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

Any suggestions of common household chemicals that can dilute gasoline?

I use gasoline as a home goo-gone substitute for removing labels. Most often I do it outside, because of the stink, but I want to keep it inside in tiny amounts, diluted as much as possible.

I've already tried all the common home chemicals from alcohol to acetone to lemon juice to engine degreaser to dish detergent to brake cleaner to windex to automatic-transmission fluid and MAF cleaner, all of which work sometimes but all of which fail often (either because they melt the container or they don't dissolve the goo).

I've even tried common flavorings such as orange blossom extract, rose water, pure lemon extract, coconut oil and walnut oil, which, surprisingly, are totally useless (but they do smell the best!).

I've found, through decades of experience, that gasoline, which also fails sometimes, works more often than any other household common chemical.

But gasoline has all the problems that most of you will love to "teach" me, but that's not the question (so please don't try to teach me why gasoline vapors are flammable and why I should goo-be-gone outdoors because I know that).

Also please don't try to teach me that there are commercial lemon-oil solutions.

I just want to dilute the gasoline and I already know that even the diluted gasoline vapors will be flammable. We take risks sometimes when working around the house and not being a pussy about it all the time.

So I plan to keep a small jar of gasoline properly labeled under the kitchen sink (let's not go into the dangers of doing that, because properly diluting it won't solve that danger for the most part).

Without being a pussy about the question, do you have any suggestion that you think might work best to dilute the gasoline 10:1 (or even 100:1) so that I'm using the minimum effective amount of gasoline indoors?

What can I 'cut' the gasoline with that will mix with the gas and dilute it (maybe 10:1 or even maybe 100:1)?

Any suggestions of common household chemicals that can dilute gasoline?

Reply to
Robert Bannon
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Ethanol, 2 cycle engine oil, methanol.

That said, you are better off using wd-40, turpentine or mineral spirits instead of gasoline. WD-40 does a great job removing labels.

Reply to
Stormin' Norman

Nope, won't even call you an idiot for using gasoline in the house. For liability reasons though, I won't tell you what can dilute it because none are truly safe.

I bet the guys down at the firehouse know what to use. You should go down and ask them.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

oil alcohol

Reply to
dadiOH

I have chemical suggestions but what you want to do is just plain dumb.

Reply to
Frank

Interesting suggestions! For different reasons.

  1. Because I long ago found common household isopropyl alcohol useless as a goo-be-gone substitute, I had forgotten that they "cut" gasoline 15% in cars using corn alcohol, so, why hadn't I thought of cutting the gasoline with "alcohol"?

So thanks for that suggestion - but it seems to come with a problem.

The problem of course, is that ethanol isn't easy to come by cheaply, even though it, itself, is as cheap as corn. Even in the cheapest grain alcohol that I can find at a liquor store, it's almost certainly gonna be far more expensive than the gasoline that I'm cutting.

So, it might work, but it defeats the purpose of a cheap home remedy. (Unless there is a methanol source that is cheap?)

  1. Two stroke engine oil. Again, this is a great suggestion (if it works). But it too seems to come with a problem.

The problem is that, while we all routinely cut our two-stroke tools' gasoline with 40:1 and 50:1 two-stroke oil, the cutting is in the opposite direction. We're actually cutting the oil with gasoline, and not cutting the gasoline with oil.

So, a reverse dilution of 10 parts oil and 1 part gasoline doesn't seem, on first inspection, to be a viable solution (because it may be too oily, which is antagonistic to the original goal).

  1. I had tried wd40 in the past and found it not useful but maybe I need to try it again? Like everyone, I grew up with WD-40 and 3-in-one cans always on the garage shelf, but over the years, I have found far too many people suggesting wd40 for far too many things, where, in EVERY CASE I ever investigated, there was a far better miracle-in-a-can than WD-40.

WD-40 stinks worse than gasoline, by the way, to me anyway - where it gives me a headache, so, for that reason alone, it would be no good. But even if I could handle the stink of WD-40, from memory, it's just a "displacement fluid" which I don't see *any* use of which doesn't have a better solution for what it does (whether that be cracking nuts or "lubricating" garage springs or whatever).

In short, I haven't had WD-40 around in years because I stopped believing in miracles in a can. But if it works at a 10:1 ratio of 10 parts WD40 to 1 part gasoline, maybe that might be feasible?

  1. On Turpentime and mineral spirits, I went to the hardware store recently to get MEK and they can't even sell that in California. I think I was looking at the other "solvents" like paint thinner, and they can't sell them either except at "substitutes". I'll have to look again, but I've already tried all the "solvents" that I had in my garage, which is as cluttered as anyone's so I had plenty of paint thinners there (but I didn't mention that in the OP).

Still, they may be the BEST bet yet, so I'm glad you brought them up. a. Except in California, they're pretty commonly available b. They're cheap enough to use at 10 parts solvent & 1 part gasoline c. They are solvents so they won't be antagonistic to the original goal

I'll head off to the hardware store to see what California chemicals I can find that are cheap and that are solvents that I can cut at a 10:1 ratio of solvent to gasoline.

Reply to
Robert Bannon

No. A question though. Have you tried diesel fuel or kerosene to remove labels?

A bunch cut.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

Men (real men) handle danger.

You never worked on a car engine? Or rode a motorcycle? Or used a chainsaw?

Men (real men) handle danger. They just make sure they know what they're doing first.

That's why I'm asking the question in the first place.

Reply to
Robert Bannon

The two-stroke oil idea made sense that it will mix with gasoline, but it's oily which seems to defeat the goal.

The alchol is almost certainly the best idea, but I was thinking "ethanol", which is only available diluted with water (as vodka, for example), which is too much water in California where even everclear is restricted in concentration by the nanny state (and probably too expensive anyway).

But, I did not think about using isopropyl rubbing alcohol, which is cheap and readily available at Costco.

The reason I didn't think of it is because it in and of itself didn't work at all, but if I use it to cut the gas at 10 parts alcohol to 1 part gasoline, it might have enough gas to still work.

I will try that and let you know.

Reply to
Robert Bannon

Butane might cut gasoline, as you suggested. Naptha is almost certain verboten in California.

But I'm not sure. It's got to be sold in order for me to use it though.

I don't see naptha at Home Depot for example.

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Reply to
Robert Bannon

Gasoline works best so far, but I have not tried home heating oil, but my house is heated by propane.

I can try to cut the gasoline with kerosene though, which might be available in California stores.

Otherwise, I'm going to have to purchase a yellow container because they won't let you fuel into anything else if I buy it at the pump.

Reply to
Robert Bannon

In Illinois, NAPTHA is readily available in 1 gallon metal cans.

Reply to
hrhofmann

Lantern fuel?

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

Naphtha, and it's pronounced like it's spelled, with the ph soundling like an F. It's also some sort of trade agreement.

Reply to
micky

I wamted to teach you about orange cleaner. It's not on your list.

Not the same thing at all.

Reply to
micky

BTW, I don't mean to chastise you unduly, as you did try to help scientifically.

It's just that telling me the obvious stuff about gasoline isn't helpful since we all know the obvious stuff.

Of course, if mixing gasoline with, say, naphtha causes it to become unstable or explosive or something like that which is NOT OBVIOUS, then by all means warn me.

But to warn me that a chain saw can cut off my finger, or that I can fall off a ladder or winding a garage door spring is dangerous or that running while holding sharp scissors can hurt someone, is just wasting everyone's time stating the obvious to people who know it already.

So, I'm ok with 'real' warnings. Just not useless California nanny warnings. Make sense?

Reply to
Robert Bannon

Well, I'm just really glad I don't live in Califailia. I do like my solvents.

Reply to
JC

The only thing I know of that will "dilute" gasoline and make it less flammable is Carbon Tet - which has serious safety issues itself and has been illegal for years.

Reply to
clare

But "real men" are not "totally" stupid. They mitigate danger where it makes sense - and in your case it does. I hope you haven't fathered any kids yet - the world doesn't need any more Bannons with yout cheap-assed attitude. Buy a commercial goo remover that is safe (relatively) to use - and use it outside in fresh air - because they ALL STINK.

Reply to
clare

or "camp gas"

Reply to
clare

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