[yingw787]

I've heard you can use 151-proof grain alcohol in lieu of rubbing alcohol (which has disappeared entirely from store shelves for months) in order to sanitize things. Apparently if you mix it with vegetable glycerin you can create your own ersatz hand sanitizer?

I was thinking you could create your own rubbing alcohol by mixing water, sugar, and yeast, distill it over your stove, and then combine it with aloe vera to create hand sanitizer, but that's probably less preferable than using store-bought ingredients that are more consistent.

[akiselev]

Please don't disinfect an N95 or N100 mask with alcohol (of any sort). It will dissolve the plastic fibers of the filter.

[wrycoder]

How do you know this?

[klyrs]

https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/sanitizing-masks-with-al...

[wrycoder]

Thanks very much for that link (and the links contained in it.)

I'm using 75% ethanol in a spray to "sterilize" (for SARS2 only, it's a fragile virus).

Even if the efficiency drops after spraying (which is not the same as soaking), I think it's still better than just a cloth or surgical mask.

The link to making high efficiency masks

https://groups.oist.jp/nnp/diy-face-mask

in the link you provided is quite interesting. The concept of HV electrostatic blowing of polyethylene is new to me - I wondered how N95 masks were made. I note that in the cotton candy machine experiments they reduced the voltage to 50V, lol.

I'm going to reserve judgement on the physics behind making electrostatically charged fibers and the question of how long they retain the charge. That's an interesting area to investigate! For example:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00022470.1974.10...

Ethanol and isopropyl alcohol don't dissolve polypropylene, so the efficiency loss must be due to some other effect.

If the small fibers in the N95 mask have charge embedded in manufacturing, i.e. they are electrets, perhaps the removal of surface charge by alcohol (or screening by adsorbed alcohol?) is only temporary, and if the masks were tested a couple of days later, perhaps their efficiency might have recovered?

https://search.proquest.com/docview/236317922

I would appreciate it if the Federal administration put some effort into upping production of N95 masks for everyone - I've used them for years as dust masks, and now they are not readily obtainable. I still have a small stash, which we reuse and spray down with Everclear 151 after use.

[DanBC]

If you're going to DIY hand sanitizer you may want to follow this WHO guidance: https://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/Guide_to_Local_Production.pdf

[buildbot]

I’m not a medical professional, but since 151 is basically 75% ethanol, and ethanol is sold as a cleaner/disinfectant when pure, i assume it would work well.