Boiling temperature of water 212 F
Boiling temperature of alcohol 174 F
A key factor in distilling liqueur is the lower boiling point of alcohol. A crock pot operates in the range of 215 F. Boiling alcohol for 12 -24 hours will make your house smell like a hospital. It will also fill it with flammable ethanol vapor… If you want real excitement in your life why not boil Benzine? It is an excellent paint remover and will give you a nice volcano of flame where your kitchen use to be. Thus if you read the extended article I linked from the website you noticed the warning not to boil solvents, cleaners or other chemicals.
I sort of made this mistake in my first experiment where in I had previously soaked the test items in Pine Sol. This did nothing because it no longer contains enough pine oil to be effective against paint. I rinsed them multiple times but they still smelled. After four hours in the crock-pot the entire house wreaked. I had to move the crock-pot outside to finish that round. While otherwise harmless the house smelled like a turpentine factory for days. Mrs Boomer was not happy. I thought Topaz and I were going to have to move in with Rooster for a week to atone for this sin.
Now I don’t want to get ahead of myself, as this is an ongoing project but I am getting about an 80% success rate. Meaning items are coming out of the crock-pot and with just mild scrubbing are ready to go to the paint table as soon as they are dry. For the price of an old crock-pot and a half gallon of water that is an excellent return. The question remains; what to do with the other 20%?
This is where I am at right now. After 48 hours in the crock-pot the paint is softening considerably. That should make the use of detergents and mild solvents way more effective. I have examples now soaking in solutions of Alcohol, Super Clean (Purple cleaner), Scale Coat II Wash Away (a non-toxic hobby paint stripper) and Lacquer thinner for 48 hours (for those with no sign of softening). They all come out of the dip today. I should have results posted soon.
I am not claiming that this is the best way only that it is a non-toxic option you can do inside with little to no mess. So caveman math says 100 - 80 leaves 20. If the detergent cleaners work on just half of those then I only have to resort to lacquer thinner, naval jelly, varnish remover or similar 10% of the time. A significant difference in cost, mess and toxicity.
If you have a need for this then try it. If you got a question or comment about what I am doing then post it here. If you want to tell us how you do it completely differently then start your own thread. Above all else Please! Please! Please! if you are the guy who goes full throttle then damn the torpedoes!!! set your turkey fryer on “Flame-thrower” fill it with a mixture of hydrocloric acid and nitro-methane and when it goes nuclear burning down four city blocks while defoliating half the county…make sure you get pictures. You know how much we love pictures.
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