Stoddard solvent

Alfredo Antognini <alamaca [at] nethere__com> writes

>I am trying to obtain  Stoddard solvent without aromatics and I
>cannot find it. It is used to make varnishes with resins such as
>Regalrez and Arkon. I called several providers but the closest thing
>I got was Shell Solve which still smells like aromatics. The small
>amount of Stoddard Solvent I still have has no smell at all.

Stoddard Solvent was developed under by the dry cleaning industry as
an alternative to more highly flammable solvents. (Stoddard was a
member of the industry council who spearheaded this effort in the
late thirties, I think.)  We always used to refer to it, and other
petroleum solvents as "Varsol".

I think it is Esso that has introduced a new solvent (within the
last decade or so) called Esso 2000. As explained to me by an Esso
VP, it is a "designed" chemical. Unlike Stoddard Solvent/Varsol,
which is taken directly from a feed as oil is "cracked" or
fractioned, Esso 2000 is created from a single pure chemical (I
think I was told ethylene) which is catalysed to create relatively
longer and less active polymer chains. As a consequence it has fewer
stray volatiles and less odor.

Please pardon any lapses in the explanation above: It's been years
since I researched this, and have neither notes nor high-school
chemistry. The solvent you need is a "petroleum solvent" and is
available through dry cleaning solvent suppliers. They're the ones
who care about the low odor the most.

Jerry Shiner
Keepsafe Systems
Microclimate and Oxygen-free storage supplies and solutions
800-683-4696
Fax: 416-703-5991


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:22
               Distributed: Wednesday, September 5, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-15-22-003
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