Thread: mineral spirits

Yes

as china said Also basically the same mineral turpentine.

The difference between white spirit and mineral turps is, white spirit is less oily and evaporates almost completly clean.

I am finding that I prefeer white spirit for thinning lots of stuff in place of turps..it seems not to send polly hazy as tuprs will.

cheers

hi soundman, can you please tell us the brand name and where we can buy this "white spirit" ?

Unfortunately it is not all that common...and hard to lay hands on in reasonable quantities.

I buy mine from bunnings in 1 litre bottles under the diggers brand.

It is often labled " dry cleaning fluid".

cheers

Originally Posted by JillB

hi soundman, can you please tell us the brand name and where we can buy this "white spirit" ?

it's also known as shellite, and used in camping stoves

I can not be sure but I suspect that shellite and other stove fuels, while very closely related may not be as clean and white.

Appart from the fact I have not seen any "shellite" for quite some time.

cheers

Originally Posted by soundman

I can not be sure but I suspect that shellite and other stove fuels, while very closely related may not be as clean and white.

Appart from the fact I have not seen any "shellite" for quite some time.

cheers

Masters had shellite when I was there last week. Think it was Diggers.

Originally Posted by soundman

I can not be sure but I suspect that shellite and other stove fuels, while very closely related may not be as clean and white.

back when my dad was still working I had access to "waste" hexane for my stove. It was classified as "waste" because the lab my dad working in used it as a solvent for one of their test procedures and because of what they were testing the solvent could not be reused. The last shellite I bought burnt as cleanly.

Yeh burning is one thing thinning finishes is another all together.

Some of the fuels have a dye in them.

cheers

Originally Posted by soundman

Yeh burning is one thing thinning finishes is another all together.

Some of the fuels have a dye in them.

cheers

the last lot of Shellite I bought was water clear

I have always been under the impression that white spirits was the same as metho. It is metho that I mix with my shellac. Am i doing the wrong thing.
Terry

No white spirit is definitely not metho.

metho or "Denatured Alcahol" as the americans call it is Ethanol (Ethyl Alcahol) with a nasty tasting additive to stop you drinking it.

White spirit is is a clean white hydrocarbon derived from oil, put crudely it is petrol without all the additives and some of the more volotile and aromatic components.

Its ya basic clean hydrocarbon and the base for a great many things.

cheers

White spirit is the same as mineral turpentine and does not dissolve shellac (although it can be added in very small amounts to retard the drying of shellac polish).

Shellite is naphtha/lighter fluid and is used in some 'dry cleaning' solvents. Any shellite I've seen in Australia is crystal clear. It is more volatile than white spirit and therefore evaporates more quickly. I use a fair bit of it for reducing the drying times of some varnishes and wax polishes.