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

Perhaps the "single step" method using "miracle in a can" would be the sinpler way????

Turn your boots over and shake them before you put them on to be sure there is no mouse or scorpian in your boot (or shoe)

Or below 31 degrees F at atmospheric pressure (sea level standard)

I thought the leaded gas was added to the moonshine.

The thread has 84 responses, some of which ignore your question to advise you on safety.

If you're going for cheaper, I think anything you can find to dilute the gasoline will be nearly as costly as the gasoline.

I know you want to do the label removal in the house, but wouldn't it be better to do this final step outside? Surely you can save up the jars until there is a sunny, breezy day? Also, you'll keep gasoline from going down the sink drain (you mentioned a sink in what I deleted).

If ethanol works, how about isopropyl alcohol, a near relative?

Use a single edge razor blade to get most of the goop off, then use the gasoline. Do the jars in batches for efficiency.

charles, that's all I've got

They work fairly well for me. Getting the oily residue off of absorbent materials is my main objects. Number 2 objection is the smell.

I went by Scarborough (Ace) Hardware today. What they have on the shelf are: Acetone Denatured Alcohol Lacquer Thinner Paint Thinner Turpentine Mineral Spirits Japan Dryer Painters Solvent (replaces MEK, toluene, xylene, VM+P Naphtha). That's it. All the good stuff is gone.

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. I'm surprised that the California Air Resources Board hasn't banned gasoline.

So, by using gasoline for cleaning and label removal, you're dumping VOCs into the atmosphere. If there was a reward, I would probably turn you in for re-education and brain washing (using an eco friend brain wash cleaner).

I understand.

You might not notice but I don't believe anyone who says any one solve works all the time, because it's just not going to happen.

You'll notice that I take pains to say that the gasoline works "most" of the time, and "more" so than the other solvents that I have tried (with acetone coming in second to gasoline but a distant second at that).

Also, I didn't realize you guys actually put the solvent *on* the label, which I never do.

I remove the labels first, and only *after* the label is gone, do I use the solvent to try to get rid of the goop.

So some of us (e.g., peanut oil Oren! :) ) are attacking different problems.

The problem with *any* alcohol, is getting it without the water.

I guess mixing gasoline with water might not be a bad idea though.

Dunno. I never tried it.

But that's the theoretical problem with consumer alcohol (which is a lot of water with some alcohol).

Yikes. And I invited you to our weekly inventors luncheon too!

:)

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'.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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!!!

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.