Comment by hilbert42

Comment by hilbert42 2 days ago

Right, if you live where duty is applied to ethanol then it's expensive. In Australia, where I am ethanol is available as a denatured product. That is, it includes a very small amount (much less than 1%) of denatonium (aka Bitrex) which renders it undrinkable (it's the bitterest substance known). As such, excise tax is not levied.

Here, one liter bottles of denatured ethanol are available in every supermarket everywhere, and up to 20 liters available in hardware stores (at bulk rates it's even cheaper).

For comparison, here denatured ethanol costs about $5/l [in US dollars] versus isopropyl at between $25 and $30/l.

DebtDeflation 2 days ago

In the United States, if you buy "Denatured Alcohol" at a big box store, it will be a toxic brew of often 50-60% methanol as well as smaller amounts of MEK, MIBK, and even acetone in addition to the ethanol. However, you can order "Specially Denatured Alcohol (SDA)" from various chemical suppliers or even Amazon. "SDA 40B 200" will be 99.5% ethanol with 0.1% tert-butyl alcohol and 0.0005% denatonium benzoate. It's what I use for camp stove fuel since I refuse to carry methanol in my pack with food.

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hilbert42 2 days ago

I understand the problem with purchasing EtOH in the US. Frankly, I consider adding MeOH, MEK, etc. to denature it as both dangerous and an archaic procedure. (Moreover, outside lab reagents, MeOH should never exist without denatonium, it's just too dangerous.)
Some people will drink EtOH whether it's denatured with MeOH, etc. or with the much safer denatonium. Why blind or kill these people when one doesn't need to? Sure, EtOH will likely get them anyway but why should the State be their executioner?
There's something awfully wrong with that I reckon.

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- InDubioProRubio 2 days ago
  
  Puritan wrath, a nice mixture of hatred of ones own ant-existance and hatred on others not participating the labour camp race to the bottom, thats why?
  
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  0_____0 2 days ago
  
  Typically I would dismiss this as a bit overwrought but I came back from overseas last week and promptly was forced to drive in Boston, an activity that both takes place in the heart of US puritanism and perfectly encapsulates something that is frustrating in a way that could only happen in a place where "it's shit, it's supposed to be shit, and if you don't like it, there's the door" is a core principle.
  
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  hilbert42 2 days ago
  
  Right, I was being polite, my question was rhetorical.
  
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- [removed] 2 days ago
  
  [deleted]
  
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- 1oooqooq 2 days ago
  
  it's cheaper and the free market is regulating itself as god intended.
  
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AStonesThrow 15 hours ago

I had a recent adventure attempting to replenish my Food Grade 35% Hydrogen Peroxide.
Amazon wouldn't even ship the stuff here. I'm coming to realize that any truly potent or powerful substance is strictly off-limits in consumer spaces. Plenty of good reasons for that. But such things as pure isopropyl and pure H2O2 are so versatile and tantalizing to have on-hand, rather than household cleaners with proprietary formulas, as much dilution as possible, unique MSDS, and obnoxious fake fragrance.
I can walk down an entire aisle in the hardware store, chockablock with bottles of household cleaners, and they all amount to 2 or 3 active ingredients, endlessly remixed for credulous homemakers.

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