phantomrebel
Serial Tapist
For our purposes they actually are the same. Light hydro treated petroleum distillate is essentially Kerosene, a type of Naphtha. The confusion comes from the fact that Naphtha is a general term (like gasoline is): it can be different distillates and different grades (depends on fraction taken during distillation) which is why the AR MSDS breaks down the hexane percentages. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NaphthaNot disputing the effectiveness of lighter fluid, but while it and the AR fluid are very similar, they are not chemically identical.
I always use standard light Naphtha from my local paint store as it is less expensive than Zippo and much less than the AR marketed stuff. The light preps all share the common property that they are composed mostly of hexanes and pentanes. If we were synthesizing compounds purity would matter and we may select a specific hexane, but we are using them for cleaning so the basic light stuff (high volatility) works just as well as any other and you can get it for $10/qt at Walmart. More critical is the water content as, like IPA, we want the %solvent as high as possible since the aqueous phase can be dirty. Fortunately most light Naphthas are 100% since hexanes aren't hydroscopic like alcohols .
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