How best to dilute gasoline to use in a kitchen sink?

Actually, while you're probably right in a *practical* sense, I'm sure there are zillions of things that can dilute gasoline.

For example, Jeff already looked up what is in gasoline, so, diluting the gasoline with any of those compounds would *probably* work.

Jeff mentioned for example, a. butane, b. isobutane, c. pentane, and d. isopentane.

Note to Jeff: I'm not sure if that is accurate though, because there must be alkenes and alkynes, and aromatics too; but the point is that anything that is *in* gas (which is a *lot* of things should be able to dilute it.

However, none of them appear to be 'common household chemicals'.

Reply to
Robert Bannon
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I don't see alcohol, in any form, as viable, simply because I probably can't easily get the alcohol without copious amounts of accompanying water.

Reply to
Robert Bannon

Yup. That kind of advice. :)

It's the useless kind of advice that dumb mommy's love to give.

My sister keeps sending me these hoaxes to watch out for razor blades in my kids halloween candy and to watch out for people selling cookies, etc.

There's a certain kind of person (most of those in the California Assembly, in fact) who feel they need to be a nanny to everyone.

Reply to
Raymond Spruance III

They'd run on straight moonshine if you opened the jets enough.. Most Model T's never saw "ethyl" gas as it was discovered in 1921 and firstr sold retail in Dayton Ohio in 1923.. It was 1928 before you could use leaded gas in NYC.

Reply to
clare

I do wish you would use a single nym or alias, at least in the same thread. It's becoming difficult to follow your various personality changes.

You'll notice that I didn't attend. I don't invent, but prefer to adapt or steal as required. I suspect that I would not be welcome.

Back to your original question about diluting gasoline, I'm wondering why you need to dilute the gasoline. The best I could conjure is that gasoline is expensive, being rather heavily taxed. Cutting it with a cheaper untaxed hydrocarbon solvent might save a few pennies, but only make sense if you're using gallons of the stuff. The problem is that at about $2.50/gallon for gasoline, all the other solvents are at least 3 times as expensive per gallon. Why do you need to dilute the gasoline? How big or how many labels are you removing that the process requires gallons of gasoline?

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
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Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Nope. Please re-read what I ranted. Quoting myself: MSDS for Exxon regular gasoline:

Looks like it contains all your favorite missing VOC's. According to the MSDS, gasoline is a mix of butane, isobutane, pentane, and isopentane.

The items your listed are what is in the "gasoline" portion of Exxon regular in addition to the other noxious and banned stuff listed in the MSDS. Exxon cleverly lists the major component of gasoline is gasoline which seems rather circular.

Gasoline FAQ: See section 4.4 What are the hydrocarbons in gasoline?

Depends on the household. If cooking dinner is much like a chemstry experiment, then that would be an uncommon but appropriate household.

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
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Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Because of the evaporation rate of MOST of these solvents, using it ON the label makes a lot of sense because it keeps the solvent in contact with the glue longer before it evaporates. Try it.

Reply to
clare

Try it some day - it will NOT mix. (water with gasoline)

Reply to
clare

TECHNICALLY adding anything that is part of gasoline is NOT diluting it - in many cases it is making it "stronger"

I'm willing to bet there is NOTHING that will meet your requirements as a "dilutent" for gasoline that will make it smell less, work as well or better, be less dangerous, and not cost the moon.

Reply to
clare

And IF you can fet it 200 proof (100%) it will not stay that way because it is TERRIBLT Hydroscopic. It will absorb moisture out of desert air!!!

Reply to
clare

I don't call it useless advice depending where you are. I have had a mouse in the bottom of my boot more than once on the farm, and scorpians in my shoes several times in Africa.

Reply to
clare

Jet fuel. Plain kerosene.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

That's what I was wondering too, one aerosol can of label-remover has lasted me several years so far ...

Reply to
Andy Burns

A quart bottle of citrus based Goo Gone lasted me over a decade.

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

A surplus store in Orlando, Florida used to use spray paint to remove labels from reels of wire. What a mess!

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

I'll bet you a jar of mayonnaise also lasts a while. But making it yourself is far more enjoyable and far more tasty.

I'll bet you a jar of toilet bowl cleaner lasts a while too. But once you've used muriatic acid, you'll never use a commercial solution ever again.

If you knew how utterly *EFFECTIVE* gasoline is for dissolving most goop, I'd bet you'd never use that goo gone stuff ever again.

I haven't tried the googone stuff, but gasoline literally melts most goop off on contact.

How long does it take for the googone stuff to melt all the goop off in most cases?

Reply to
Robert Bannon

That's cheating.

That's like buying mayonnaise in a jar. Sure, it's easy.

But it's no fun. Making it yourself takes technique; but that's the fun of it.

Plus, often, a home-spun solution works far better (e.g., muriatic acid in an encrusted toilet bowl works extremely well, and certainly worlds' better than any grocery store solution you've ever used in your life!).

Sure, muriatic acid is dangerous. But it's a readily available chemical that works like you can't believe, for cleaning toilet bowl crud.

Same thing here. Anyone, without a morsel of thought, can *buy* a ready-made solution.

Why even have a newsgroup titled anything.repair if all you do is buy a ready-made solution?

Remember, I *already* have a perfectly good solution using three readily available solvents:

  1. Water (to remove paper labels)
  2. Gasoline (to remove most goop)
  3. Acetone (to remove the rare goop impervious to gasoline)

The only reason for the question was to figure out how to chemically cut the gasoline down to 1/10th of full strength (or more) so that it possibly could be used inside instead of outside.

It's not more complicated than that.

If you want to buy your solutions without thinking further about them, that's fine as it's a perfectly viable and sensible approach.

There are plenty of people who don't cut down their own trees, and who don't mix their own cement and who don't dig their own post holes and who don't repair their own oscilloscopes, etc.

But I wouldn't think we'd find them on these two repair newsgroups, who are all about getting scientific and technical and practical advice on home spun solutions.

Reply to
Robert Bannon

Thanks for thinking Jeff, and for asking thinking questions. This question was always about chemistry.

Answers:

  1. I only remove about 1 label a week (or so).
  2. It's not the expense; it's the pleasure of using a home remedy solution that actually works (if peanut butter really worked, that would be fine).
  3. I've tried *all* the chemicals I keep at home.
  4. Gasoline works more often than all the rest.
  5. Acetone works second best (but not as well as gasoline).
  6. Gasoline stinks up the house if used inside.
  7. Plus it's too flammable to store under the kitchen sink.
  8. So I'm just trying to use vastly diluted gasoline.
  9. My hope is that a 1:10 gas:diluent solution will still work.
  10. If it's a 1:10 solution of gas:diluent, it might not stink so bad.
  11. And, a 1:10 solution might be more safely stored indoors.
  12. That's the only reason I ask the scientific question.

I only remove a label about once every week or two.

Reply to
Robert Bannon

This is an interesting technique to keep the label on while applying the solvent. It won't work, I'm sure, as well in plastic labels, but it might work well for the paper labels.

Thanks for that suggestion. I will try it soon.

Reply to
Robert Bannon

This was written by a mad scientist who lives in your area: 'Your Mother was a Chemist"

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Reply to
Robert Bannon

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