Every time I service something the manual or videos say Isopropyl Alcohol on this and that. I never have any so skip it, but thinking it would actually be handy. But where do you actually get the stuff in the UK, from a high street shop that is. Need to finish my fork service by tomorrow.

Saw some mention of Maplins. A search there brings up tape head cleaner, which yeah I remember contains the stuff.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/tape-head-and-disc-drive-cleaner-29011

Says ‘contains’ though. Would it be pure or have other stuff in. Just concerned about anything that can rot seals.

I’ve got some lens cleaning stuff for the camera and it just mentions it contains alcohol but might have other stuff in it.

RS Components do a spray version or you can buy some on eBay in a squirty container.
It is an excellent degreaser.

I got a litre from ebay for a few quid, delivered

+1 for ebay

Check ebay using the distance option…

I found a place selling the stuff 2 miles away…

I bought IPA from maplins 100% litre container for peanuts.

ebay isn’t going to get it delivered by tomorrow morning 😉 Though good idea about the distance option to find somewhere local. Might have a look.

Maplins is a perfect option however as new store in town.

Funny this as I wanted to bleed my brakes for the first time yesterday and needed some abs I tried the local chemists and that was a no and rang around other chemists and no luck there. But luckily my friend who was helping/showing me had some already. So dropped in lucky. But I will visit the bay to buy some for my future diy attempts at bleeding.

Might make a good substitute for vodka too 😆

I was missing out on this stuff for years. Bought a spray can after using it at a friend’s house when needing to bleed some brakes. I’ve found it great for getting disc brake calipers freed up.

I’ve always just used meths for bike stuff, including rotors. No issues and easy to find.

we have it in 5ltr containers at work, have to be careful not to use xylene instead though as it melts plastic and rubber, oh and is just a tinsy bit carcinogenic

Bulk available HERE

http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=28994

Here you go

I got an aerosol can of it from Maplin.

Your local Chemist should have it.

Perfect stuff. Cheers guys.

I think the disk brake cleaner you get in bike shops is generally more or less pure isopropyl alcohol. Not the cheapest way to buy it mind…

Tape head cleaner IPA wil be pure as any residue is bad; as it wld be for forks or brakes. Meths does have a residue; coularant and nasty taste additives, but probably ok for bike work.
I stil have some trike but its been banned for a while…

When I was a student in Newcastle I tried to buy some IPA from Boots to clean the heads on my tape recorder (yes it was some years ago). The chemist refused because he thought I my drink it or distill . In the town (sorry: Toon) where you could buy a drink when you were 11!

Maplin sell isopropyl in an aerosol (expensive but convenient) and a tin can (also expensive tbh). I usually get mine from my local chemist but it can be had cheaper from ebay.

I asked in Boots & they didn’t sell it.
Got it from EBay.

Also remarkably good at removing the surgical tape residue from my lads arm, after his cast came off.

When I was a student in Newcastle I tried to buy some IPA from Boots to clean the…

Tip if you’re a student, go and ask the Uni/College chemistry technician. Once I said what it was for he just said ‘Oh, how much do you want, we’ve got tons!’ I got 4 litres! Not sure how legal it was for him to give me that much, but I didn’t care.

They had a big water still too, which was very useful when I was mucking about with annodising.

rOcKeTdOg – Member
we have it in 5ltr containers at work, have to be careful not to use xylene instead though as it melts plastic and rubber, oh and is just a tinsy bit carcinogenic

I’ve never seen a UK Msds that declares a risk of carcinogenic effects of xylene. Are you using a really low grade contaminated with toluene?
We consider xylene to be a relatively safe solvent – we use it to clean with.

IPA isn’t particularly dangerous and is used in abundance in labs so apart from theft it probably wasn’t that bad to give you some.

Local motor spares shop ask for brake cleaner , massive can for about £3.50.

Cpc farnell were cheapest last time I looked. 400ml spray cans seem to last for ages.

I got mine from a chemist for about a fiver

I asked a similar question a couple of years ago I remember, and someone pointed me towards Halfords own Electrical contact cleaner. Which I was led to understand was very similar if not Isopropyl Alcohol, either way I have been using it ever since and it seems to do exactly what the purpose of IA is always touted as, i.e, mild degreasing, removing adhesive and other residues etc, without doing any damage to surfaces and without and sort of solvent properties. So I am happy to crack on with that stuff

Went with the expensive but convenient Maplins IPA in a can. More than enough for my needs and handy having the spray for inside fork uppers and lowers (so long as you remember to hold a rag at the other end else you spray the room with the stuff!)

IPA?

Can I use this then? 😉

I bought the Servisol electronic solvent cleaner from Maplin instead of the expensive large can of IPA.
The staff didn’t know if anything else was added so I looked up the on the Servisol website which has the ingredients and it didn’t seem to have anything but IPA. I think it might just be watered down a bit compared to IPA.

not used it yet…

When I saw the thread title and the username, I thought I don’t want to go to that party… 🙂

Anyhow thanks for the info – I’m after some IPA too.