Cleaning briar pipes with denatured alcohol
1968eric
of a briar pipe? I don't keep consumable alcohol on hand, but I do have
some of this that I've used to mix stains in the past...
Eric
Mark Peeples
DO NOT USE DENATURED ALCOHOL TO CLEAN PIPES.
Get some Everclear or 151 Rum to clean with.
If you have a problem with consuming the alcohol, just keep re-dipping
the pipe cleaners in the bottle,......should take care of that compulsion.
MP
1968eric
Well shoots. I just read on another forum don't use everclear because
*it* leaves an after taste.
No problem with any compulsion but the one to save money. I don't want
to buy something when I already have a suitable alternative.
What is it that is bad about denatured alcohol?
Mike Hagley
cuts the crud better than Everclear, Golden Grain or any other grain
alcohol.
One must be careful in cleaning clear Perspex stems on older GBD, since
crazing can occur.
Dentatured alcohol is used as the solvent for most pipe stains.
Just my experience.
Mike Hagley
"1968eric" <use...@1968eric.otherinbox.com> wrote in message
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Dave Griffith
> Well shoots. I just read on another forum don't use everclear because
> *it* leaves an after taste.
That doesn't make sense. Got a reference or an URL?
> No problem with any compulsion but the one to save money. I don't want
> to buy something when I already have a suitable alternative.
> What is it that is bad about denatured alcohol?
There's not a lot of control over exactly what is used to denature the
stuff and it's not very clear from looking at the label. For instance,
the stuff you get for thinning shellac often contains stuff like
benzene. Rubbing alcohol might be the safest from that perspective. In
any case, you can be sure it will contain denatonium
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatonium). That stuff is the bitterest
substance known -- 10ppm is unbearably nasty. I don't think you'd want
that stuff anywhere near your pipes.
--
David Griffith
dgr...@cs.csbuak.edu <-- Switch the 'b' and 'u'
Mike Stanley
I use it. There are two different "strengths" One is 70% and the other is
91%. I use the latter. There is no problem in my experience. I do let a pipe
dry and air out for 5 or so days prior to re use. Can't get grain alcohol in
Ohio.
Mike Stanley
Travian ian
I use it too- it's fast and easy and evaporates very very fast.
Mike Hagley
drugstore. The original poster was asking about denatured alcohol.
Mike Hagley
"Mike Stanley" <msta...@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
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JtN©
Yeah go ahead ... some agree its alright and others think its bad but
you already have it and your to cheap to go down to the liquor store
and even get a tiny one shot bottle of high proof booze for $2 that
would last for more than a few pipes so just go ahead and use what you
have and dont worry about what others suggest.
Oh yeah ... if the label says it aint safe for internal consumption I
wouldn't use it.
JtN ©2009
hlad...@uwstout.edu
things that DON'T evaporate. Everclear is just ethanol and water,
both of which will evaporate after enough time has passed.
I would suggest using isopropyl alcohol. It'll say don't consume, but
it's not *that* bad for you. Ethylene glycol and methanol are both
far, far worse.
It's metabolized to acetone via alcohol dehydrogenase, which at the
doses you might recieve is irrelevant. If you were taking
Clomethiazole (Chlormethiazole; Heminevrin in the UK. it's the stuff
that helped kill Keith Moon) it wouldn't even reach relevant levels.
Basically all of the short chain (longer than methanol, anyway)
alcohols are active intoxicants, the heavier the weight the more
potent usually, up to n-butanol, IIRC. Once you get to n-pentanol I
believe activity drops of quite rapidly. I have my SAR studies down :)
JtN©
You lost me at "I would suggest" ... long diatribe cut short ... if it
says on the label your not supposed to drink it or consume it then
dont use it no matter what people tell you.
JtN ©2009
NICHE541
LISTEN TO hladil and Dave Griffith. Their advice is sound. They both
sound like they have strong backgrounds in chemistry If there is a
chance that you have the older denatured alcohol it may have been
distilled over Benzene ( this is a known carcinogenic agent) If there
is a chance that it may have methanol in it there is the problem with
its causing blindness and it doesn't take much to do the damage. This
has always been the problem with unbonded whiskey. when you distill
Ethanol the temps at which the Ethanol separates from Methanol are
very close and if you drink moonshine you are always taking the chance
of getting the Methanol. Moonshiners are not careful chemists. Stick
with Ethanol or Ethyl Alcohol (the same thing) the trade name is
Everclear. Just dip the pipe cleaner in it and it will do the trick.
John in the Indian Nations (retired Chemistry Professor)
preston forster
something that has even a small risk of leaving behind nasty
chemicals?
JtN©
He already said why ... he's cheap and doesn't really want to spend
any money at all so he wants to use what he already has.
JtN ©2009
Ken Dixon
I normally use Everclear, it's legal in Florida, but if I'm out I'll use
bourbon, vodka or brandy. I figure if you can't drink it avoid it.
1968eric
> 1968eric <use...@1968eric.otherinbox.com> wrote:
>> Well shoots. I just read on another forum don't use everclear because
>> *it* leaves an after taste.
>
> That doesn't make sense. Got a reference or an URL?
>
It was a discussion on SF. It didn't really make any sense to me either.
After reading all the responses I'm 95% convinced I could use the
denatured alcohol and have nothing to really worry about, but the other
5% is enough to lay down the money for the Everclear "cheap" as I am.
Thanks for all the responses guys - nearly all were very helpful.
Mike Stanley
I must correct an earlier statement I made. I clean with Isoproynol, not
Denatured. 91%.
Sorry for that.
Mike Stanley
randyw
residue completely evaporates. I also do the salt thing, and it works
great. Simple tooth paste, I used Colgate, cleaned up the stem like
new...
Abyss
Get the highest concentration of consumable alcohol you can and use
that to clean your briars. If it's not safe for you to ingest it, then
don't use it.
rale...@earthlink.net
As one who believes firmly in straight grain alcohol, having made some
myself in days past, I would suggest (as others have) that you use
Everclear, Golden Grain, or 151 Rum. Both Everclear and Golden Grain
are pure (as pure as you can get it) grain alcohol and will evaporate
leaving no harmful residue. Reading what I can on Methanol, the
denaturing agent in denatured alcohol, I can see nothing that would be
harmful if you allowed the pipe to sufficiently dry before smoking.
That should not take long. If you have a thick cake, it might take
longer.
Why take the chance?! Denatured alcohol is about as expensive as
Golden Grain if you but a half pint and Golden Grain (Everclear, or
whatever) is nothing more than a super concentrated alcohol just like
what Jack Daniels has in it.
hlad...@uwstout.edu
>
> - Show quoted text -
Isopropanol is fine to use. First, it will all evaporate, and quicker
than ethanol. Second, if some remained while you were smoking, most
would be pyrrolized to carbon dioxide and water and perhaps a tiny
portion would be vaporized and inhaled. Given that it takes about 15
grams to cause any problems in humans, and the dose you might possibly
consume would be measured in micrograms, milligrams it was still
visibly damp.
There's absolutely no reason not to use isopropanol or any other short
chain alcohol longer than methyl but shorter than pentyl. Or maybe
pentyl out is fine, I haven't seen numbers for these in humans, only
as fuel. As I recall though, potency as an intoxicant peaks out at n-
butanol. Branched alcohols like isopropanol or sec-butanol are more
toxic due to the metabolites they produce, but we're still talking
grams and ounces, not the micro- to milli-gram doses that one might
conceivable take in. n-Butanol and the propanols are fairly common,
so I include them, but I doubt many have octanol or larger on hand
unless you work in the perfume industry.
drroc...@aol.com
same as grain alcohol, is the purest commercially available alcohol.
Since the purpose of a solvent such as alcohol is to get out the junk,
I'd want the solvent to be the purest. Since less chemically pure
alcohols like isopropyl, denatured, etc. have impurities that may not
be so good if ingested, I'll stick with Everclear or, if not
available, vodka.
Glen
Dave Griffith
There are many kinds of alcohols with different chemical structures.
Pure ethanol is as much an alcohol as is pure isopropanol. The key
difference is that ethanol is the one that's drinkable as long as stuff
isn't added to discourage that.