Denatured alcohol
Ethanol made undrinkable, and the solvent half of the only damp-wipe solution this catalogue can clear on glass.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Do not apply to a hot surface
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Keep away from children and pets
In detail
Ethanol with additives that make it unfit to drink, sold in the United Kingdom as methylated spirit. It matters in cleaning for the same reasons isopropyl alcohol does — it dissolves oily soils, mixes with water in any proportion, and evaporates without leaving a residue — and it is not interchangeable with isopropyl alcohol in every application, because the denaturants differ between products and some leave a trace. Federal conservation guidance names it as the bulk of a specified damp-wipe solution for stable glass and high-fired ceramic: ten parts denatured alcohol, eight parts distilled or deionised water, one part non-detergent household ammonia. That ratio is the evidence; a splash of meths on a cloth is not the same instruction. The stainless steel trade body separately lists methylated spirit among the hydrocarbon solvents that remove oil and grease from steel. Its hazards are the ordinary alcohol ones and they are not trivial: it is flammable, its vapour is an irritant, and the denaturants are toxic. It must never be used near a flame or a hot surface, and never mixed with bleach.
Properties
- pH
- Approximately neutral
What works
Denatured alcohol is effective against Grease Supported
Denatured alcohol is safe on, in specific conditions, Glass
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, CleaningHQ makes no claim.
Only within these limits:
- Ten parts denatured alcohol, eight parts distilled or deionised water, one part NON-DETERGENT household ammonia
- Only where dry dusting has not been enough
- Stable glass only — not where the surface is unstable, cracked, or carries over-glaze decoration
- Turn the cloth to a clean face as it loads with dirt
A specified ratio rather than a splash on a cloth. The ammonia in it can react with unstable glazed and glass surfaces, which is why the stability condition is not boilerplate.
Precautions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Ventilate the area
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
Why we say this
Supported
A conservation authority giving an exact formulation with an exact scope. Both are carried; neither is widened.
Sources
Conserve O Gram 8/1: Removing Dust From Ceramic And Glass Objects
National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, 1993 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That damp wiping may be done on stable glass and high-fired ceramic objects without cracks in the glaze or over-glaze decoration, using a solution of ten parts denatured alcohol, eight parts distilled or deionised water and one part non-detergent household ammonia. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — 'Avoid Wet Cleaning', 'Why Dust?', 'Objects Not to be Routinely Dusted', 'Preparation' and 'Procedures for Removing Dust' in full. Supports the claim as stated. Clears dry dust removal and a specified damp-wipe solution on glass and high-fired ceramic within stated conditions, and supplies the mechanism for why a cloudy glass never comes clean.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Why
- Denatured alcohol is explained by Surfactancy
Sources for this page
Sources
Conserve O Gram 8/1: Removing Dust From Ceramic And Glass Objects
National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, 1993 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That a solution of ten parts denatured alcohol, eight parts distilled or deionised water and one part non-detergent household ammonia is directed for damp wiping stable glass and high-fired ceramic objects. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — 'Avoid Wet Cleaning', 'Why Dust?', 'Objects Not to be Routinely Dusted', 'Preparation' and 'Procedures for Removing Dust' in full. Supports the claim as stated. Clears dry dust removal and a specified damp-wipe solution on glass and high-fired ceramic within stated conditions, and supplies the mechanism for why a cloudy glass never comes clean.
Care and Maintenance of Stainless Steel
British Stainless Steel Association, Stainless Steel Advisory Service, 2001 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That hydrocarbon solvents including methylated spirit are the trade body's answer for oil and grease on stainless steel. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Sprint 29 re-read all four pages: Factors Affecting Maintenance, Maintenance Programme, Cleaning Methods with the whole of Table 1, Table 2, and Notes 1-10. Earlier sprints named both tables but carried only part of one and none of the notes. Supports a wider statement — our claim was widened. SPRINT 29 FOUND THIS UNDER-EXTRACTED WHILE ALL THREE SIGNALS CALLED IT DONE: zero representation debt, in the fully-harvested list, and honestly noted as 'read in full'. Five of Table 1's eleven rows, all of Table 2 and eight of ten notes had never reached the graph. Newly built: tannin and coffee deposits, heat discolouration, the 1% ammonia routine clearance, oxalic acid for embedded iron, and the condition-triggered domestic frequency rule. The paraphrase cap is part of the cause, and the fix is not a longer paraphrase — the facts belong in the citing records.
Last reviewed by a person on .