How do I use acetone?

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Hi @-jeffB and I will answer your good, probing questions. The rust, if present, is in the bottom of the can and will only be in the pour if you agitated the can when it is near empty or tip it vertical trying to get the last drop out. If pouring into a container (ex. glass (best), stainless steel, or polypropylene) in order to immerse the coin for soaking, the rust--if present--will not remain on the coins surface but may scratch the surface(s) if you agitate the coin or when you attempt to remove it. To counteract that you can do one of two things: (1) strain the Acetone through a conical Paper Filter (you can use either a glass or polyethylene funnel) and if present you will see any solids originally present in the can; or (2) pour the Acetone into a glass or polyethylene jar or beaker that is about 7 cm in diameter by about 7 cm high and then dip the coin into the Acetone using a Handled Strainer that is made of Nylon (I use one that is made for the Lapidary hobby that has a stainless steel frame/handle with a nylon mesh strainer; I also use this for suspending the coins that I clean using my Ultrasonic Cleaner). If you use the Handled Strainer you won't have to pre-strain the Acetone.

Have you checked the color of the Acetone from the can? Pour a little onto a pure white absorbent material and if you see a slight yellowish/amberish hue then there are other chemicals or dissolved solids in the Acetone, which if not rinsed off, will leave a residue on the coin's surface, which may or may not be apparent depending upon how reflective the surfaces are. In particular, I have found if you just use the Acetone as it comes from the can on a coin with proof surfaces you will see a residue that looks like the thin film deposit of a toned coin but without too much color to it; then trying to get that residue off becomes problematical using the same Acetone that imparted it in the first place; that's why I use Brakleen as the final rinse on most of my coins (I never use a water rinse for coins with proof/prooflike surfaces).

Yes, the Brakleen is clean drying without leaving a residue even on proof coins as-long-as you blow the liquid remnant off with "canned air". The product formulation is 90-100% tetrachloroethylene plus CO2 for the pressurization with a portion of the mixture containing a stabilizer. It is formulated specifically for cleaning disk brake rotors and drums so that it doesn't leave a residue, which if it did may impair braking performance. I have used this product for years (BTW, it is a great general purpose cleaner and from my experience dissolves/cleans latex paint residue or brushes better than most other solvents). As far as air quality or effects on the respiratory system neither one of the two are without irritation or long-term effects, however, in use for soaking a coin the exposure to the Acetone would be over a longer period whereas the exposure to the Brakleen is just a brief spray on both side of the coin (I use nitrile gloves when handling the coin, even for just observing it). Remember, the Brakleen is the final rinse after the coin has been cleaned first with the Acetone.

If the Coinsolv was still available I would be using that--for the final rinse--for all coins except proofs, but alas it is not, and I don't see anything else on the market that is guaranteed pure enough for a final rinse (except the Reagent Grade Acetone that is very expensive and difficult to get if you're not an approved user).

I hope that my answers are helpful to you, and anyone else that may read the thread.

 

Maybe one last post on the use of acetone: I've been using it in my home machine shop for over 30 years, primarily as a degreaser for machined steel parts and as a final cleaning treatment for items to be cold-blued, including gun parts and barrels. The latter requires as close to absolute cleanliness as can be achieved outside of a laboratory or industrial setting. To that end, I maintain a gallon can of fresh, unused acetone and a gallon can of "used" acetone. The "used" stuff is for gross degreasing where a film left on the item is either inconsequential or will be removed by final rinsing with fresh acetone. I try to waste as little acetone as possible so all used material is poured into the "used acetone" can through a metal funnel lined with a standard 4" paper cone coffee filter.

BTW, I have never found rust in a can of acetone, although I suppose it is possible.

 

I've had cans get quite rusty on the outside, and I could imagine some of that getting knocked in when I unscrew the cap. If the can actually started rusting from the inside, though, I'd figure the acetone had gotten wet, and I'd expect it not to perform as well.

I've been threatening to distill some acetone, but so far common sense has prevailed. I've got all the glassware, and a warm water bath would be enough to boil it -- but I have to pay my own insurance premiums. Also, Walter White cosplay carries its own risks in this era.

 

Some use a saturated cotton ball, others just soak their fingernails in it.

 

Yikes. Maybe don't do it in your kitchen? How about out in the woods? You know, next to the still?

 

"Next to" the still? This is a still. (Actually, standard-taper glassware goes together like Lego; you can build all sorts of elaborate stuff out of a few basic parts. But today, to most people, it all just looks like a meth factory. )

 

I know. I was referring light-heartedly to the one some people use to make other liquid products, usually kept far away from prying eyes and thus less damaging when they catch fire or blow up. Just a joke using the most common usage of the term.

 

In my granddaddy's day they did it in the bathtub. Wasn't exactly "distilled," though. More like "blended." And they did poison some consumers. But that was just at the beginning, before they figured out how to run the "McCoy" in from Canada.

 

My grandfather ran a demonstration still for the Park Service up near Camp David in the 1960s or 1970s. My dad is pretty noncommittal about where his father learned that skill. He does have tales about a couple of his brothers, though.

 

Setting aside our slight posting differences, it still (no play on words intended) exists, albeit improvements and restrictions imposed (it used to be samples were distributed), and there are Wolfe and Stotelmeyer family members that still (no play on words again) actively operate Stills, and there is a great one that sources the old cherrywood near Middle Creek , near Ellerton, right down the road.

 

Yep, those are sure familiar names.



I'm guessing the "Making Whiskey Exhibit" is still the same one, or at least the same general idea in the same general spot. The family homestead is just off screen to the left. Lots of happy memories climbing Cunningham Falls, and never quite falling to my death...

 

Yes, same area, since the 70s, right off the Firebreak Rd. access, and entrance to the Naval Quarters , off Foxville-Deerfield Rd., up from The Brandenburg Rd. entry.

 

And to this day, every time we drive past that last road, my father grouses about the fact that the main road, which went by four or five households of Brandenburgs, got named Herman Hauver Rd. It should have been the other way around, if you ask our family.

(Um... are we cousins? )

 

Yes, they cheated a little (POTUS Kennedy insistence) by calling it Brandenburg Gate Road. Still a small dufus sign on 77, with that silly name, yet the gate is gone, and a fence protecting the Marine Barracks is about a 1/2 mile in.

The last Brandenburg Farmette (that had the old gravel entrance to the back of the original Eisenhower property) sold back in the mid-eighties, as I recall. We went to the sale, because there was an original set of Stottlemeyer (not to be confused with Stotelmeyer) chairs from the old Wolfsville Mill.

My property is the old Morgan Mill.

I don't think yes, on the cousin thing. I am originally a Brooklyn kid, but family owned the Mill Land since the 60s, passed down from my father, who obtained it after the Korean War.

Enough, for now. I don't want to hijack. I apologize to the OP.

 

NEVER use a plastic container!!!!!!! The acetone will dissolve it and it will end up on your coin. ALWAYS USE GLASS.

 

Nah, it's fine. Thread has already been answered. Continue if you want, I don't care.

 

All the same, I think I'll take it to PM for any further airing of family dirty laundry.

 

Should go to the hardware store, get clean acetone. Doesn't always do something. Only if there's something on the coin it can remove.

 

A shot glass or babyfood jar or something like that would work fine.

I didn't read everything, but if nobody mentioned it, Acetone is bad for plastic anything, including plastic pipes so if you have PVC drain pipes, or don't know, don't dump it down the sink or it will turn your pipes into your plastic container and break them over time.