naptha

mrshankly

it bugs me when we see facebook posts from our american counterparts with huge great naptha tins on there workbench when all we see seem to be able to get is little fiddly tins of lighter fluid.
anyone got a better scource or an alternative?

SteveRobinson

Artists' low-odour white spirit
e.g. https://www.jacksonsart.com/w-n-1-litre-sansodor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spirit

mrshankly

I've heard it said that Colemans camping stove fuel is naphtha and a lot of people substitute this with panel wipe from car painters suppliers. Anyone had any experience with this?

SteveRobinson

panel wipe is also okay for general degreasing

FelineGuitars

Company in Colchester selling some on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHELLSOL-A-NAPTHA-SOLVENT-5-LITRE-1-LITRE-/231775759189?var=&hash=item35f6e96b55:m:mTblLlSddJ-JU8CUHJeoJAw

FelineGuitars

Lighter fluid can be bought in pound shops now - way cheaper than many newsagents

Nomad

Brake cleaner can be mostly naphtha, although it's worth checking the MSDS to see what's in it. Pagid is 95%...

http://www.hella-pagid.com/hellapagid/assets/media/HPBS_SafetyDataSheet_BrakeCleaner_ENG.pdf

Stuff number 921-024-6 (page 2 for C6/C7)...

http://www.reachcentrum.eu/Consortia Documents/P-I163/Other/20110401160024-HSPA_CAS_April__2011.pdf

A quid for 100ml of lighter fluid at Asda, or about 15 quid for 5 litres of brake cleaner. The lighter fluid tins are very handy for dispensing small amounts. I got a 5L can ages ago to use as fuel in my Primus multi-fuel stove (works very well indeed).

For degreasing or cleaning in general, different substances work better for particular things. The blue stuff I use on my metal machining work (for marking out, called layout blue) is hard to shift with naphtha, but isopropyl alcohol takes it off instantly. Neither is much good for getting some kinds of sticky label residue off, but an artists oil paint diluent I use called Zest It works a charm.

NeilMcG

mrshankly said:

I've heard it said that Colemans camping stove fuel is naphtha and a lot of people substitute this with panel wipe from car painters suppliers. Anyone had any experience with this?

Yes, I use Coleman fuel. It is easy to get hold of.

you can also get "petroleum ether" from bulk chemical suppliers that is also naphtha.

note that naphtha isn't a single thing, it is a range of compounds with similar characteristics, but they are not identical. That is where a lot of the confusion arises. As far as I know they all work as a not too aggressive solvent, but as ever test them somewhere inconspicuous on the finish first!

Deadman

SteveRobinson said:

panel wipe is also okay for general degreasing

This. I don't use naptha. Automotive panel wipe will remove everything but the paint, which is ideal for all things guitar (including nitro). 5 litres should cost no more than £15.

Corvus

Panel wipe here as well, or gunwash (celly) thinners for general stuff not painted. Also cheap by the gallon (or 5 litre in new money).

boogieman

If it's just for degreasing or getting glue residue off, then methylated spirit works fine. For doing paint pre-prep then like others have said, panel wipe is good.  

bingefeller

FelineGuitars said:

Lighter fluid can be bought in pound shops now - way cheaper than many newsagents

Is it safe to use on fretboards?   I can't get naptha here and no one will post it to me. 

thermionic

Aye.

Deadman

boogieman said:

If it's just for degreasing or getting glue residue off, then methylated spirit works fine. For doing paint pre-prep then like others have said, panel wipe is good.  

That's a very good point. Meths is a low cost (and used to be easy to get hold of, probably still is). When I was in the RAF we used meths as a pre paint on Tornado fighter jets and the topcoat held up well even after flying a supersonic speed so it should be good on a Strat