Isopropyl alcohol vs Acetone for cleaning grp

Dellquay13

Dellquay13

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Is IPA as useful as Acetone for cleaning grp? Does it leave any residue?
Once again I've left everything til the last minute, fitting new windows the day before relaunch. I have plenty of IPA, and there may still be Acetone onboard, but I can't guarantee it.
I'm setting off on the 5hr drive to the boat at 4am tomorrow, long before my local stockists open, and am unaware of where to buy it at my destination.
TIA
Chris
 
Both polar solvents so both are likely to remove the same contaminants, they are not really cleaners though more like degreasers that will remove organic matter. It all depends on what the stain or marks are they should remove things like black rubber marks but won't touch iron staining etc. Try the IPA which I hope you are referring to isopropyl alcohol and not India Pale Ale ?
 
The best thing for cleaning stains and yellowing on white GRP is oxalic acid. It's in lots of proprietary cleaners but the cheapest way is to buy oxalic acid crystals on eBay and dilute 100g to 1 litre warm water. Gel oxalic acid cleaners are good because it stays on longer. I think acetone may affect the gel and underlying resin on a molecular level. Good luck.
 
Isopropanol evaporates readily, without leaving a residue. For surface cleaning of GRP, it should be as effective as Acetone.
 
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HissyFit said:
Isopropanol evaporates readily, without leaving a residue. For surface cleaning of GRP, it should be as effective as Acetone.
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It evaporates more slowly than acetone, so you get longer working time. In 1971, I worked for a while in a laboratory. If you had a cold, washing your hankie and then drying it by soaking it in acetone was quite a useful trick! Don't think it would be allowed these days ?
 
Dellquay13 said:
It's to clean the grp of anything greasy after taking the old windows off, before i fit the new ones with scapa uPVC tape. I'm not expecting it to remove the old sealant, I've resigned myself to a bucketful of elbow grease for that.
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A useful way to remove the old sealant is to make acrylic chisels from scrap acrylic, ideally around 10mm thick.. You want to make something that is comfortable in the hand and give it a cutting edge at about 45 degrees. Sharpen the cutting edge as you would a chisel. Now use it like a hand chisel. The acrylic will not damage the gel coat but it will be sharp enough to get under the old sealant. It will lose its edge quickly so make a few devices, or be able to re-sharpen. Its works quite well.

Jonathan
 
When I went to Seals + Direct and talked about cleaning up gelcoat before fitting windows - I was recommended alcohol wipes.........ie IPA impregnated wipes, and not acetone (not neccesary). Having done the job I think ordinary citrus type degreaser would have been fine, but I did use alcohol wipes. Autofactor places stock them for bodywork prep. Don't use white spirit as that leaves things a bit oily.
As I have posted before, for silicon removal I recommend the specific silicon removal fluid you paste on available from Toolstation and Screwfix (about £7 for a small pot ). Elbow grease still required but makes the silicon so much softer to scrape off. Someone else recommended white spirit but I haven't seen that recommended anywhere else by anyone else
 
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AntarcticPilot said:
It evaporates more slowly than acetone, so you get longer working time. In 1971, I worked for a while in a laboratory. If you had a cold, washing your hankie and then drying it by soaking it in acetone was quite a useful trick! Don't think it would be allowed these days ?
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Alcohol to get rid of the water acetone to get rid of the alcohol. ;)
 
Fr J Hackett said:
Alcohol to get rid of the water acetone to get rid of the alcohol. ;)
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We used acetone in 44 gallon drums, so we could use vast excess! It was the laboratory of the now defunct Coat Tar Research Association, and pretty much every solvent you can think of was available "on tap" . Acetone, carbon tetrachloride and xylene were the most used ones; one or the other would shift almost any tar or pitch.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
We used acetone in 44 gallon drums, so we could use vast excess! It was the laboratory of the now defunct Coat Tar Research Association, and pretty much every solvent you can think of was available "on tap" . Acetone, carbon tetrachloride and xylene were the most used ones; one or the other would shift almost any tar or pitch.
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Similar in the research laboratory I worked in but if solvents didn't work it was straight into a sink full of chromosulphuric acid followed by a rinse with deionised water then the alcohol / acetone rinse for a nice clean piece of glassware.
 
I use The Pink Stuff for the first rub as it less aggresive and dam good cleaner, i have used it for years to remove all kinds of stains aswell as rust stains. Then maybe acetone.
 
I got butyl tape and was sold chewing gum removal liquid by the company to remove old stuff on windows. DeTak or something. Worked ok with the acrylic offcuts they also sent me.
 
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