Just wondering what de-natured alcohol is and were I can get it. I dont drink anymore so I thought I might use it to thin my acrylics.[:D]
Greetings Jeff,
Good question. Denatured alcohol is is similar to isopropyl alcohol except the latter is used for medical uses. That odor of the doctors office is isopropyl which can be found in drug stores. It, mainly used as a disinfectant, you know the little cotton ball before a shot.
Denatured alcohol is mainly used to cut shellac which many of the old timer painters used before varnish was available. Also it is used in certain types of burners (chemistry class).etc. Can be found in paint stores or home centers.
Both are excellent thinners for acrylic model paints. I personally prefer denatured cause it’s generally cheaper, and I’m a painter so it’s readily available to me. Tamiya thinner is alcohol with a retarder added. Slows drying.
They call it denatured because it’s processed so you can’t drink it, like you could with grain alcohol(moon shine). Mmmm… Wonder if you could thin Tamiya paint with corn liquor? Just jokin.
Hope this answers your question.
dragonfly
Don’t know what it is. I do thin my acrylics with it . You can get it at a home center or hardware store in the paint dept. Good luck.
Isopropyl alcohol or ethyl alcohol both work for thinning acrylics. They’re both often described as “rubbing alcohols.” You can get both in varying quantities at supermarkets, drug stores, and hardware stores. Denatured means its just had contaminants added to make it toxic for consumption. I’ve heard people say they prefer ethyl alcohol over isopropyl alcohol for thinning acrylic paints like Tamiya and Gunze Sangyo (I’d test before trying it with PollyScale) or Model Master Acryl, as these are more acrylic latexes), because the ethyl alcohol is “less greasy.”
For a kick, try using Formula 409 cleaning spray. It seems to work pretty well as a thinner for a lot of people, too.
I’ve woundered about those before to and where to get them …thanks for the advice guys ! Happy Modelling , Peter.
Thanks dragonfly. and everbody else. Thats some valuble info. Ill have to give it a try. Thanks again Trevor.
Most commonly they would add methanol to ethanol.This would render it toxic, and the methanol could not be distilled out to allow one to drink it. As was mentioned, came outof the prohibition era.