Rust and ethyl alcohol?

F

fmann

Joined
Jan 27, 2000
Messages
139
No this is not a thread about drinking and knives. :D

I need to keep a few metal punches sterile and as rust free as much as possible. Right now the punches are put in 100% ethyl alcohol for sterilization and I was wondering if storing them in alcohol for extended periods of time would prove to be detrimental or otherwise to the metal.

Thanks.
 
I don't know for certain. Is the ethanol actually !00% (200 proof)?
If your container is sealed and isn't opened much or left open for any length of time everything may be allright. The problem is that ethanol would really prefer to be 95% and has a tendency to absorb water to reach that concentration. Unfortunately I don't know if that would be enough moisture to cause a problem. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Anthony Lasome
 
It can indeed cause rust. I let a Gerber EZ out soak over night
in alcohol to remove glue & tape residue next morning the thing was speckled with rust. Alcohol works great for a quick wipe down but not
a extended bath!
 
Being a while since I took chemistry, I would agree with Anthony about moisture. Do not leave your knives in their for along time, remove and dry thoroughly. I used alcohol to clean other metal items, and it made them rust due to not being cleaned properly.
 
I've done a lot of steel soaking in alcohol before, and most alcohol will cause rust quite quickly. The best I've used a Radio Shack Professional Tape Head Cleaner Fluid (Cat.#: 44-1113). It's a combination of isopropynol, ethanol and methanol. I've actually left bearings in the stuff for months on end, and have had zero rust. Just beware. The stuff evaporates VERY QUICKLY!!!
 
Yes, it is dry, absolute 200 proof ethyl alcohol, although continued exposure to air (and therefore water vapor) will make it less than 100%.

So I guess the general consensus is "no, alcohol may not be a good medium to store them." I guess I'll have to use the old tried and true method of cleaning, drying, and storing in that proverbial "cool, dry place." And sterilizing when I need to.

I think someone could make a killing if they found a way to provide corrosion resistance without harmful effects for medical research tools. Tuf-cloth, oils, etc. are all no-no's since you don't want those chemicals in your cell cultures, etc..
 
someone had posted on another thread under survival skills that he had used petroleum jelly for his carbon steel blades, and I think in a marine environment with no rust for years.

the jelly is non-toxic and it stops rust... only problem is that it's greasy and damn messy... but he like it.

hope that helps
 
FWIW, back in the 80's in the hospital where I worked the nurses used to sterilize some of the sharps in alcohol but they drop in nitrite crystals which scavenge for the oxygen in solution.
 
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