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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;-jeffB, post: 2133366, member: 27832&quot;]Thanks, this helps me understand what you were trying to say.</p><p><br /></p><p>I guess the more usual phrasing is that acetone has a <i>low boiling point</i>, or a <i>high vapor pressure</i>. Either way, it&#039;s as you say; it evaporates quickly, and doesn&#039;t get very hot at all before it boils away. (Do this outdoors, or under a flame- and explosion-proof hood!)</p><p><br /></p><p>In my experience, and that of most folks here, <i>pure</i> acetone does <i>not</i> leave a residue, unless it&#039;s something that dissolved off the coin. Nail polish remover is full of other stuff, can leave a residue, and can even react with the surfaces of the coin. Pure acetone (and the kind you buy in cans at the hardware store is &quot;pure enough&quot;) doesn&#039;t, if you use it right -- dip or soak the coin in one container, then dip it in two other containers of acetone in turn; the subsequent dips dilute any dissolved contaminants from the first dip.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is vigorous and unresolved disagreement <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> about whether <i>pure</i> acetone can discolor copper coins. There&#039;s some evidence that it can form reactive compounds on prolonged exposure to copper and strong light.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you&#039;re needing to boil coins to loosen stuff from them, you&#039;re in a different regime of cleaning/conserving/preserving from what I&#039;m used to, so I may not have much to say there. (Edit: any &quot;advice&quot; I give is mostly second-hand at best; I haven&#039;t practiced this a lot myself.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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