Hand sanitiser

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nick12
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Hand sanitiser

Post by nick12 »

Bought some 80% alcohol (ethanol) hand sanitiser today.£1-29 for 100ml thought I'd give it a go in my popcan stove. It took about 10 seconds to prime but burnt well. It's sold in many places at the moment and could be useful if you have run out of meths and need fuel on tour and can't find any meths.
Tried some 70% alcohol which burnt but not hot enough to prime the stove sufficiently for the flame to come out of the jets. It would work in a trangia but be slow at boiling water.
The information on the bottle says danger flammable and then says wash hands and exposed skin after handling.
Jdsk
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by Jdsk »

Yes.

If you put some onto cotton wool balls it also makes a brilliant spark catcher and firelighter.

Jonathan

PS: When walking I have used the last bottle of potable spirits as reserve for both us and cooking. : - )
PDQ Mobile
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Jdsk wrote:Yes.

If you put some onto cotton wool balls it also makes a brilliant spark catcher and firelighter.

Jonathan

PS: When walking I have used the last bottle of potable spirits as reserve for both us and cooking. : - )

I once spilled all my priming meths (don't ask).

So in a young blood garrison town,somehere in the South of England, I popped into a late night off licence and first asked if he sold meths. :shock:
His face was a picture as he said firmly no.
So I asked for a miniature of brandy, that having the highest alcohol content that I could see.

However it would NOT ignite in the priming dish (Optimus) so I ended up using the parafin and newspaper as a wick trick. Smoky but it works.

As for sanitizer, why not just use the meths?
And carry plenty?
Jdsk
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by Jdsk »

PDQ Mobile wrote:As for sanitizer, why not just use the meths?
And carry plenty?

That should be fine in the same way as anything else above 60% alcohol. But with gel I imagine that you'd use less.

Jonathan

PS:
PDQ Mobile wrote:So I asked for a miniature of brandy, that having the highest alcohol content that I could see.

However it would NOT ignite in the priming dish ...

... any problems with Christmas puddings? : - )
PDQ Mobile
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Jdsk wrote:... any problems with Christmas puddings? : - )


Well I knew about setting puddings on fire but I have never tried it!
It is why I bought it though.
But in all seriousness it would not light as a pool of liquid. Perhaps the warmth of puddings make it more volatile.
40% alcohol is too little to burn though, methinks.
Or perhaps the off-license watered it's spirits? :shock:

So I am amazed you can/could cook on it.
Vodka better perhaps?

I had some Poteen in Ireland once that was reputedly 50%, it certainly set the gut aflame!!
Jdsk
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by Jdsk »

Was it a cold night?

We took whisky because you don't need anything else but water. Can't remember what type but EU minimum is 40%. And that works in a Trangia.

Spirits have a big range of ethanol concentration. EU minimum for brandy is 36%. Just had a quick look... there's a Serbian vodka on sale in the UK at 88%.

...

Yes, the trick with brandy on puddings is to warm it so that there's enough vapour to ignite. I use a ladle and a gas ring.

Jonathan
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Jdsk wrote:Was it a cold night?

We took whisky because you don't need anything else but water. Can't remember what type but EU minimum is 40%. And that works in a Trangia.

Spirits have a big range of ethanol concentration. EU minimum for brandy is 36%. Just had a quick look... there's a Serbian vodka on sale in the UK at 88%.

...

Yes, the trick with brandy on puddings is to warm it so that there's enough vapour to ignite. I use a ladle and a gas ring.

Jonathan

No it was summer.
I drank it -in the end!!

I am surprised whisky will burn to be honest.
I shall stick with cheaper meths or the continental clear "Alcool a brûler /brennspirit" types- which I think are better than meths- burn longer.

Actually I have been using some as hand sanitizer since the start of all this- say early March.
I had about half a pint left and sanitizer was like toilet rolls then!!
I shop three times a week, always use sanitizer (alcohol) afterwards and there is still some left!

Gels and foams are not all they are cracked up to be in terms of economical usage? Maybe?
Though alcohol dries the skin more I think.
Jdsk
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by Jdsk »

PDQ Mobile wrote:I shall stick with cheaper meths or the continental clear "brennspirit" types- which I think are better than meths- burn longer.

Meths and its equivalents do vary in composition, but I think of brennspiritus as being the same stuff as UK meths.

Jonathan
PaulaT
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by PaulaT »

PDQ Mobile wrote:40% alcohol is too little to burn though, methinks.
Or perhaps the off-license watered it's spirits? :shock:


Perhaps it was 40 proof rather than 40% alcohol? They're not the same thing.

One advantage of using my currently favoured BCB Firedragon stove is that the solid fuel blocks can be used as hand sanitiser and still burned afterwards. I've actually moved away from meths to gel stoves because I don't trust myself to not spill the fuel.
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pjclinch
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by pjclinch »

If you have access to lab ethanol, that burn just great and unlike meths doesn't smell terrible. Back before photocopiers were ubiquitous, school duplicators used what amounted to plain spirit and I ran my Trangia on that for years.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
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pjclinch
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by pjclinch »

PaulaT wrote:
PDQ Mobile wrote:40% alcohol is too little to burn though, methinks.
Or perhaps the off-license watered it's spirits? :shock:


Perhaps it was 40 proof rather than 40% alcohol? They're not the same thing.


Indeed. In fact IIRC the definition of "100% proof" is it will burn (not necessarily well enough to prime a stove well though).

Years ago in a bothy someone had a bottle of really terrible whisky none of us could face drinking so we figured we'd burn it in our stoves. It would've been fairly typical drinking spirit, 35-40% ABV. Hard to get it going, but once it was lit it burned okay.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by PDQ Mobile »

PaulaT wrote:
PDQ Mobile wrote:40% alcohol is too little to burn though, methinks.
Or perhaps the off-license watered it's spirits? :shock:


Perhaps it was 40 proof rather than 40% alcohol? They're not the same thing.

One advantage of using my currently favoured BCB Firedragon stove is that the solid fuel blocks can be used as hand sanitiser and still burned afterwards. I've actually moved away from meths to gel stoves because I don't trust myself to not spill the fuel.

Never such a thing had happened after 30 or more years of camping and cooking on paraffin stoves.

I spilled the meths because it was hot sunny early eve - slanting sun.
I stopped for a quick roadside brew.
Primed and pumped the stove and I thought the meths had burned away but the stove still flared.

So I added more meths!
The sun perhaps hiding any flame.
The new meths caught instantly.
And the small plastic meths container was aflame too.
Snatching my hand away resulted in flaming meths on the skin and all the spilled burning meths on a dry woodland floor!
Almost a disaster!!

A small finger blister was the only lasting damage.
And loss of my precious meths of course.

I was heading for an very early Dover ferry the following morning at the start of a trip across the Continent.
So hence the late evening hunt for some sort of primer.
.........

Pete, how did you get a stove to run on whisky? Did you preheat?

A very quick online search suggests 50% alcohol BV is needed to burn reasonably well.
https://vinepair.com/articles/which-alc ... ches-fire/

Which is a fair bit more than most bottled cheaper whiskies.

Perhaps my mistake was choosing brandy in spite of it's high percent alcohol? Too much sugar?
Courvoisier 5* if memory serves. 'Twas only a miniature.
And I had thought myself so cunning!
Live and learn.
PaulaT
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by PaulaT »

PDQ Mobile wrote:
PaulaT wrote: I've actually moved away from meths to gel stoves because I don't trust myself to not spill the fuel.

Never such a thing had happened after 30 or more years of camping and cooking on paraffin stoves.


I may be being over-cautious but when you're s clumsy as I am, excess caution seems like a good idea :)
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nick12
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by nick12 »

Paula, how do you find the gel works compared to meths. I was intrigued when I saw some. Does it burn longer.
PaulaT
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Re: Hand sanitiser

Post by PaulaT »

nick12 wrote:Paula, how do you find the gel works compared to meths. I was intrigued when I saw some. Does it burn longer.


It burns faster IME and you can't control it with a simmer ring like you can with meths but for me the removal of the risk of spillage or leaks outweighs those limitations.
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