PET bottles and acetone

[ghh3rd]

I have been keeping my HiTek solution with acetone in a PET #1 bottle. I just read that PET bottles are not recommended for acetone storage because they will melt, although mine has been in one for months and shows no i’ll effect.

Has anyone heard of this before, or can suggest a better type of container? I wonder if it can gradually affect the quality of the coating by introducing traces of plastic.

Thanks

Randy

[Kevinakaq]

I hear these are top shelf...plan to order soon. EDIT: just ordered to put some ed’s red in one...

https://www.brownells.com/gun-cleaning-chemicals/solvents-degreasers/bore-solvents/3-pack-solvent-bottles-4-oz-barrier-type-sku749001056-32575-63977.aspx

As an aside am a Florida native and lived worked in Oldsmar for ten years and miss it dear.

[ghh3rd]

I lived and worked Oldsmar... moved to Lutz but still work in Oldsmar for Nielsen.

[bangerjim]

Glass and metal work for me for Acetone and any harsh HC solvents.

[Kevinakaq]

I lived and worked Oldsmar... moved to Lutz but still work in Oldsmar for Nielsen.

Was right down the road from you at Osgood on Burbank road. Drove past Nielsen everyday.

[utk]

I have been keeping my HiTek solution with acetone in a PET #1 bottle. I just read that PET bottles are not recommended for acetone storage because they will melt, although mine has been in one for months and shows no i’ll effect.

Has anyone heard of this before, or can suggest a better type of container? I wonder if it can gradually affect the quality of the coating by introducing traces of plastic.

Thanks

Randy

I just deleted a reply about Acetone (Ed's Red) in a PET bottle.

THEN i Googled and one plastic bottle manufacturer said that PET is no good for Acetone storage and that you should instead use HDPE. In a Picture they showed what happened after a month - the bottle had swelled up considerably.

My own experience is limited, I've only used PET when mixing for others, so I have no long-term experience.
Plus the fact that the Acetone contents is quite low in Ed's Red (25%) which made me think it was OK.

I also wrote that I've always used a small glass bottle for my own Ed's Red.

[popper]

Plastic 'coke' bottles work fine, stored acetone in them for a couple years, no problem and they don't shatter if they break.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It could be that it weakens the bottle enough to give way under stress, and what stresses a plastic bottle? Nothing but the weight of the contents most of the time. But a while back in Saudi Arabia I used to keep a gallon of gasoline in the trunk of my car, in a properly approved Ace Hardware plastic container.

I didn't look at it for quite a while, until a day of 120 degree heat, which is 48.89 degrees in those foreign things. (A significant figure, since in Kuwait all government employees can go home at 50 degrees, under pre-airconditioning legislation, but the official thermometer, prominently displayed on a government building, appears incapable of registering over 49.)

I found the can round and distended, and fortunately I carried it some distance from the car before opening it to relieve pressure. It also relieved around 2/3 of the contents in a high geyser. I don't smoke, and came in for only a few slight splashes, so I waited only a quarter hour or so before starting up, instead of the rest of the day, as I would if it had been in the trunk.

My can was unimpaired when it cooled down. But I can just imagine what could happen if a bottle degraded by any sort of volatile solvent got even close to that temperature. I'm sure bottles they currently sell it in are fine, and safer than glass from accidental knocks. But I would want to be sure of their pedigree.

[gwpercle]

A place called House of Cans, Inc. sells new cans with screw on caps if you need some.
All the cans now have a plastic pop on/off top that I hate. They have a good selection with proper screw caps.
They also sell all kinds of metal cans , tins and containers.
I mixed up 1 gallon of Ed's Red Bore Cleaner w/ acetone, put some in a Windex spray bottle ( it hasn't melted after more than a year ) but I wanted to store the remaining in a metal can with a screw on top....most cans have those pesky plastic pop on/off tops , and found I could get proper ones from the House of Cans .
I wouldn't trust PETE with 100% Acetone , fact is I would only store it in a metal container with a good tight fitting lid. The stuff evaporates quickly.
Gary

[utk]

At home I have my small glass bottle but in my range bag I keep the Ed's Red in one of those stainless steel flasks used for whisky (or the like). The kind of curved type, don't know what you call them over there...

[Nueces]

At home I have my small glass bottle but in my range bag I keep the Ed's Red in one of those stainless steel flasks used for whisky (or the like). The kind of curved type, don't know what you call them over there...

We call 'em hip flasks (fit in a hip pocket, like a wallet)

[OldBearHair]

Have to be careful with volatile stuff. Coming back home from Albuquerque headed South in a Step Van, got a call to stop by the egg farm and pick up some truck trailer aluminum cleaning soap. Put the five gallon can on the bottom step inside the door and got down the road about five miles and gave the bucket a passing glance and noticed the top had a slight bulge in it. Pulled off the road and looked it over seeing the top fold in the bucket was holding still. Thought about just get away from there, but instead picked up the bucket, carried it around the step van a goodly distance toward the fence and set it down. Went to the other side of the van and was wondering what to do. Afraid the State Police would come along and stop to investigate why that old man was peeping around the van. I could see the top was a lot more swollen. After another five minutes the contents went airborne with a big boom. Some fallout was coming down so I body slammed into the side of the truck for protection. A small amount hit my left arm. Wiped it with a little water and it quit stinging a few minutes down the road.. Found out the "soap was acid based." and the guy at the egg farm had filled it from a plastic barrel. Stopped by there day or two later and didn't find the bucket. Should that have gone off in the truck, I may not have made it to the irrigation ditch about a mile down the highway.
I like the glass olive jars. They hold enough for my needs a few days. I am Hi-Tek all the way. Old Gold. Don' need anything else..

[Ballistics in Scotland]

To the layman gunpowder sounds alarming, but it will just sit there quite happily, doing nothing. Half the homes in creation have some kind of volatile liquid which, given the chance, will come out looking for trouble. There is far more energy per pound in some liquids too. Gunpowders contain the combustible material and the oxygen required for its combustion. Gasoline is all fuel, and combines with the oxygen from about nine times its weight in air, no matter whether it is sucked in through your carburettor or just trapped in a gasoline-smelling room.

I am amazed terrorists haven't discovered what could be done with a timer, a pump and an incandescent heater bar. Or nothing has been done to stop them. Still, everybody has gasoline. I suppose governments can't control all of the people all of the time either.

[Toymaker]

Found this chart which may help. The article also mentioned that certain compounds in the plastics can leach out. That's why they recommend not reusing some bottles. Antimony caught my eye.
221875

[garandsrus]

Beauty supply places have bottles for a buck or so that are made for Acetone. The one I bought are even labeled “Acetone”.

[ghh3rd]

Thanks for all of the replies.

Garandsrus, I didn’t think of beauty supply shops and acetone bottles- I’ll be calling one tomorrow.

Ballistics in Scotland - I once packed up my car the night before a morning fishing trip. I had the 6 gallon steel boat gas tank in the back seat of my car . I overslept and didn’t get to the car until 10 am. I was going to move the tank to the boat and gave the heavy tank a good upward jerk and it hit the cieling of the car. It was empty! Further examination showed that the rubber pump ball has expanded from the heat and had exploded like a ballon, and all of the gasoline was in the back seat floorboards. Fortunately I wasn’t smoking .

[WRideout]

When I worked in a crime lab many years ago, I would sometimes put acetone in a plastic wash bottle, the kind you squeeze so the contents come out of the nozzle. The next morning, the bottle would be empty. I did that a couple of times until my partner told me that acetone has a very high vapor pressure, and would build up enough pressure to empty itself out of the bottle. Kind of a self-priming pump.

FWIW plain nail polish remover, the kind without oil in it, is pure acetone. That's the source of the acetone I use when I make up a small batch of Ed's Red. It comes in a plastic bottle, not sure what type of plastic.

Wayne

[fecmech]

What I use for solvents like acetone are small bottles with metal lids that stuff like olives and other foodstuffs come in. Acetone and other solvents will attack the seal in the cap. To prevent that I cover the top of the bottle with aluminum foil, screw the cap on and cut away the foil around the cap edge. That protects the seal and the foil then screws off and on with the cap.

[John Boy]

The Internet, the world's largest encyclopedia, says ...
Acetone should always be stored in HDPE bottles, away from direct sunlight with a secure cap. When acetone is stored in PET bottles, they discolour after a week and then begin to expand and eventually leak and burst.

[ghh3rd]

My wife is out doing errands, and I just had her stop at Sally beauty supply and buy me an 8 ounce bottle of 100% pure acetone for $2.99.

They also had EMPTY 8 ounce plastic bottles for acetone for $4.99! I think I made a I think I made a sound business decision. 8-)

[John Boy]

Randy - I pour my acetone from the quart container into a used Zippo Lighter Fluid can - same with Ed's Red and my de-rusting mix of 50:50 acetone & ATF fluid. Convenient containers with a squirt top

[hubcap52]

I believe motor oil bottles are HDPE. Should be able to re-use any bottle that previously contained a similar fluid. Test first. YMMV

[woodbutcher]

:D As BIS mentioned,there are a lot of liquids out there that have a big bang factor.
Gasoline for sure is one.The fumes from one gallon of gas has the same explosive power as 15 sticks of dynamite.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[gwpercle]

My wife is out doing errands, and I just had her stop at Sally beauty supply and buy me an 8 ounce bottle of 100% pure acetone for $2.99.

They also had EMPTY 8 ounce plastic bottles for acetone for $4.99! I think I made a I think I made a sound business decision. 8-)
Not being a great business man I don't understand how you can sell a full 8 oz. bottle of acetone for $2.99 and then sell an empty 8 oz. bottle , which is only labeled acetone, for $4.99.
In my small mind that doesn't make sense....or is this the new politicians business way of doing things !
There is just so much I don't understand.
Gary

[Nueces]

I don't understand how you can sell a full 8 oz. bottle of acetone for $2.99 and then sell an empty 8 oz. bottle , which is only labeled acetone, for $4.99.
Gary

This is part of why I have a lifelong collection of vials, bottles, cans and boxes. I've even bought product just to empty and reuse the container.

[fecmech]

If you look on the bottom fo the plastic container you will see the recycle triangle symbol. Under that symbol it tells you what plastic the container was made out of.