Rubbing Alcohol Cleaning Subsititute.

[chrisski]

Looking for a rubbing alcohol cleaning substitute. Since rubbing alcohol is out of stock I'm curious what you are using to clean surfaces.

I am cleaning an RV roof, which I think is covered with vinyl, and putting two sided Eternabond Tape on top of it to help secure some solar panels. They will also be anchored with screws. The wood anchor blots are what the mount manufacture recommends, and the Eternabond Tape or similar adhesive is off Forum Posts and YouTube Videos.

For cleaning the outside rooftop, I'd like to just go with straight simply green, but that leaves a residue after cleaning. The rubbing alcohol is good for getting wax and other debris off the surface so that things can stick better.

Plenty of people off this forum have done something like this over the last few months, so curious what you used.

[Ampster]

Acetone works great. Make sure the space is well ventilated. Some of the more volatile compounds like MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) are probably overkill.

[Mike90250]

Acetone leaves no residue, we use it to clean optics . BUT if using simple green - you must water wash to get the water based goo off and away, and then let thoroughly dry.
I would wash off the simple green, then use a mild TSP wash, and rinse that, and then after drying for a day, Acetone followed by the tape.

[chrisski]

I guess what makes this harder, is I won't have access for rinse water after cleaning the roof since this will be done in RV storage, so perhaps I will use something like windex prior to acetone.

[bob-n]

Another choice is hardware-store denatured alcohol (methanol/ethanol mix). This will evaporate completely and is considered safer than acetone or MEK. Still, ventillation and personal protection (plastic gloves, goggles, etc.) are always wise when dealing with any chemical.