Denatured Alcohol For Cleaning SOME Parts?

[infuriatednoodle]

Hey guys, so I just got a Glock a week ago and I've heard to use rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol up in the slide and by the striker. Can this possibly be harmful for the finish or any part of the gun?

Brendan

 

[Strykervet]

Just use CLP or plain Hoppes and qtips and pipe cleaners. Make sure to get it all out of the internals, you don't want any lube left in there. But using it to clean with is fine. Then just lube the places the factory recommends.

 

[antiquus]

Probably not harmful, at least rubbing alcohol won't be. I clean a lot of things with it, because rubbing, or isopropyl alcohol absorbs moisture, actually pulling moisture out of a surface and evaporates completely taking the water with it. I've saved cell phones dropped in water by letting them sit in isopropyl for a while them leaving them in the sun to dry out.

But usually I just use CLP for guns unless something unusual has happened.

 

[BCRider]

There's a whole chemistry about solvents. As I recall from reading a thread on another forum about solvent there's polar and non polar types. Each is good for dissolving some things but not others. Alchohal isn't any good for dissolving any oils or greases that I've come across. So stick with other options.

 

[brickeyee]

isopropyl alcohol absorbs moisture

That depends on its purity.

Medical grade is 70% alcohol.

It is pretty much saturated with water already.

90% can absorb some, while reagent grade can approach 100% and absorbs nicely.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

The actual alcohol content in rubbing alcohol is only about 70% by volume. I assume the rest is mostly or all water. This doesn't sound like the ideal gun cleaner.

 

[Drail]

If a manufacturer told me I had to use denatured alcohol to clean their gun I would send it back for a refund. That's the dumbest thing I've heard all week. Anybody with a Glock owner's manual that can verify this or is it a myth?

 

[19&41]

I only use 91% isopropyl alcohol to clean areas I have applied cold bluing to between repeat applications. Not on a poly firearm.

 

[W.E.G.]

meh...

 

[Exeter]

Neither denatured nor rubbing alcohol will harm the finish on your Glock, but there is no reason to use them. Any commercially available cleaner for guns will do a better job, since they're blended to clean powder residue.

 

[average_shooter]

As an "FYI" Denatured Alcohol is simply alcohol mixed with an undefined amount of an undefined / unidentified poison to make it not suitable for human consumption. What chemical any particular company uses to "denature" the alcohol can change from batch to batch. Sometimes you get a batch that smells like straight gasoline.

I no longer use denatured alcohol for anything because I have no idea what's in it. Isopropyl or even 90% Everclear is a better option, in my mind.

 

[Drail]

Ooooooh!!! Everclear! Brings back memories of youthful stupidity.

 

[average_shooter]

Ooooooh!!! Everclear! Brings back memories of youthful stupidity.

Ha, I've never actually drank the stuff myself, but I've used it in varnish classes. Purest alcohol we could get. The only problem we had was while doing touch-up varnish work up close you could usually only go about five minutes before you needed some fresh air or you'd get a bit buzzed.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Alchohal isn't any good for dissolving any oils or greases that I've come across.

Petroleum based oils, no. Biological oils? Aint nothin' works better. That's why they use it in window cleaner; instead of just smearing the body oils of a fingerprint around and trying to absorb them into a cloth, it actually breaks them down. The added benefit is rapid evaporation that leaves minimal spotting

 

[BCRider]

Petroleum based oils, no. Biological oils? Aint nothin' works better. That's why they use it in window cleaner; instead of just smearing the body oils of a fingerprint around and trying to absorb them into a cloth, it actually breaks them down. The added benefit is rapid evaporation that leaves minimal spotting

Ah, a valid use at last

It also points out again how important it is to match the solvent to the use of the moment.