Re: I'm suprised to see that Zinnser's Bullseye Sealcoat cleans up with ammonia.

[CW]

Why doesn't Zinnser recommend alcohol instead of ammonia?

> > dave >

[Swingman]

Although I can't imagine Zinnser caring, it is also less expensive. I use regular household ammonia to clean up most of the parts of my spray gear after using shellac, but on the aluminum can alcohol is less likely to cause the shellac residue to gum up.

[Tom Bergman]

I'm not sure you'd want to run ammonia through an aluminum sprayer anyway. I would think the ammonia would blacken the ammonia (oxidized?) since it's got a high pH. Alcohol wouldn't react with aluminum because it's acidic.

I don't know that the black color would affect performance though.

[Swingman]

IME, it's not so much what ammonia does to the aluminum, as what it does to the shellac and aluminum combination. ... an immediate gum formation in the can if I start cleaning up with ammonia after spraying with shellac. That's why I use alcohol on the can.