Why dilute the alcohol?

[bcgreen]

If I am wiping down my work area, why not use the alcohol straight instead of diluting it 50:50. I have alcohol pads from work and I was thinking of using them.

[JG_Detailing]

What do you mean by work area?

[bcgreen]

The particular area of paint on a vehicle.

[JG_Detailing]

I'm not sure but it could remove the wax on the car.

[sneek]

and polish because polishes like M82 seem to fill what ever swirls they can not remove.

[bcgreen]

I understand that it removes wax and polish or anything that would be a filler, but isn't that the point of using alcohol? My question is why use it diluted?

[Pete-FWA]

Re: Why dilute the alcohol?

Originally posted by bcgreen
If I am wiping down my work area, why not use the alcohol straight instead of diluting it 50:50.

Most isopropyl alcohol sold OTC is fairly strong in concentration for purposes of medical disinfection.

For the purpose of removing polish products from paint a surface, the alcohol can be diluted further and be equally effective as the original dilution would be.

By diluting it 50%, you cut cost by the same percentage, minus a few pennies for the water you use for dilution. You also now have twice the usable product on hand prior to dilution.

The further diluted isopropyl flashes a bit slower, assisting in spraying and wiping effectiveness on hot days.

[bcgreen]

Just what I needed, thanks. We use large alcohol prep pads in medicine, so that will work just fine.

[Pete-FWA]

Originally posted by bcgreen
We use large alcohol prep pads in medicine, so that will work just fine.

Same here, but those are expensive. Well....um...unless you're getting them "at a discount"

[bcgreen]

Originally posted by Pete-FWA
Same here, but those are expensive. Well....um...unless you're getting them "at a discount"

Well, I just finished trying them, and I don't like the way the paint looks after I wipe down the area I've just worked on. They leave a film on the paint, even though I try and dry them with a mf towel before it dries. I will borrow some bottle alcohol from the wife and dilute it and see how that goes. Perhaps being diluted will slow down the evaporation and give enough time to wipe it with a mf before filming over.

[inthedetails]

First beer tastes like ****...ohhh not that kind of alcohol.


I have noticed the "smear" that you describe as well..even with 50/50. But since you will still be working on the paint, does it matter? I have still been able to evalutae my work and then continue on with the next step and the smear goes away.

[hawaiibrad]

The white resedue is from the water and any other imputies that your trying to get off(it worse on plastics). It's becuse it flashes to fast that you cant get all the water and impurities off(that is it leave the water and the impurities behind thus nolonger acting as a solvent). Two options would be get alcohol without water labled 99%(not 91% it no subsitute) or dilute it so it flashes slower. We use 99% alcohol on dvd/cd, tapes, and removeing junk that requies solvent to remove in the video that i work in. Saveing money at $3-$4 a bottle :-). Cheapest/safest solvent youll find.

[bcgreen]

Originally posted by inthedetails
First beer tastes like ****...ohhh not that kind of alcohol.


I have noticed the "smear" that you describe as well..even with 50/50. But since you will still be working on the paint, does it matter? I have still been able to evalutae my work and then continue on with the next step and the smear goes away.

I find it hard to evaluate my work because of the smearing, so to me its kind of irritating.