And I've seen it on coins, which is why I always, and always have, recommend a final rinse in distilled water. But good luck at convincing them of that. And no Thad, it wasn't bad acetone.
EXPERIMENT: I needed to see for myself. I just put a drop of medical grade acetone on some clean glass. It dried w/o a trace. Next, I put a drop of the same chemical from a small batch in a different bottle that I dip my PVC contaminated Q-tips in. This left a spot. Note: In the first case nothing was visible. In the second case I had to tip the glass at an angle under the light to see it. From this I believe that with a more contaminated sample the spot would show easier.
There is NOTHING left when pure acetone dissolves, you are plain wrong. As I've said a million times, rinsing with water rehydrates the coin inviting corrosion. In fact, even the highest grade water (~18MOhm)contains trace elements and gasses. By rinsing with water and drying, you're putting that stuff right back on the coin. Water is a very "dirty" substance because it absorbs almost everything. It's known as the "universal solvent" for a reason.
This has long been both my understanding and experience. In addition, it's also about the easiest way as well, at least as far as I'm concerned.
Reagent grade acetone dispensed from its original container will not leave a film in and of itself. If you are using painter's grade acetone or nail polish remover, it will have impurities in it. However, if an object has a film of a substance that can be affected by acetone other than completely dissolved, then spots or haze may appear. If the substance is very soluble in acetone and there is not much of it, then a quick rinse or dip will remove it. Examples: lubricating oils, petroleum jelly. If the substance is not very soluble in acetone, then short exposure to acetone may alter its appearance so that it become noticeable. Examples: PVC residue or doctoring putties. It's also possible that a substance, like oil or grease, that is soluble in acetone could be on a coin and covering spots or roughness. Some coin doctors are experts in doing this, but it can happen innocently too. When the substance is removed with acetone, the spots or roughness reappear. It's easy to conclude that the acetone harmed the coin when all it did is reveal the true nature of the coin's surface. Cal
Bad glass? How about a bad coin? I know where the glass has been, I don't know where the coin has been.
Any PURE solvent will evaporate completely without leaving any residue. Acetone evaporates quickly, but will chill the coin (because of the evaporation) and moisture could condense on it.
Hair blow dryer on hot. Does a perfect job and leaves no waterspouts and you are not in danger of hairlining your coin with any kind of cloth.
I'm not so sure about recommending this one... If you're happy with and feel it works best for you, that's great, but in certain instances I can see where this could easily cause more problems than it solves.
I need to post some pictures where I took cents and deposited drops of water and acetone on them and let it evaporate...interesting results.
Do you notice what all 4 of you are saying ? Now I ask you, is that the world we, ordinary people, live in ? Or is this the world that we, ordinary people, live in ? Every hardware store, every paint store, every home improvement store - painter's grade acetone is what they sell. It is also the grade of acetone, the type of acetone, that 99.9% of collectors actually use on their coins. Because that is the only thing they can buy. Now I have no idea if what calcol says in his quote above is truly accurate or not, but let's assume it is. Let's also assume that this is what Thad refers to when he says "bad acetone" is the culprit. So I'm asking you guys, all 4 of you - is it true ? Does painters grade acetone have impurities in it ? Is what coin collectors buy and actually use on their coins "bad acetone" ? Now I don't know if it is true, you guys are the chemists, 2 of you are anyway, not me, so you tell me. But here's what I'll tell you, it's really the only thing that matters because painter's grade acetone is what collectors use. That's the real world, the world we, ordinary people, live in. It's not the world inside a lab, or at a professional conservation service. So when we start talking about what acetone will and will not do you have to leave the lab and move into the real world where the rest of us are. You have to use the same acetone that we use. And then, maybe you'll see some of the same results that we, or at least some of us, see. As for the drying issue in regard to acetone, I've discussed that many times before but everybody seems to either ignore the obvious or forget it. Yes, acetone will remove all traces of moisture of from a coin. But then you need to ask the question that really matters- for how long will it do this ? Answer, it will remove moisture from the coin for a couple of hours at the most. After that couple of hours has passed, the coin will revert right back to exactly the same state as the coin would be in if you had rinsed it in distilled water and then let it dry. That is an undeniable fact. How and why does this happen ? It's very simple, it is due to the ambient humidity in the air. You guys are the scientists, so let me give you some science to test. Take 2 coins, rinse one in distilled water and let it dry overnight, using my method of standing the coin on edge. Take coin #2 and rinse in acetone to remove all moisture from it. In a couple of minutes at most all the acetone will be gone and the coin will be as dry as it can be. Now let both coins sit there in the air for 2 hours, side by side. After that 2 hours measure, if you can, the moisture on the surface of the coin. I can guarantee you that the moisture on the surface of both coins is going to be exactly the same because of the ambient humidity in the air. The point of all this is that the drying factor of acetone is meaningless because whether you rinse a coin in acetone or not that moisture on the surface of that coin is going to return to being whatever ambient humidity happens to be. And no, putting the coin in a coin holder and then into a safe or a storage container isn't going to change anything because no coin holder is airtight. Both coins, the one rinsed in distilled water and the one rinsed in acetone will be exactly the same in regard to moisture on the coin. This is inevitable.
Okay, I think I can synthesize all of these ideas: Rinse the 'dipped' coin in distilled water, lean it against the countertop to dry, then rinse with acetone, let it dry for 5 seconds, and throw it in an airtite as FAST as I can, then double seal it up with this bad boy to keep it in a vacuum environment:
You left one thing out - you gotta make sure it's "good acetone" - and good luck with that And oh yeah, that plastic bag you're using there, is air permeable. So that humidity in the ambient air is still gonna get inside it - and on your coins
Not to play Devil's Advocate, Doug, but the plastic bag that mlov43 pictured is not only air-tight, but vacuum sealed.
As long as you don't live in california, here is a source probably as pure as you will find. It is listed as 100%, and has no other ingredients listed. About 3X more expensive than 'California available' solvent. https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals...e=UTF8&qid=1477077132&sr=1-1&keywords=acetone