How to Mix IPA for Inspecting Correction Results

Wow, great article. I too have used 70IPA right out the bottle onto a rag to wipedown heavy compounds. Most of my polishes are pretty easy to just wipe off with a towel, but some of the compounds don't want to come off. I never considered 70IPA to he a hot solvent, but I guess you learn something new...

I only read the first couple pages, but have you tested any other solvents or asked you chemist buddies about them? I work with clear coats in other areas of work and deal with them fresh and cured, and in the shop we have various solvents and the only one we use on paint undiluted is Naptha. 100% pure poured onto a rag and wipe down(it is a 3 stage Dupont solvent based clear and we use it on custom pool cues). We also use Denatured alcohol, laquer thinner, mineral spirits and acetone. Acetone being the hottest and Naptha being the mildest. Naptha and acetone have low boiling points so naturally they dissipate quicker at room temps than alcohols.

One thing I would like to know is if Denatured alcohol would be better/safer for auto paint than IPA? I'm guessing it is just from my experience with it. It would need to diluted as the IPA or maybe more so, but I feel like it would make a better weak cleaning solvent than IPA. I guess I'll go back read through the entire lost to make sure I didn't miss you testing other solvents, it if you haven't, might be a goodbthread for some testing. Great website with lots of good information.

Thanks
 
So I did a little digging into the products I've been using for years and thought I understood pretty well. Turns out I didn't. Naptha is apparently "Hotter" than mineral spirits, but more volatile and faster evaporating. Not sure which would be better for cured paint, but I've been wiping 100% Naptha straight onto paint for quite a while with only positive results. I would be afraid with Mineral Spirits. I've also been wiping 70% IPA like and idiot onto cars, and thanks to this article I won't do it again. Mike, you may have literally saved me 5000. One of my customer owns a Bentley and so far I have only used finish polish and wax on it, but I know one day it will need something stronger, something that a solvent will help wipe away. Now I know what to do.

As for denatured vs IPA, they turn out to be somewhat similar. The differences I can tell is that IPA is cheaper, easier to get pure and probably mixes better with water at any strength. But IPA is also "hotter" and less volatile. IPA will stay on the paint longer, evaporating slower than Denatured alcohol. Denatured is actually ethanol like we drink mixed with methanol or IPA or MEK (now that was a good solvent that I can't seem to find anymore anywhere) or whatever else they have handy that will make it non-potable. So if you want to use Denatured over IPA as will probably end up doing when I figure out what mix to use, shop around and see what they used to "Denature" it. I read some guys saying that the "green" version are good and have high ethanol concentrations.

Mike, see if you can get a rundown on all these widely available solvents from your chemist next time you talk to him.

Again, an awesome article that will help lots of people.

Thanks
 
thedoc46 said:
Fantastic thread.. Thanks Mike...
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BMW435 said:
Great write up
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Mike Honcho said:
Sticky it!!!
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Thanks but just to note, as I point out in the first post of this thread I was never really interested in writing this article.

I even asked for volunteered to write it but no one ever stepped up to the plate.

The problem was there was a few guys back a few years ago that were telling everyone to strip their paint with IPA but that's as far as it went. They gave no details, no warnings, just their normal one-liners.

So in an effort to help prevent people from making mistakes, scratching their paint and to simply bring some common sense about this procedure I broke down and wrote the article.

This was also years before we had products like Erasure, Panel Wipe and BLACKFIRE Crystal Coat Paint Prep.

:laughing:
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
This was also years before we had products like Erasure, Panel Wipe and BLACKFIRE Crystal Coat Paint Prep.

:laughing:
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Agreed. Ever since I started using Eraser I'v never gone back to IPA or using Mineral Spirits.

Detailing technology has rapidly evolved over the last few years with MANY advancements.
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I'm not a chemist and don't have any interest in becoming one. I make it a practice not to try to play the part of a chemist on forums either but it is important to try to reach out to contacts that do know about topics like this and get their insights.

I've seen paint wrinkled from exposure to strong IPA and it's not a comfortable sight.



I leave it in the spray bottles as we use it up fairly regularly for all kinds of things.



I always recommend following the manufactures advice as they tend to know their products and processes best.



Thanks for chiming in, I do appreciate hearing what other chemists have to say on the topic and I agree it seems to be a topic that can get some people kind of emotional...




I prefer how MS wipes over paint as compared to IPA but either way, when IPA is diluted with water it wipes a lot better then the stronger versions straight out of the bottle.

One thing for sure, while Isopropyl Alcohol is a liquid, that doesn't automatically make it a great lubricant and from my testing on clear coated black paint, it's pretty hard to wipe a highly polished black finish and not detects some marring from the wiping process.

The point of this is that if it's happening to a clearcoated black finish and it's pretty easy to see, it's likely happening to a finishes but it's going to be more difficult to see on lighter colors like silver metallics, etc.

So like you're doing, anyone else doing this should try to use, clean, soft microfiber towels and a gentle touch...


:xyxthumbs:
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Hi Mike,

I would like to know what do you think about the product DupliColor Prep Wipe PW100, since here in Mexico it's difficult to get some good product or they are expensive and I think it this towels could l be a good option, although I made my IPA mix too, with 15% IPA (IPA @ 99% pure) and 85% Distilled water, so I don't know which will be better, to get the PW100 towels or stay with my IPA mix.

Here is the MSDS, it uses Mineral Spirits and other thing.

Thank you for your knowledge

Alex
 
alexalanis said:
Hi Mike,

I would like to know what do you think about the product DupliColor Prep Wipe PW100, since here in Mexico it's difficult to get some good product or they are expensive and I think it this towels could l be a good option, although I made my IPA mix too, with 15% IPA (IPA @ 99% pure) and 85% Distilled water, so I don't know which will be better, to get the PW100 towels or stay with my IPA mix.

Here is the MSDS, it uses Mineral Spirits and other thing.

Thank you for your knowledge

Alex
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Hi Alex,

Sorry I just now found this question....


As long as you're working on cured and/or factory paint I think the two options will work fine.



:)
 
Godspeed said:
Another great article by Mike! Thanks for taking the time to explain what we are exactly doing to our paint. And more importantly, what the IPA is doing to our paint chemically.

For those of you like me, who have a few different size spray bottles, here is the math to figure out your total percentage of IPA in your mix.

X(Y/Z)

Where
X= The percentage of your IPA
Y= Amount of IPA in ounces added to your spray bottle
Z= Total volume of spray bottle in ounces

Let's use Mike's formula as an example. 4oz of 91% IPA in a 32oz spray bottle gives us a total percentage of IPA of 11.3%.
.91(4/32) = .11375 or 11.357%

So if we were to use a smaller, say 22oz bottle we can now figure out how much IPA to add to achieve our target of 10%.
.91(3/22) = .12409 or 12.409%
So, we get 12.4% IPA when we use 3oz of 91% IPA diluted in a 22oz spray bottle.
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To add to Godspeed's great explanation, I will attempt to complicate it.

Have you ever been in a position where you knew what dilution % you wanted to achieve, but didn't' know how much IPA to add to the water?

(YZ)/X=

Where
X= The percentage of your IPA (ex. .5 = 50%)
Y= Dilution ratio you want (ex. .5 = 50%)
Z= Total volume of spray bottle in ounces

You have 91% IPA in a 32oz spray bottle and you want it diluted to 10%.

Simply put (.10x32)/.91= 3.5oz; you would need 3.5oz of IPA in the 32oz bottle. Fill it up with some water and boom! 10%

Fiddle around with it; it's super easy and super fun!!!

Check on learning

How many ounces of IPA would I need I have 75% IPA with a 16oz bottle and I want it diluted to 25%?
 
TrueColor said:
To add to Godspeed's great explanation, I will attempt to complicate it.

Have you ever been in a position where you knew what dilution % you wanted to achieve, but didn't' know how much IPA to add to the water?

(YZ)/X=

Where
X= The percentage of your IPA (ex. .5 = 50%)
Y= Dilution ratio you want (ex. .5 = 50%)
Z= Total volume of spray bottle in ounces

You have 91% IPA in a 32oz spray bottle and you want it diluted to 10%.

Simply put (.10x32)/.91= 3.5oz; you would need 3.5oz of IPA in the 32oz bottle. Fill it up with some water and boom! 10%

Fiddle around with it; it's super easy and super fun!!!

Check on learning

How many ounces of IPA would I need I have 75% IPA with a 16oz bottle and I want it diluted to 25%?
Click to expand...



~5.3 oz, thanks for that. Good information!
 
"50% IPA
To mix a 32 ounce Spray Bottle
8 ounces, (or ½ of a 16 ounce bottle) will make 32 ounces of 12.5% IPA to Water solution. Get a 32 ounce container and pour in 8 ounces, (or ½ of a 16 ounce bottle) of the 50% IPA then fill the container up with water and you get 32 ounces of 12.5% solution."

I think with 50% IPA, will just mix 50/50 with water which results to 25% solution. Then, transfer half of this 25% solution to another bottle then simply mix again with water 50/50, so it will yield to 12.5% solution right?
 
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