Denatured alcohol in Ireland?

T-Maxx

Does anyone know where I could get me hands on "Denatured Alcohol"? Apparently it's cheap in the US and works great as a cleaner for monster trucks due to the fact that it's a liquid but evaporates fairly quickly. I've tried quite a few places but no-one seems to have even heard aout it.

vectra

I think you may be able to get thst in a Chemist shop.
Not certain but i think a friend of mine uses it in his pc repair shop and that is where he buys it from.

T-Maxx

I've tried the chemist - no luck.

coolwings

Pure Methanol works fine for this purpose.
Green Hobby in Dublin have it.
They use it for making special model fuel blends for some modellers.
Comes in 1 gallon containers for a tenner.

Johnny Storm

coolwings wrote:

Pure Methanol works fine for this purpose.
Green Hobby in Dublin have it.
They use it for making special model fuel blends for some modellers.
Comes in 1 gallon containers for a tenner.

Had the same problem myself. Local chemist never heard of "denatured alcohol". Is it basically the American name for metholated spirits?

T-Maxx

Someone told me it is, but from what I've gathered denat. alc. is clear and evaps very quickly. It's definitely not 100% the same. Also meths sells for €2.99 / 500ml at my local diy .

coolwings

The obvious alternative is unleaded petrol, but the stink it makes !!
White spirit is also a contender as a cleaning agent but it smells strongly too, definitely not for in the house.
What alcohol,has in its favour is the lack of strong odour.
Meths is alcohol with a dye/taste agent added to prevent idiots killing themselves by drinking it.
Methanol is wood alcohol and is a perfect substitute, cheaper, clean, no colouring, low odour, evaporates quickly, leaves no residue - yet it dissolves oil based marks and residues well.

Aircraft modellers : a few drops of methanol also thins epoxy glue and slows it down, so it can be used to slow 5 minute epoxy into 10-15 minute epoxy, a very useful set time when building in balsawood.

Car/truck modellers: if you clean the engine with a spirit, be aware that when it evaporates away it leaves the surface it cleaned "dry". So if you clean moving parts with methanol and an old toothbrush, you should put a bit of after run oil, or three in one oil to "wet" the metal, especially important with pistons, liners, and bearings.
Pariffin (or kerosene if you wish) can be used as a good substitute to "wet" the moving parts if needed.

trudnai

coolwings wrote:

Methanol is wood alcohol and is a perfect substitute, cheaper, clean, no colouring, low odour, evaporates quickly, leaves no residue - yet it dissolves oil based marks and residues well.

Note: Methanol is highly poisonous, even inhaling or touching the skin could cause serious medical problems. Never use it inside and without using rubber gloves.

kaiphas

Yep Methanonl can be absorbed through the skin, by ingestion or by inhalation and should generally be avoided at all costs outside of the Laboratory environment.

What you are looking for is IMS (Industrial Metholated Spirits).
If you know anybody working in a Laboratory they should be able to get their hands on a product from a company called Shield Medicare - Kleralcohol is a denatured Ethanol Spray (6 x 1 litre bottles) is approx €75 plus VAT. It is also available is 5 litre bottles but this is more expensive.
There is also an Impregnated Wipe with IMS (like a baby wipe or wet wipe) these are expensive but if you new somebody in a Lab they could borrow a pack for you to try.

tallus

I used to make my own fuel with methanol and castrol m years back when I had a few Radio planes. It worked fine

coolwings

kaiphas wrote:

Yep Methanonl can be absorbed through the skin, by ingestion or by inhalation and should generally be avoided at all costs outside of the Laboratory environment.....

These problem applies to all degreasing spirits. If it removes grease, it can also remove the protective oils we have in our skin. Therefore any toxic chemical which is also present in the degreasing spirit will then penetrate the skin.
Nitromorse, acetone, methanol, unleaded petrol, white spirit all are of a similar haxardous type.
If you are careless .....Methanol can therefore be drunk, breathed in vapour form absorbed through the skin, and you forgot to say it can set you on fire too!
Not only that, but the vapour is heavier than air, and therefore it goes to the ground, where a spark from a shoe stud or static electricity can cause you to blow up in an explosion.

All of the solvents mentioned above are flammable and due care should be exercised.

By the way, the benzine in unleaded petrol is also a very nasty item when allowed to get inside the body :eek:

It should be said here what normal practise when using these types of degreasing spirits is ...
1 Use barrier creams (vaseline )
2 Operate in an open well ventilated space.
3 Wear protective gloves
4 Wipe up spillage immediately
5 Don't smoke !
6 Soft soled shoes
7 Replace the top on the container before proceeding to the next stage in your work.
8 Smaller containers are safer than large containers....it is wise to decant a small amount into a smaller bottle for use in jobs, and keep the "master" container in a cool safe place.
9 Wash hands after use, and before proceeding to the next job.
(If I missed any other safe practise points please feel free to add it)


The ultimate safe solvents for cleaning your model : ....
listed in order of safety
Soapy hot water !
Vodka ( yes ! ! )
Pariffin / kerosene / home heating oil

Use an old toothbrush or a rotary Dremel polishing tool.


My personal top choices listed for effectiveness and cost .....
Acetone
Fire retarded low vapour acetone
Methanol
Unleaded

ViperGTS

From what I've been told the best thing to use in the absence of denatured alcohol is ...... Nail varnish Remover. I think it's a.k.a Acetone. I use it myself and it works fine. Best u can get is Methanol. I use it in work but we use Savlon barrier cream WITH latex gloves. Lethal stuff if due care and attention are'nt used.

T-Maxx

Thanks for all the input guys. I want something that I can spray liberally on my truck and then blow off with an air compressor. I think I'll settle for unleaded petrol at approx. €1.05 / liter...:)

gs39t

Seen something in Halfords in Carrickmines specifically for cleaning nitro models. Was in a can a bit bigger than your average spraypaint can and was €23~ . No idea what as i didnt look closely, but anyway might be worth a look

T-Maxx

It's prolly a nitro solvent aerosol. I've never used it and at that price I never will.

coolwings

gs39t wrote:

Seen something in Halfords ....in a average spraypaint can ....and was €23

WOW ... €23 ! ... does it come with a skilled craftsman who cleans your model for you?

Check back to the alternatives I mentioned earlier in this thread.
All of them cost much less than that.
All of them work fast and effectively.

When I am cleaning a model I have it done in maybe 15 - 30 seconds, and that's it. I don't have time to waste, and I can't get away with a bad job, cos I myself will be working on it first thing after cleaning.
I give it a scrub with a methanol impregnated paintbrush, then a toothbrush with same, step outside the door, then blow it clean and dry with compressed air hose. Step back inside. Done. 15 seconds.
The other 15 seconds is for if I missed a particularly bad bit.
Any spare methanol not blown away, evaporates in the next minute while I am getting the tools/parts ready to do whatever job needs doing.

Methanol €10 gallon (that's 4.551 litres) not a piddly little can that will last one job, a gallon. And it get used, believe me.

Ratchet

ViperGTS wrote:

From what I've been told the best thing to use in the absence of denatured alcohol is ...... Nail varnish Remover. I....

also can melt plastic and strip paint off

coolwings

Very true, gotta be very careful of many of these solvents when used on a foamie/plastic model. :eek:
Some of the auto spray paints,m and superglues do it to your model too.
I have taken a shaving of suspect models and tried the paints & chemicals (as on a "test card").
On one occasion it seemed OK, but the plastic melted slowly over a couple of hours, so it pays to let it dry before trusting the finish.

antoinolachtnai

Can you really not get methylated spirits in the chemist? (Same thing for our purposes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylated_spirits ) It's a coloured liquid. The reason for this is the violet dye they add to it to make it abundantly clear that it is not for drinking.

The reason you can't buy pure non-denatured alcohol is for revenue protection reasons. Methylated spirits is tax-free. But strongish vodka might work if you had it.

NB: I am not a big modelmaker, but I've bought the odd bottle of meths in my time. If you speak to the local pharmacist (generally not the first person you meet at the counter in the shop) they will know the details.

antoin.

Maguirearch

...Is The American Term for "Methylated Spirits"...which is Alcohol that has been diluted to prevent human Consumption...
"Meths" is widely available in Hardware stores paint shops etc etc.....alternatively pure Alcohol ( Technical Term "Ethanol") is just as good.....
Poteen ( Moonshine) was commonly used as it has less of the "Nature" say Whiskey or Vodka would have

Johnny Storm

Maguirearch wrote: »

...Is The American Term for "Methylated Spirits"...which is Alcohol that has been diluted to prevent human Consumption...
"Meths" is widely available in Hardware stores paint shops etc etc.....alternatively pure Alcohol ( Technical Term "Ethanol") is just as good.....
Poteen ( Moonshine) was commonly used as it has less of the "Nature" say Whiskey or Vodka would have

Thanks
fyi what you said above is news to my local chemist