You are being rather facetious making such statements. Unlike acetone, newsprint and rags do not combust on their own. They require a source of ignition or a solvent that can. Everything has a flashpoint would be the best way to express what you have tried to say. Acetone CAN ignite at room temperature. The idea that evaporation makes clean up easy is a joke! Vapors can and do travel a great distance and the source of ignition is then beyond your control It doesn't take much. Containers can also explode in a hot environment. Please stop making light of this material.
No need to extend this. I anticipated your response and you proved I was right to do so. Nighty-night now.
Hmmm, may have an unusual mineral content. It's best to rinse with distilled water a few times. Acetone does not miraculously disappear as others believe it does. Air drying is recommended.
Right, that's the bittering agent I referred to. It's in part per million concentrations and utterly harmless. In fact, according to Wikipedia, it's "generally recognized as safe" as a food additive at concentrations around 5 mg/L. I mean, you shouldn't guzzle it or sniff the fumes on purpose, but getting a little on you, getting a whiff of it is not going to hurt you at all. Oh, and yeah, it doesn't magically disappear, but it is volatile enough that it evaporates quickly. The partial pressure of acetone in the atmosphere is quite low, after all. Edit to add: yes, you should properly dispose of it, and yes, you shouldn't use it in a plastic container as pointed out up thread.
I describe it at length in this thread - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/proper-acetone-procedure.193708/
I should clarify that all this stuff here refers to acetone, not denatonium benzoate. DB is also safe, but present in such tiny concentrations it doesn't matter.
People who last studied the effects of acetone decades ago, probably still believe it is exceedingly dangerous, however beginning in1995 to today, The EPA , CDC, and most scientific studies show that it has a very low threat to health and welfare. Its biggest problem is its flammability. Many states and Federal agencies had it ( previously) on a restricted list, but to my knowledge all have removed it including California which is usually has one of the top environmental restriction list. A liter of 100% Acetone has the same flamm. rating as a liter of 100% ( 190-200 proof) ethanol, and is much more transitory. There is no studies indicating cancer, mutations, nor damage to developing children in the womb, unlike alcohol. Obviously, don't drink it ( although humans have some internal naturally from anaerobic metabolism or diabetes, and don't ignite any residue, let it evaporate outside. No smoking over the bowl I would not rinse after acetone use with water~ distilled, ionized, well, or holy. Just allow to evaporate, as the purpose of it may have been to try and neutralize the effects of water previously on the coin. Don't re-initiate it by rinsing and hope all dries before it restarts a damaging process.
One thing on that Jim. Any water/moisture that acetone removes from a coin, is going to be right back on the coin in a matter of hours - just from the humidity in the air. So there is no benefit to not rinsing it in distilled water.
All this fuss over a little acetone, I have used gallons of it in the past as a chemist and it has never hurt meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Federal agencies say all kinds of things aren't harmful to humans and environment, when in fact they are, even more so when used carelessly or with too assured a state of control over them. Funny how a lot of women stop using nail polish and such make up removers containing acetone during their pregnancies... Funny how all the people who have replied in this thread, who claim to have and seem to display that they indeed have, a lot of experience using Acetone are less inclined to advise the OP or other inexperienced users on precautions than to flaunt a kind of macho attitude, or down play the cautions and warnings of risk associated. Won't be so funny if the OP goes off and does something dumb because a bunch of you downplayed the risks associated and backed the idea that clean up is simple, nearly carefree and there's nothing much to worry about for your health due to exposure.
Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... the difference is that YOU have a lot of experience and YOU learned to use it in a controlled environment (as a Chemist). The OP, likely, does not and should be warned before getting too involved with the stuff. One's kitchen and one's garage are not laboratories with proper ventilation, fire suppression and proper disposal containers.
I see where @krispy is coming from, but scaring the bejesus out of someone is just as bad. It's obvious the OP can read so the best advice would be to read the can. The only thing not on there is how to use it on coins, which is what he asked to begin with. I really didn't know that you couldn't collect coins and be macho at the same time. I may have to keep collecting under wraps or find another hobby
It's like I said in the beginning, I posted a warning about Acetone and it was followed by a torrent of tough talk (macho attitudes) downplaying the warning. There was no scaring the bejesus out of anyone, but it ought to be pretty clear that there are risks with Acetone and Xylene products. Most of us know how to pump gas in to a vehicle and not worry to much in handling it, because we learned to do so correctly, but you still have to warn people about the procedure of pumping gasoline into a jerry can type container, and how to stow it in your car, garage, or some other place. The dangers of gas are on par with acetone and xylene, though I think the later can be more nasty since it's clear as water and "seems" to disappear into thin air, when all it has done is dissipate in a cloud you can't see until it's extremely diluted in the environment around you.
But in that hour, minutes even, the coin can be put into a protective holder; that should be the whole point of using acetone in the first place, otherwise why do so at all?, as without protection it will get dirty again. I don't use acetone just to clean for the day viewing. If you use water rinse, you don't know when it has left the coin, and maybe seal it into the holder and cause even more than original problems. There is no good reason to wash acetone off with water.
Are acetone's evaporation rates different at various temperatures, altitudes, climates??? Be it distilled water or acetone, how long is long enough? I don't see how distilled water is going to do any harm. Never had a problem arise from using it after bathing a coin in acetone. I don't think anyone is going to put a wet coin in a holder. If they do, well, maybe they deserve the effects of the added moisture as a hard lesson.
Of course there are risks with anything, but where is the tough talk ( macho) you are talking about? You gave NO references , just the implication you are right and anyone saying different was macho and incorrect, as well as not having expertise in chemistry, whereas people who agreed with you did have~ nonsense!! They may have such, but not for just agreeing with you. I did not reference xylenes, just the acetone. I started teaching College Chemistry in 1967 and I am typing this on break from the College Chem class I am teaching tonight, so I do not think I am a novice at it. Anybody with 3/4 of a brain can use acetone as has been described, and if Billy Bob wants to smoke while using acetone or putting gas in his car, I do not feel responsible, nor should anyone, as sufficient warning was mentioned.
