Ethanol?

[Lutz]

This may sound like an absurd question, but where can I obtain ethanol? Some people have recently mentioned including ethanol in their mixes. Is this the stuff I have to go the liquor store to get (which is not an option for me since I am not 21 yet)? I am rather muddled about this...

Thanks.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Yes, ethanol is at the liquor store. Maybe tell one of your parents what you want it for (to mix colognes with ) and they\'ll buy you a bottle and let you use it under their supervision?

[Lutz]

Unfortunately, I live in a dormitory, 3000 miles away from my parents. But thanks for your response anyway. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif

[sabSpeaks]

Dear Mom,

I haven\'t heard from you in so long! How are you?

Please send a bottle of pure alcohol, and money.

Yours Truly,
Son

[Oceanborn]

You can get it in alot of places, I got mine from either a pharmacy or an art materials supply store.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

My choice is Clear Spring Grain Alcohol 190 Proof, bottled by the Clear Spring Distilling Co. It is 95% ethanol and 5% water, and has very little scent, other than the alcohol. It mixes very well with just about everything (pheromones, essential oils, water), and completely evaporates when applied on skin. It must be purchased from a liquor store. It is very flamable, so don\'t handle it around an open flame, cigarette, or stove. Also, don\'t drink it straight!

[sabSpeaks]

Perhaps I\'m disillusioned, but isn\'t it illegal to sell moonshine (100% pure ethanol) in the United States, for drinking purposes?

::hugs his bottles of Bacardi 151::

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Not in Oregon, from a state licensed liquor store, with a valid state liquor stamp over the bottle cap.... Besides, it isn\'t 100% ethanol, only 95%.

[Whitehall]

Pure, 100% ethanol is a lab curiosity. It is very difficult to produce and is very unstable in that ethanol that pure is hydroscopic - it sucks water out of the air and dilutes itself.

What is more common is 95% ethanol. If the other 5% is water then it is \"undenatured\" and is beverage quality. The downside of that is that US federal (and maybe state) liquor taxes are applied so the price has a substantial tax burden. \"Denatured\" alcohol has additional ingredients rendering it undrinkable - whether that makes it unusable for cologne use is open to question but I would avoid it since we\'re spraying the stuff directly onto our skin and indirectly into our noses. Denatured alcohol does not pay special federal liquor taxes.

Even more common is \"Everclear\" - I\'ve seen it as 95% (once) in the liquor store here in California but usually it is 75% which has always proved to be good enough for pheromone mixing and for herbal extractions. It is taxed since you can drink it - I\'ve tried that in cocktails but found that decent 100 proof vodka is better - Everclear seems to have an \"edgy\" taste.

Haven\'t tried getting ethanol at a pharmacist\'s but that seems reasonable.

[Walter_Mitty]

Well, I have to let the chem geek out for a bit of a rant on booze... You should not have access to 100% alcohol. It is something that it used for lab work in odd conditions. It is Hygroscopic (sorry Whitehall, but the geek in me couldn\'t let go on that one) and will pull water out of the air until it hits 95%. It forms an azeotrope with water, and despite how much you distill it, it will never be more than 95% EtOH. To make 100% EtOH, it is common to add benzene and distill the benzene:water azeotrope, because it distills off at a lower temp. Benzene is nasty stuff that is no longer sold to the general public, and don\'t drink it, well if you like your liver that is... EtOH is very stable, other than flames, and the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (and a little NAD+) it is pretty nonreactive in most environments. 95% should smell slightly sweet, and I wouldn\'t recomend drinking it either. It is very flammable and you should use caution with it. A friend of mine was spraying down a benchtop with it (sterilizes reeel good like) the was a fan on, (summertime...) and we ended up with a fireball and a bench on fire. Sparks from the electric fan caused it. One last safety note, if you are ever involved with an alcohol fire, pour water on it. They mix well (as noted) and water does put out the flames. Happy mixin.

[Watcher]

I thought that most of the alcohol products like attraction (scented and unscented) and andro 4.2 were ethonol based anyway.

[Whitehall]

I stand corrected - it is hyGroscopic rather than hyDroscopic.

Thanks for pointing that out to me - maybe I\'ve become overly dependent on spellcheckers.