WATERLESS HAND CLEANER IN AN ALCOHOL STOVE? | SouthernPaddler.com

WATERLESS HAND CLEANER IN AN ALCOHOL STOVE?

Kayak Jack

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Aug 26, 2003
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Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
We haven't talked about alcohol stoves in a while. For a couple or three years, there were scads of imaginative designs for them. I'm not offering another design, just a question. Has anyone ever tried firing one with some waterless hand cleaner? If so, how does it work?
 

oldsparkey

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Aug 25, 2003
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Central , Florida
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Jack...

Not sure about hand cleaners ( soap or creams ) but hand sanitizers ( Jelled alcohol ) would work.
It would work the best in a open container ( example ..fancy feast cat food can , Tuna can ) and not one closed with jets which vaporize the fuel. Mainly because of it being a semi jell and not a liquid.
Most hand sanitizers are 70% , the same as rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alochol can be used in the little stoves but it makes a mess ( soot ) because of imurities and water thats in it.
Also the jelled hand sanitizers can be used as a emergency fire starter.
 

Kayak Jack

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Aug 26, 2003
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I've used it for starting fires. It also gets pine pitch off your hands too.

Some folks use fiberglass insulation in an open can burner to get more syrface exposure for liquid alcohol. I wouldn't exoect the jellied alcohol to benefit from that technique, as it wouldn't wet the fibers like a liquid does.
 

oldsparkey

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Aug 25, 2003
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Central , Florida
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The fiberglass works but Carbon felt works a lot better. It can be found on the web ( Amazon ) or in some stores that have a Felt Carbon fiber welding blanket.
I got a couple sheets of the 1/4 inch thick felt. I cut 2 pieces to fit in the bottom tray of a Fire Dragon Multi Fuel Cooker so I could use denatured alcohol in it. I sealed the corners of the tray with JB Weld just as a precaution against any leaking.

I also lined the outside of a Tomato sauce can which was inside a Vienna Sausage can. The carbon felt sandwiched between the two cans acts as a wick for the alcohol and makes a good little alcohol stove.
The bottom of the tomato sauce can had three notches in it so the alcohol can flow from it into the felt lining. The top of the Tomato sauce can also had one ( paper punch ) hole in it. The pot sits on the top of it and the hole is a vent hole for the stove.
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
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Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
I'd not heard about the carbon-felt blanket, and like it. Have you tried it with the geled alcohol of waterless hand cleaner?

Another question - has anyone tried Sterno in their alcohol stove? Or, instead of an alcohol stove?

Any and all of the approaches will "work". Some hotter; some lighter weight; some less expensive; some moe convenient; etc. etc.
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
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I suppose you could smear the jelled alcohol on the top of the felt and burn it that way but why would anyone want to do that. Especially when you can just squirt some in a open container and light it.

The carbon felt is for liquids since it's a wick for them. You either have the felt lining the middle chamber of a stove with the jets. In a open stove ( empty can ) the felt can be used to hold the alcohol and let it be wicked up to the surface of the felt to be burnt. It's easy to see when you are about ready to run out of the liquid alcohol ( denatured ) with the crbon felt. It will have some glowing ( red ) ends of the felt showing , looks like little sparklers.

Jelled alcohol , like Sterno and hand sanitizers is for open containers and not for the stoves that wick the fuel up to be burnt.
 

mike

Well-Known Member
Jun 29, 2009
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TEXAS!
I wish I had known about all the cool camping stuff discussed on this site back when I was a kid and camped a lot. There is so much "advanced" camping gear today compared to what we had then. Of course, I doubt we would have had more fun with the new stuff, but we would have been more comfortable!

Nowadays, even though I'm still young enough to be Jack's son, ;) I prefer the comforts of my 5th wheel RV.

added on edit:

I spent hours upon hours perusing my Herter's catalog back in the 60's. What a lot of dreams were contained therein.
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
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Central , Florida
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I spent hours upon hours perusing my Herter's catalog back in the 60's. What a lot of dreams were contained therein.

"O" BOY !!!! Another Herter's World Foremost outfitters fan.
I still have a recurve bow I got from Herters and a couple dozen pressed Port Orford Cedar arrows. Plus broad heads , field points and all the rest.
I could not wait till that catalog came in the mail , can visualize the cover of it as I type this.
They were the #1 place Dad would get outdoor gear from. At times I managed to get him to include what I saved up for. . Back in those days they had the best selection and really was the only place to get anything like that from.
I keep a couple of the wood duck decoys we got from them and shot a lot of ducks over. Today they are mementos of past times. There sitting on the top of the book case here at the house.

I got a tent from them in the late 50's.
It was a two person tent in the standard green canvas and constructed like this one is made today. The best part was the ventilation along the sides of the tent which can be enjoyed even in a rain. I put a lot of miles on it and eventually traded it to a camping buddy for his Jungle Hammock.
 

mike

Well-Known Member
Jun 29, 2009
694
9
TEXAS!
I have a 1960s something Herter's catalog here somewhere.

If you want a trip down nostalgia lane you can get an old Herter's catalog from eBay for not too much money. Browse Here