Window Glass Cleaner vs Automotive Glass Cleaner
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Joking, Ed Bach!
We like a pint around here and some of the best beer comes from Wales.
Football fans famously can’t hold their drink, and it’s true, booze isn’t allowed at football matches anywhere in the UK, but we don’t worry about that here in Wales where we play Rugby and there are no such restrictions………… other than the outrageous price!
Seriously, the Meths in solution acts as a good solvent, preventing stone clogging as no other, in my view. Basic commercial glass cleaners mostly contain a solution of surfactants and solvents. Meths is cheaper and I believe more effective because it evaporates slower than glass cleaners where rapid dispersal is a requirement – not so on oil-less stones where I want it to stay liquid long enough to do the job.
In the time I’ve used this mix, never had any issues with fumes.
I suppose, Paul had bad experience with one type of household glass cleaner. I used some ordinary glass cleaner when I started sharpening with sandpaper and it worked nicely. But it created a mess on my table once mixed with the metal and sandpaper particles. I then tried water and had pretty much the same results for less money. Perhaps Pauls car glass cleaner is better? In the meantime, I am using stones and water works absolutely fine.
Perhaps water is not so popular because it is closely associated with rust. I wipe my blades with an oily cloth often, so I have no issues with rust. And steel doesn’t rust within seconds, it will survive the sharpening process easily.
Dieter
I use soapy water. Works fine. I think whatever you choose will be fine. Don’t overthink it. ?
Kevin
I assumed Paul was recommending that you avoid the ammonia in the standard window cleaners to help protect your work rather than the plates. My daughter sprayed a standard window cleaner (with ammonia) on the plates to sharpen up and was surprised when her Oak benchtop went black.
@howardinwales This is the first time on this forum and I note that this is an old thread so may not get picked up when when you say meths are you talking industrial meths or the purple meths from the chemist,B&Q, Screwfix et al? Failing that does anyone know of a cheap suitable “auto glass cleaner” in the UK.
@ngrayson
Neil, no problem with the age of the post – it seems to get picked up.
Industrial meths is precisely that and difficult to obtain other than through official outlets and the extra purity may be superfluous for our purposes, not to mention the cost.I use meths ‘ordinaire’, the stuff with a purple dye added to prevent people drinking it.
I’ve never used autoglass cleaner, so I can’t comment on that.50/50 meths and water with a few drops of liquid detergent works fine on diamond stones. ALWAYS wipe it clean if you use any water-based jollop, because the metal particles will rust, clog and stain the plate.
Good luck@howardinwales Many thanks indeed for the rapid reply.
Oddly clear Industrial meths is actually cheap and available from many sources but no one will ship unless you send them “your” letter from HMRC. I understand HMRC are reasonably forthcoming at giving such letters when the reasons is explained as I was looking for some for another project but in the end speed drove me down another route.
I Will be “Stealing” one of the wives sprays later today and making a brew. For that I will need luck!
Dave el al,
Windshield washer fluid is NOT the same as glass cleaner as it contains a significant % of Methanol.
Methanol is rapidly absorbed thru the skin and is quite poisonous.
So..unless you fancy a trip to the ER.
PS.. If you’re not sure please refrain.
Best,
CraigCraig,
Do you know what’s in automotive glass cleaner?
Dave
Dave,
“Automotive glass cleaner”is a generic term.
To find the hazardous components you search for a specific product’s SDS (safety data sheet).
ie. Windex SDS
Typical glass cleaners use propyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol),ammonia and a surfactant.
Best,
CraigThanks, Craig.
Here are the MSDSes for two brands:
http://www.minncor.com/file/Glass-Cleaner-1368-msds.pdf
http://s7d9.scene7.com/is/content/GenuinePartsCompany/1906872pdf?$PDF$
Here’s one for generic (cheap blue) windshield wiper solvent:
As you can see, it’s very similar to A Joyner’s homebrew mix but with less methanol.
I think that this should finish answering the original poster’s question. Folks can read the above and decide for themselves whether it’s safe to use these products for sharpening. As for myself, I’ll stick to oilstones and Norton honing oil.
Dave
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This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by
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This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by
@Dave Firstly thank you for posting the information. I was curious and I have looked at it.
The name Methylated Spirits (AKA Meths in the UK) as used in A Joyner’s homebrew is misleading if you are unaware of its exact nature. I am not of course suggesting you are not but for disambiguation it is not pure Methanol as one might assume from the name. Call it Denatured Alcohol, Methylated spirt or IDA which is in Europe industrial Denatured Alcohol. This is of the order of 95% Ethanol with only 5% Methanol added. i.e. 5% by volume.
When mixed in the “homebrew” 50/50 as a percentage of the final brew the content is therefor only 2.5% Methanol by volume some 30.5% LESS than the windshield product.
You may want to find out whats in button polish or French polish. IDA is the major component.
Just to add to the fun the purple Meths which as sold by most outlets in the UK these days actually contains no Methanol these days. Its been replaced with IPA (Iso propyl Alchohol). I have attached the COSHH sheet for Screwfix but of UK based readers this company also supplies B&Q et al.
As Craig and yourself stated people must use their own Judgment as to what they feel to be good for them.
Thanks for the clarification.
As for safety, I think that we can all agree that it’s a very bad idea to drink, bathe in or get in your eyes any of the products mentioned. As for occasional minimal contact with the hands, I recommend reading the MSDSes and deciding for yourselves.
Dave
I didn’t want to start a new thread and this one looked ideal for my question
Do we know what brand of autoglass cleaner Paul uses? I’ve looked but I can’t find it. I’ve got lapping fluid but it’s a bit pricey.
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This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by
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