Mineral spirits for cleaning?

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Running out of acetone and before I buy more, I found a bottle of mineral spirits in my cabinet. I have absolutely no use for this. In fact, I don't even know why I have it  Can I use this for prepping material prior to welding or should I just go buy acetone?Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:I believe that mineral spirits leaves a petroleum residue - probably not the best for welding prep.Hobart LX235Victor 250 Oxy-Acetylene Rig (welding and cutting)Bobcat 773F-350, 1999, 4x4, 16' 10K# trailerOutdoor Wood Burner - 10 cords/year
Reply:Yeah what he said! Mineral spirits are fine for removing heavy gunk or cleaning paint brushes, but acetone seems to be the best for pre-weld prep. "Anybody can talk $h!t behind a monitor, I let the quality of my work speak for itself"Lincoln Square Wave 255 and 355 Tig Lincoln 255 Power-Mig w/ spool gun Koike 5 x 10 CNC plasma Hyd-Mech DM-10 bandsaw Ineco QB-76 NC tube bender
Reply:New mineral spirits are totally volatile, but having a higher boiling point, it evaporates slower. Clean, new M.S. should leave no residue, if you give it enough time to all leave...but it might take a while if any gets into cracks or pits. Why not try it on some scrap metal?It also works fairly well as charcoal starter fluid, a parts cleaning solution (except for brake components), in most kerosene lamps and heaters....
Reply:Originally Posted by Oldiron2New mineral spirits are totally volatile, but having a higher boiling point, it evaporates slower. Clean, new M.S. should leave no residue, if you give it enough time to all leave...but it might take a while if any gets into cracks or pits. Why not try it on some scrap metal?It also works fairly well as charcoal starter fluid, a parts cleaning solution (except for brake components), in most kerosene lamps and heaters....
Reply:Normally what is sold as "mineral spirits" that I have seen contains no chlorinated compounds. It's the chlorine in perc / brake cleaner / tetrachloroethylene that creates phosgene.  Better safe than sorry, however, and use something that is clearly labelled chemical (non-chlorinated) rather than a mixture.
Reply:Originally Posted by RodJNormally what is sold as "mineral spirits" that I have seen contains no chlorinated compounds. It's the chlorine in perc / brake cleaner / tetrachloroethylene that creates phosgene.  Better safe than sorry, however, and use something that is clearly labelled chemical (non-chlorinated) rather than a mixture.
Reply:I use mineral spirits to clean. I spray from a hand spray bottle, wire brush area wet, blow excess with compressed air and weld. Works good and is cheaper than carb cleaner or acetone, produces less fumes too. Use new mineral spirits.PeterEquipment:2  old paws2  eyes (that don't look so good)1  bad back
Reply:Originally Posted by Oldiron2The term "Mineral spirits" means a solvent from within the classification of Petroleum Naphtha, having a particular boiling point range and generally used for the purpose it's name states. All the compound in it are straight hydrocarbons; sulfur and halogens are considered contaminants and their amounts restricted to extremely low levels. No more unsafe than acetone, if misused, can be.If you are interested in reading a bit more about the subject, take a quick look at the page below and particularly scroll down to "other uses".Petroleum naphtha
Reply:Originally Posted by RodJYou're dead on right, OldIron.  The thing that bothers me is there's no set definition of the specific chemical constituents, other than the boiling point range.  I expect a non-chlorinated, possibly low sulfur, petroleum fraction, just like you listed.  But there's no guarantee other than the boiling point range so if you get a product from some recycler, it could be any kind of organic material that has a boiling point in that range.  I know I'm totally nervous Nelly about it, and I agree with you.
Reply:Question:  "In short, who besides a chemist should know or care what the individual components are, so long as they so the job of acting as a good solvent?"Answer:  Someone using the solvent before welding on it ought to care, because if there are chlorinated compounds, you can get phosgene.Btw, mineral spirits do not by any means necessarily contain straight chain hydrocarbons.  MS can include aromatics, aliphatics, and other cyclic compounds.  Aka Stoddard Solvent, the MSDS typically describe the constituents as >65% C10.  Those ten carbon compounds can be, straight, branched or cyclic.  It also means it can contain up to 35% lower carbon compounds.Only the manufacturer knows exactly what's in the particular batch of mineral spirits produced and they don't bother to put it on the label or MSDS because, as you point out, most folks don't care.  In fact, they probably DON"T know the exact makeup, because their specs don't care as long as it's a solvent.  But the point of this discussion was whether mineral spirits are safe to use as a solvent for WELDING.  It is a mistaken assumption that mineral spirits don't contain anything but straight chain HCs and aren't going to contain any chlorinated compounds.Finally, I'm sure many recyclers have nice, strict tolerances.  But tolerances for what?  Boiling point?  The boiling point tells you little or nothing about what chemicals are in the liquid / gas.  Number of carbon atoms?  Tells you nothing.  Combined BP and C's?  Yeah, well you can elimiate some compounds but doesn't mean squat about the molecular structure / bonds / specific atomic formula.
Reply:Acetone is very cheap at Lowes by the gallon - is it really breaking the bank to just use acetone rather than MS for pre-weld prep?I tend to be pretty careful about safety, wear a respirator when welding, etc. so it seems silly to cut corners that might create truly nasty fumes.The other concern that I have is that if there is an oily film on the pre-weld surface (maybe left over from the MS) then I can get a weakened weld due to the contamination.  Seems easier to just keep some acetone on hand for that final pre-weld clean up.Hobart LX235Victor 250 Oxy-Acetylene Rig (welding and cutting)Bobcat 773F-350, 1999, 4x4, 16' 10K# trailerOutdoor Wood Burner - 10 cords/year
Reply:Originally Posted by RodJQuestion:  "In short, who besides a chemist should know or care what the individual components are, so long as they so the job of acting as a good solvent?"Answer:  Someone using the solvent before welding on it ought to care, because if there are chlorinated compounds, you can get phosgene.Btw, mineral spirits do not by any means necessarily contain straight chain hydrocarbons.  MS can include aromatics, aliphatics, and other cyclic compounds.  Aka Stoddard Solvent, the MSDS typically describe the constituents as >65% C10.  Those ten carbon compounds can be, straight, branched or cyclic.  It also means it can contain up to 35% lower carbon compounds.Only the manufacturer knows exactly what's in the particular batch of mineral spirits produced and they don't bother to put it on the label or MSDS because, as you point out, most folks don't care.  In fact, they probably DON"T know the exact makeup, because their specs don't care as long as it's a solvent.  But the point of this discussion was whether mineral spirits are safe to use as a solvent for WELDING.  It is a mistaken assumption that mineral spirits don't contain anything but straight chain HCs and aren't going to contain any chlorinated compounds.Finally, I'm sure many recyclers have nice, strict tolerances.  But tolerances for what?  Boiling point?  The boiling point tells you little or nothing about what chemicals are in the liquid / gas.  Number of carbon atoms?  Tells you nothing.  Combined BP and C's?  Yeah, well you can elimiate some compounds but doesn't mean squat about the molecular structure / bonds / specific atomic formula.
Reply:Acetone works great always.   I use "odorless" mineral spirits (MS) on glass to remove stubborn price tag stickers etc...  For metal cleaning, I've also used MS, but find it leaves a trace residue.  I'll maybe use the MS for heavy gunk, followed by a quick wipe down of denatured alcohol (DA).I know many people here swear that DA  doesn't work for squat to clean metal, but I discovered it cleaning filthy dirty machine guns AFTER solvent was applied to break up carbon and grease.  The denatured alcohol's  "final rinse" really makes the metal clean and dry (for me anyway).To this day I use DA and personally love it.  Again, most here hate it as a metal prep agent prior to welding.  For heavy grease and residue I like acetone.  For light oil or dirt on metal, it's DA.   Whatever it takes! "Hey I didn't come to look and learn, I came to turn and burn.... If I can't light up, I'm gonna light out!"-JodyIdealarc 250 "Fatman"MM 252MM 211 "Little boy" Victor Torches