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

[Andy Burns]

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

[Michael A. Terrell]

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

[Michael A. Terrell]

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

[Robert Bannon]

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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Robert Bannon]

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

[Dan Espen]

Glad you realize that. Now think about this.

Once you dilute the gasoline, it will still release fumes, carry the exact same risk, and smell just as bad.

[clare]

You are HOPELESS. No fool like an old fool.

[clare]

IF you could "dilute" gasoline 10 "1/10th" strength it would take 10 times as long to do the job, or only do 1/10 the job.

You are beating a VERY dead horse.

[Robert Bannon]

No. That's not correct. More appropriately that's almost certainly not correct. (but there is a very slight chance that it could be correct).

It all depends on the minimum effective dose (and on solubility of goop in gas).

As an out-of-context example, of what I am telling you: a. I can put out a lit match with a gallon of water. b. Or, I can put out that match with a quart of water. c. Or I can put out that match with a spoon of water.

If the minimum effective dose is a spoon, then the gallon of water is overkill.

Let's take the LD50 for poisons as another example: a. Let's say you can kill a rat with 1 ounce of warfarin. b. If you use a pound of warfarin, you'll kill the rat. c. But if you dilute that pound in half, you'll still kill the rat. d. In fact, you can dilute that pound 1:16 and still kill that rat.

Same with using Acetone as nail polish remover. You can dilute 100% acetone by a LOT where it still works fine.

The question we don't know the answer to is what the minimum effective concentration of the solvents in gasoline that dissolve the goop.

I'm sure 1:10 is fine, but I don't know that for sure since I don't know how to dilute the gasoline yet to test it out.

[Robert Bannon]

Maybe. Maybe not.

If I piss in your cup of water, it will stink like urine and look like urine and taste like urine (don't ask - I don't know).

Now, if I dilute that piss 10:1 or 100:1, I'd wager none of the deleterious effects will occur.

That's why they say the solution to pollution is dilution. All chemicals work that way.

Why is gasoline any different than all other chemicals?

[Roy]

Gasoline is NOT just one element...it is a mix of hydro-carbons but no matter what it shouldn't be in your kitchen sink. It can catch fire, explode and possibly burn your fricken house down and you with it. ====

[Dan Espen]

In chemistry, when you mix two compounds, you either get a reaction or a mixture (no chemical reaction).

If you get a reaction, the odds are, you no longer have gasoline and it will no longer work as before,

If you don't get a reaction, the gasoline is still there, creating fumes, and it's still flammable.

[clare]

Get it through your thick skull. IT CANNOT BE DONE.

This is the last you will here from me on this thread.

[wino]

This has got to be the most idiotic worthless thread ever posted to alt.home.repair. I've heard more inteligent conversations sitting on a barstool with a bunch of alcoholics.

[Charles Bishop]

You mentioned 1 to 10 a while back and I forgot to ask 1 of what to 10 of what?

If it's 1 of gasoline to 10 of whatever, and this works, why not use the whatever full strength? Because you're choosing the whatever based on price - it costs at least less than gasoline - why not use it?

Others have mentioned the danger and I don't think it's severe if you are using a baby food jar of it, sealed.

If you are doing once a week, do the prep work inside - soak in water, scrape most of it off, using a single edge blade for most of the gunk, and then finish outside. If the weather isn't good, store several weeks worth until it is.

[Jeff Liebermann]

Yep. I think that I recognize him and the obnoxious African grey parrot. Lives in BC. See photo at:

[ChairMan]

No fool like ald fool thats so easily trolled