Alcohol question.

I've always used denatured alcohol to clean VCRs, so I was wondering if it
would be better to use that than isopropyl alcohol for coins. Uncle Sam
told me denatured alcohol was the purest alcohol to use for cleaning and ya
gotta believe the Government. ideas?

Ed
'not for drinking'

"Doggo" asked:

I've always used denatured alcohol to clean VCRs, so I was wondering if it
would be better to use that than isopropyl alcohol for coins. Uncle Sam
told me denatured alcohol was the purest alcohol to use for cleaning and ya
gotta believe the Government. ideas?

Where does Uncle Sam say this?

Denatured alcohol is hardly "pure". It is ethyl alcohol (ethanol) to which
various nasty things are added to make it unfit to drink.




++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits

Alan said:

At every radio station I ever worked at, only one was acceptable to
clean the heads of the tape recorders and cart machines. Isopropyl
Alcohol.
==================================

It was 70% right? Not the 30% that you get in drug stores?

"Phil DeMayo" wrote in message
...
"Doggo" asked:

I've always used denatured alcohol to clean VCRs, so I was wondering if
it
would be better to use that than isopropyl alcohol for coins. Uncle Sam
told me denatured alcohol was the purest alcohol to use for cleaning and
ya
gotta believe the Government. ideas?

Where does Uncle Sam say this?

Denatured alcohol is hardly "pure". It is ethyl alcohol (ethanol) to
which
various nasty things are added to make it unfit to drink.




++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits

That's what they had us use when I worked on the F-15 VTR system. Maybe
cause I was in Germany they didn't want us to drink it ;-)

Ed

Doggo wrote:
"Phil DeMayo" wrote in message
...

"Doggo" asked:


I've always used denatured alcohol to clean VCRs, so I was wondering if

it

would be better to use that than isopropyl alcohol for coins. Uncle Sam
told me denatured alcohol was the purest alcohol to use for cleaning and

ya

gotta believe the Government. ideas?

Where does Uncle Sam say this?

Denatured alcohol is hardly "pure". It is ethyl alcohol (ethanol) to

which

various nasty things are added to make it unfit to drink.




++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits


That's what they had us use when I worked on the F-15 VTR system. Maybe
cause I was in Germany they didn't want us to drink it ;-)

If you were in Germany, there must have been much better alcoholic
beverages for you to drink!

= Eric

"Doggo" asks....

Uncle Sam told me denatured alcohol was the purest alcohol to use for cleaning
and ya gotta believe the Government.

No cigar......As Phil sez, denatured is full of stuff you don't want to know
what for. Essentially other alcohols and a ketone or two.

Isopropyl or Isopropanol (IPA) is typically what's used for, now read slowly,
"""degreasing and/or drying or dehydrating""".

Alcohols """don't clean""", per se. They aren't a soap or detergent. Neither
would you want to drink either of the above. The denatured would kill you, the
IPA would make playing on a freeway look fun.

IPA is used in the medical, food and drug industry to disinfect surfaces and to
wick away moisture from a surface that's been water or aqueous washed.

I've always used and been told to use, IPA for any tape head cleaning, whether
audio or video.

Always here for my fellow syngraphist or oenophile.
--=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=--

"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...
Steve Joyce wrote:

Alan said:

At every radio station I ever worked at, only one was acceptable to
clean the heads of the tape recorders and cart machines. Isopropyl
Alcohol.
==================================

It was 70% right? Not the 30% that you get in drug stores?

I'm not sure where George bought the stuff, but from what I recall of
the label...70% sounds right. I never understood using the cheap wooden
swabs with the cotton heads, though.

Alan
'Revox Redux'

For a video or audio head I use a little (2x2) piece of chamois moistened
with alcohol. Uncle Sam showed me that too.

Ed

"Jim" wrote in message
...
"Doggo" asks....

Uncle Sam told me denatured alcohol was the purest alcohol to use for
cleaning
and ya gotta believe the Government.

No cigar......As Phil sez, denatured is full of stuff you don't want to
know
what for. Essentially other alcohols and a ketone or two.

Isopropyl or Isopropanol (IPA) is typically what's used for, now read
slowly,
"""degreasing and/or drying or dehydrating""".

Alcohols """don't clean""", per se. They aren't a soap or detergent.
Neither
would you want to drink either of the above. The denatured would kill
you, the
IPA would make playing on a freeway look fun.

IPA is used in the medical, food and drug industry to disinfect surfaces
and to
wick away moisture from a surface that's been water or aqueous washed.

I've always used and been told to use, IPA for any tape head cleaning,
whether
audio or video.

Always here for my fellow syngraphist or oenophile.
--=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=--

When I say "clean", I meant the effect on the head. The alcohol removes the
tape residue from the head,kinda like soap does to a dirty hand.

Ed
'gotta watch how ya' word something around here'

"Doggo" adds....

When I say "clean", I meant the effect on the head. The alcohol removes the
tape residue from the head,kinda like soap does to a dirty hand.

Well, not like soap (see below), but I know what you meant. Sorry. My emphasis
on the word "clean" and mini-rant, neglected to connect the dots again and in
no way was directed at you.

No sooner will this post die, than someone will raise the "is IPA OK to clean
coins" thang?

Then the next response will be...."No, but acetone is OK". and the
misinformation race is on again.

So, to wrap it all up for the semi-comatose, over fed and beer ingested
audience of 4 that are with us on the 4th (my BBQ is on Saturday), here's the
dillio.

Neither alcohol or acetone are "cleaners". They are degreasers, in that they
will move oils and grease from a surface hopefully to a rag. Hopefully? Why
yes.... That's because only a soap or a detergent will "capture" those same
oils and greases, suspend them and more than likely, guarantee their capture in
your rag and thus remove them from the surface. Alcohol and acetone may just
move them around on the same surface.

"Well, isn't that cleaning"? Not really, as "dirt" may contain many more
elements than oils and greases and for those items, alcohol and acetone are
100% worthless and have NO ability to help you. None. Zip. Nada. Period.

Only a process containing a mild soap or detergent will help. Now that process
could be supplemented with a dip in acetone or alcohol to help you "dry" the
coin, before putting it to bed.

But by themselves, alcohol and acetone are POOR choices for truly cleaning
anything.

Same goes for olive oil. There's NO evidence to prove that olive oil cleans
anything on this planet, much less coins. Likewise, there's never been any
studies shown that prove it to be harmless to those same coins. I've been
tracking this urban legend for over a year now and still can't find the source
of this Nile. But like an energizer rabbit, it keeps moving on and on....

Part of it's appeal is the 80's reawakening with EVOO, but I suspect it had
solid roots before then.

And finally, let's get this "rose thorn" thing off the holistic holy pedestal
while we're at it.

Here's the 411 on anything to have the ability to "scratch" a coins surface.

Unless the foreign object coming into contact with a coins surface has the
"same or higher Rockwell, Brinnell, Vickers, etc. (or any scale) surface
hardness specification" than the coin, it "cannot" scratch that coins surface.
No ifs, ands or buttz. Period. End of ballgame. Go home now. Do not pass GO.
See-Ya.

Neither plastic sliders in coin albums, plastic picks, linen gloves of less
than 6,000 thread count, rose thorns, GI Joes, microwave tongs, tongue
depressers, plastic tweezers, Q-Tips, etc., can "scratch" a coins surface. I
would guess that none are as hard or harder than, any coins surface.

What they may be harder than, is the surface tarnish or other deposits built up
or resident on, the surface. I'm sure they're harder than that and therefore
the word "scratch" more precisely means, they can and most likely will, "move"
that crud out of their way when coming into contact with the coin. Since that
crud has mass, it can probably be seen. And if gouged like a Jello pudding top
with a first dig from a spoon, will become visible and consequently referred to
from now on, as a "scratch". But as you see, it's really not a scratch on the
coin.

I know. Shut up, go away, OK.....

Always here for my fellow syngraphist or oenophile.
--=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=--

"Jim" wrote in message
...
"Doggo" adds....

When I say "clean", I meant the effect on the head. The alcohol removes
the
tape residue from the head,kinda like soap does to a dirty hand.

Well, not like soap (see below), but I know what you meant. Sorry. My
emphasis
on the word "clean" and mini-rant, neglected to connect the dots again
and in
no way was directed at you.

No problem. Ya' gots to have thick skin around here.Or a fire retardant
monitor.


No sooner will this post die, than someone will raise the "is IPA OK to
clean
coins" thang?

Then the next response will be...."No, but acetone is OK". and the
misinformation race is on again.


I've got both, so I'm stylin' ;-)


So, to wrap it all up for the semi-comatose, over fed and beer ingested
audience of 4 that are with us on the 4th (my BBQ is on Saturday), here's
the
dillio.

Neither alcohol or acetone are "cleaners". They are degreasers, in that
they
will move oils and grease from a surface hopefully to a rag. Hopefully?
Why
yes.... That's because only a soap or a detergent will "capture" those
same
oils and greases, suspend them and more than likely, guarantee their
capture in
your rag and thus remove them from the surface. Alcohol and acetone may
just
move them around on the same surface.

"Well, isn't that cleaning"? Not really, as "dirt" may contain many more
elements than oils and greases and for those items, alcohol and acetone
are
100% worthless and have NO ability to help you. None. Zip. Nada. Period.

Only a process containing a mild soap or detergent will help. Now that
process
could be supplemented with a dip in acetone or alcohol to help you "dry"
the
coin, before putting it to bed.

But by themselves, alcohol and acetone are POOR choices for truly
cleaning
anything.

Same goes for olive oil. There's NO evidence to prove that olive oil
cleans
anything on this planet, much less coins. Likewise, there's never been
any
studies shown that prove it to be harmless to those same coins. I've been
tracking this urban legend for over a year now and still can't find the
source
of this Nile. But like an energizer rabbit, it keeps moving on and on....

Part of it's appeal is the 80's reawakening with EVOO, but I suspect it
had
solid roots before then.

And finally, let's get this "rose thorn" thing off the holistic holy
pedestal
while we're at it.

Here's the 411 on anything to have the ability to "scratch" a coins
surface.

Unless the foreign object coming into contact with a coins surface has
the
"same or higher Rockwell, Brinnell, Vickers, etc. (or any scale) surface
hardness specification" than the coin, it "cannot" scratch that coins
surface.
No ifs, ands or buttz. Period. End of ballgame. Go home now. Do not pass
GO.
See-Ya.

Neither plastic sliders in coin albums,

What about a nice proof coin that's had either a rub with a cloth or the
slider slid across it? Aren't those scratches?

Ed

plastic picks, linen gloves of less
than 6,000 thread count, rose thorns, GI Joes, microwave tongs, tongue
depressers, plastic tweezers, Q-Tips, etc., can "scratch" a coins
surface. I
would guess that none are as hard or harder than, any coins surface.

What they may be harder than, is the surface tarnish or other deposits
built up
or resident on, the surface. I'm sure they're harder than that and
therefore
the word "scratch" more precisely means, they can and most likely will,
"move"
that crud out of their way when coming into contact with the coin. Since
that
crud has mass, it can probably be seen. And if gouged like a Jello
pudding top
with a first dig from a spoon, will become visible and consequently
referred to
from now on, as a "scratch". But as you see, it's really not a scratch on
the
coin.

I know. Shut up, go away, OK.....

Always here for my fellow syngraphist or oenophile.
--=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=----=*=--