep the selection AND quantity on hand at a bare minimum, and while no good solvent is truly "safe", I try to keep the safest option. Mostly the safest to STORE. Good safety practice is dead easy while you're using it, you've just got to do it. But I don't want to have to be conciously aware of a giant collection of flammible, toxic, generally nasty stuff twenty four hours a day, every day.

 

[SouthernChap]

Ah interestingly, MEK is available on Amazon UK. So much for some people's perception that the UK is health and safety gone mad!

Looks like nasty stuff mind you but then acetone is pretty nasty too.

Turns out the UK government site is pretty relaxed about MEK. Maybe it's the answer.

 

[Inferno]

HD had an MEK substitute the other day, but only in Gallons. I use it for bonding plastics.. I don't need a gallon, and I am worried that the substitute might not bond plastic.
All the good chemicals are gone.. funny thing is that they are still available for industry, but not retail.. I can't imagine retail is that big a use that they needed to eliminate them. I didn't know MEK was used for METH..
I mostly use Simple Green as much as possible. It's non-toxic and does a pretty good job. Zep Purple for more stubborn stuff, but it will take the paint off, and it will etch Aluminum, also a little dangerous to your skin, and not good for my septic.. So I use it limited..

I like Acetone and Denatured alcohol as well. One more thing, TSP is a great cleaner and paint prep. It gives a nice tooth. I would boil off paint of my SB rebuild using a camping stove and BIG POT. The paint came off in sheets that way. And left me a ready to paint surface. But it would flash rust immediately.

MEK substitutes are hit and miss.
When we had to remove MEK at the shop where I got y MEK from, I had to test a half dozen other formulations of PVC bonding solvent to find one that was close enough for government work.
Eventually they just eliminated that part of the business as the waste with the new solvent was greater than the value of the product.
Of you lived in the area I would just give you some MEK. TAP Plastics used to sell 4 ounces of MEK for $8 in a glass bottle.

 

[Inferno]

Ah interestingly, MEK is available on Amazon UK. So much for some people's perception that the UK is health and safety gone mad! Looks like nasty stuff mind you but then acetone is pretty nasty too.

MEK isn't terribly bad. If you use it in a ventilated area it's not bad at all. Just wear gloves. I can't remember what gloves we used but I think the HF Black ones worked.

 

[SouthernChap]

MEK isn't terribly bad. If you use it in a ventilated area it's not bad at all. Just wear gloves. I can't remember what gloves we used but I think the HF Black ones worked.

Yep, I think I took too much notice of BS Google results. UK government site reckons it's fine.

 

[lordbeezer]

1969 or 70 two brothers were cleaning bike chains in a pan of gasoline in their storage room attached to their parents house. Gas hot water heater was in room. Fumes ignited. Both died from their burns. Pretty much then in Arkansas everything was natural gas powered.

 

[RJSakowski]

I have about a gallon of MEK, I generally don't use it because I dislike the smell. I do use it for brake jobs though. It is still available at our local DIY for $23/gal.