Isopropyl or Denatured Alcohol

**jsoto** · 07-11-2003, 09:24 AM

What would be best to use on my car paint. I plan to go all out on a full 2 day detailing spree and one of the task is to get every crack/crevice with wax/polish residue out.

I`ve used denatured alcohol when wiping down other mettalic parts I have painted (no car panels yet) and it doesn`t seem to hurt the paint finish. Alot on this board have mentioned isopropyl alcohol.

What`s your take

**imported_DetailGirl** · 07-11-2003, 09:27 AM

I`ve always used isopropyl and haven`t had any problems with it at all.

**MBZ 500E** · 07-11-2003, 10:31 AM

I use wooden toothpics in the tiny cracks and I use Q-Tips soaked with QD to remove any excess wax. It works great and leaves a protected surface.:up

A blast of shop air or from an air can will remove the excess dust.

**BradE** · 07-11-2003, 10:37 AM

Either will work fine, Denatured is a bit more of a solvent than Isopropyl.

**unclearty** · 07-11-2003, 10:52 AM

Either will work...just make sure it is not Rubbing alcohol. Sometimes bargain brand alcohol contains Lanolin...you DO NOT want that.

**Mmmph** · 07-11-2003, 11:57 AM

Look for Anhydrous Isopropyl Alcohol. It`s 99% alcohol,

You may have to call around, as I`ve not seen it in a

chain-type drugstore or drug department.

**DETAILKING** · 07-11-2003, 05:59 PM

IPA is common at 87% and lower. It`s the cheapest to make, since it azeotropes with water at that composition. Basically that means that in normal distillation, at 87% IPA (balance water) the two compounds boil at the same temperature so that is the best you can get. Anything higher than that requires special processing and drives the cost up.

Denatured alcohal is basically Ethyl-alcohal aka Ethanol. THey add an impurity like toluene to it so people don`t drink it and go blind

**boywonder** · 07-11-2003, 08:47 PM

I love using ISA for window cleaning. I mixed it with 20/20 and it was quite effective in cleaning severely dirty windows.

**chris0626** · 07-11-2003, 09:50 PM

Wow, Detailking. That`s great info, and clears up a lot of questions for me. But ... toluene???? :shocked That`s some nasty stuff. I`m amazed that it can still be added to consumer-grade products.

Thanks for the info. :up

**imported_dookiebob** · 07-11-2003, 11:21 PM

Originally posted by DETAILKING

Denatured alcohal is basically Ethyl-alcohal aka Ethanol. THey add an impurity like toluene to it so people don`t drink it and go blind

I know you were being facetious, but it`s methyl alcohol (methanol) that makes people go blind. Believe it or not, the antidote for methanol poisoning is... ethyl alcohol :xyxthumbs

-Bob

**Maxtorque02** · 07-13-2003, 10:47 AM

Originally posted by DETAILKING

IPA is common at 87% and lower. It`s the cheapest to make, since it azeotropes with water at that composition. Basically that means that in normal distillation, at 87% IPA (balance water) the two compounds boil at the same temperature so that is the best you can get. Anything higher than that requires special processing and drives the cost up.

Denatured alcohal is basically Ethyl-alcohal aka Ethanol. THey add an impurity like toluene to it so people don`t drink it and go blind

Ethyl Alcohol is processed from grain and is consumable in its pure form (although it`s actually to strong to drink pure). The reason other solvents are added to it, is to keep it from being consumable. Pure Ethanol is taxed by the government at $27.00 a gallon. This is why hard alcohol is so expensive. By denaturing the product with other solvents, it is no longer consumable and won`t have a federal excise tax added on to it. Ethanol is much cheaper than Isopropyl Alchol, but IPA is usually more readily available. Most hardware stores or paint stores will carry either one. Both are water miscible (ability to mix with water).