I wanted to disinfect the drinking portion of capped Corona beers from potential (mostly imagined) coronavirus contamination by dunking them upside down in a glass of 100 proof Wild Turkey. This is so I can allay people’s fears if I hand them a bottle of Corona.
I went to the liquor store today and everyone is sold out of super high alcohol content booze like Bacardi 151 or Everclear. I guess people must be wiping down their counter with super strong booze. Must be great to have your kitchen smell like Bacardi.
I don’t really want to use a bleach solution because that would taste yucky. Everyone seems to be sold out of 70% isopropyl alcohol also.
I know that studies have shown that alcohol concentrations over 60% are effective in destroying viruses but would dunking a bottle neck in 100 proof booze for a couple of seconds have a reasonable disinfectant effect? How about a longer period of time?
No, 50% alcohol won’t do it. 80% might do it. Bleach will do it and can be rinsed off. Or wipe an unopened bottle with a Clorox scrub, wipe again with a clean paper napkin, pop the cap, and pour it into a fresh glass or cup. Or buy a few cases of quarts or superquarts and give all your guests straws. Keep everyone 10 feet apart. Report back.
Damn, I guess that 100 proof Wild Turkey I bought in memory of Hunter S. Thompson is useless. I can easily sterilize the bottles. Hell, they’ve been sitting for 2 weeks sealed inside a case, so there’s virtually no chance any virus has survived. I was just hoping I could do a quick dip in alcohol in front of person in order to not cause them any concern.
My next door neighbors are already socializing right now as we speak with their friends and kids hanging out as usual. I’m not spying on them but a quick glance tells me they aren’t wearing masks. This seems to be the first time they broke their isolation though.
There used to be a total-abstainance demonstration where they dropped a worm into an alcoholic drink and it killed it. But basically, ethanol is just much less dangerous than IPA. That’s why you can drink ethanol, and you can’t drink IPA.
When disinfectant disappeared from shelves, a rumor got started that Tito’s vodka was a good substitute. I don’t why people felt a particular brand (and a premium one) was better. If I was going to use vodka as a disinfectant, I’d buy a bottle of generic brand.
But Tito’s released a notice that the alcohol content in their vodka, which is 40% alcohol, is not as strong as a commercial disinfectant. Those are 60% alcohol or higher.
So a 100 proof drink would have some disinfectant properties but not as much as real disinfectant. Vodka is essentially diluted disinfectant.
Sorry I don’t have the cite but I just read of de-virusing tests with bleach passing and 80% ethanol marginal. I also read that soap and water handwashing is more effective than any alcohol sanitizer. So the easy beer-bottle fix is to wash each bottle with soapy water, then rinse.
Real he-men would just smash off the neck off the bottle and chug it down.
Depending on your local population, check the Eastern European imports section of the store. Spirytus is 192 proof and like $15 a bottle here.
I’ve seen that 60% (or 65 or 70) figure around, too, but I suspect that’s the minimum to kill/deact on brief contact like a typical hand sanitizer or injection site swab application. My hunch is that a lower alcohol content is adequate for longer periods of immersion.
OP is using the alcohol for sanitizing food items. And not that the few molecules of isopropyl that remain after a dip and a wipe are much to worry about but I’d stick with first edible and then food grade chemicals.
I’m sorry to say I don’t have a cite for my hunch.
Just to mention, Thailand has now limited booze sales to the three hours from 11am-2pm daily until I think it’s next Sunday. Part of that may be to put a damper on any Songkran celebrations, the Thai New Year, which always runs from April 13-14, is the biggest holiday on the Thai calendar and would normally be a weeklong celebration but which has been canceled this year.
Not much of an eastern European population around here, but I’m gonna look out for that shit when I get a chance. 192 proof, I thought 95% was the highest you could get with conventional distillation techniques!
In my town, Bevmo is considered an essential business, but most of the corner liquor stores appear to be closed down. Bevmo only serves curbside,and I notice that the typical 150 proof boozes are sold out (Bacardi 151 and Everclear 150 proof as 190 proof ain’t available in California), so I can’t go inside and look around for superbooze.
I did look through my camper and found some 70% isopropyl, alcohol hand sanitizer, and a N95 mask left over from that last humongous fire which I think was the Thomas fire.
OP, since you asked if it would “have some disinfectant properties”, I think the answer has to be “yes”. For your proposed use you ought to be asking if it’s reliable as a disinfectant, which is likely “no” based on other poster’s references. But surely it would tend to reduce the viability of the virus somewhat, by rinsing it away if for no other reason.
If I absolutely had to handle something known to be contaminated, and my only available remediation was your not very concentrated alcohol, I would absolutely use it with enthusiasm.
