Isopropyl Alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol IPA (also called isopropanol or methylated spirit) is a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor. It dissolves a wide range of non-polar compounds. It also evaporates quickly, leaves nearly zero oil traces, compared to ethanol, and is relatively non-toxic, compared to alternative solvents.

Thus, it is used widely as a solvent and as a cleaning fluid, especially for dissolving oils. Isopropyl alcohol is used in keyboard, LCD and laptop cleaning, is sold commercially as a whiteboard cleaner, and is a strong but safer alternative to common household cleaning products. It is commonly used to clean prepared optical fibers just before splicing. It is used to clean LCD and glass computer monitor screens and used to give second-hand or worn non-vinyl phonograph records newer-looking sheen.

It is effective at removing Hot-Melt Adhesive from a large variety of surfaces. It is effective at removing residual glue from some sticky labels although some other adhesives used on tapes and paper labels are resistant to it. It can also be used to remove stains from most fabrics, wood, cotton, etc. In addition, it can also be used to clean paint or other oil-based products so that they may be reused, commonly known as "repainting."

As a biological specimen preservative, isopropyl alcohol provides a comparatively non-toxic alternative to formaldehyde and other synthetic preservatives. Isopropyl alcohol solutions of 70–99% are used to preserve specimens.

Isopropyl alcohol is often used in DNA extraction. It is added to a DNA solution in order to precipitate the DNA into a 'pellet' after centrifuging the DNA. This is possible because DNA is insoluble in isopropyl alcohol.

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