Description
A colourless clear, highly volatile liquid with a pungently sweet odour. Acetone has a rapid rate of evaporation, high solvency and a low boiling point. Acetone is miscible with water, aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents and most organic solvents. It has excellent solvency properties for many vegetable and animal fats and oils, most natural and synthetic resins and the common plasticizers.
Acetone Common Uses
Widely Used Cleanup Solvent for lacquers, varnishes, epoxies, glues, fibreglass & adhesives. As a heavy-duty degreaser, it is useful in the preparation of metal prior to painting. A clean-up solvent in the manufacture of fibreglass boats, campers, automotive panelling. Can remove superglue before hardening.
Used by drycleaners in “spotting” solutions. Used in the compounding of fast drying printing inks.
Paint and Resins: Thinner for polyester resins, fibreglass resin, vinyl, adhesives and some paints. A component of polyurethane and epoxy resins. Sold by fibreglass suppliers.
Adhesives: Acetone’s high solvency for a range of adhesive raw materials, and fast evaporation enables bonds to develop strength quickly at relatively low cost. Acetone is used as a co-solvent in neoprene-based contact cements and nitrocellulose and acrylic cements. Acetone is a useful clean up solvent for polyurethane adhesives.
Cosmetics: Active ingredient in Acetone based nail polish and nail polish remover formulations.
Electronics Industry: Used as a cleaning dewatering solvent for electronic components in between manufacturing steps.