Mineral Spirits vs Acetone | How and When to Use | This or That DIY

Looking for how or when you should use Acetone or Mineral Spirits? In this video, I'll tell you about each product, how to use them, and when you'd want to use one versus the other.

Acetone: highly flammable, aggressive and fast-acting solvent for multiple purposes, volatile (evaporates quickly) without leaving residue, water soluble, dispose by bringing to a hazardous waste facility.

Mineral spirits: flammable, milder and slowly evaporating solvent, less stinky but more toxic, leaves an oily residue, best for thinning paints and stains, created by distilling petroleum so it is not water soluble, dispose by bringing to a hazardous waste facility.

#ThisOrThatDIY

[h.collier]

Great video! Glad you touched on flammability, toxicity and disposal. Good examples of using the products. Keep up the good work!

[jimmyjames]

Nice info and Happy Mothers Day! Just wanted to add, I use Acetone often for my finishing work. Investing in chemical gloves and a chemical mask from the home box stores I can't stress enough, should be under $20 bucks. Breathing the vapors and getting any solvents on your hands is not good. Stay safe :)

[bossman]

I had no clue about Acetone or what it was. But I have to clean a metal frame and now I know it is better to use acetone then mineral spirits. Thanks for this info.

[JoyceTriemstra]

Great explanation! Also great that you cover safety and safe disposal of these products. Thank you!

[gijoyjoy]

Thank you for this great video. So many people irresponsibly dispose of hazardous waste. I hope your watchers follow your guidance.

[JasonPeltier]

I use acetone to remove natural oils from woods like bloodwood before finishing with tung oil. The tung oil won't absorb effectively if the natural oils are left in the outer layers.

[smickster]

Good information. It hadn't occurred to me that I was smelling nail polish remover as I took the varnish off my wood project. Thanks!

[RichGee]

Happy Mother's Day! I love how you get right into it, tell us the difference -- clearly and in simple language for us budding DIY'ers. Hope the weather in MN is warming up - it finally got warm here in CT. All the best.

[bodinian]

When removing the adhesive used in caulking strips, an adhesive designed to resist polar solvents since water is a polar solvent, mineral spirits work far better. Gum or any type of gummy material dissolves when scrubbed with it.

[kkutube]

Beautiful and with so many great information. I use Acetone but forgot that I should not use on plastic.

[moikressly]

Thank you so much, you just saved me from a big potential mistake. I wanted to use acetone to remove super glue on my sofa

[brumby]

Good info. I get confused by these products as well. The spontaneous combustion is a good point worth remembering.

[Frank-fvzc]

Hi Melissa! Thank you! excellent information. Happy Mother’s Day 😊

[G_RAThbun]

Thank you for the information I have a question, which one of these products would you use on bear brand new metal that probably has some kind of oil from the factory on it?

[HurricaneJD]

If you use a towel in linseed oil and then you just toss that towel aside it can and often does catch fire all on its own because it generates heat

[jonpeley]

I work at a textile coating factory. Mineral (or white) spirits is meant for harder solvent works while methyl ethyl ketone could be used more lightly. Spirits is irritant and needs to be used with gloves. Acetone not so much, but please clean your hands with soap and water afterwards.

[xsvjtqs]

Hi thank u so much for your video! Question: If i want to remove an old oil stain from the wooden floor, which one should I choose? Thank u ahead for helping me!

[johnepperson]

If you lay it out to evaporate, place a piece of hardware cloth or screen over it so animals can't try to drink it, please.

[rich]

When painting metal a good cleaner is Brake Clean (Kleen) It's also a great hornet/wasp killer.

[shedmusic]

Thanks. Well done. I've been wondering about the difference lately.