What is Isopropyl alcohol?
Isopropyl alcohol kills skin bacteria or prevents them from developing.
Isopropyl alcohol topical (for use on skin) is used to help avoid minor cuts or scrapes from bacterial skin infections. Throughout clinical settings, isopropyl alcohol is used to prevent infection that may be caused by needle punctures.
Sometimes, isopropyl alcohol is often used as a topical rub to help relieve mild muscle pain.
Isopropyl alcohol, more generally referred to as rubbing alcohol, has a variety of uses in the health industry, and is a popular staple in most cabinets for home medication.
It has different grades of purity, and they are designed for various uses:
These are useful cleaning chemicals and disinfectants, and they can get rid of all kinds of bacteria and impurities depending on their concentration.
Isopropyl alcohol is rapidly antimicrobial against bacteria, fungi, and viruses, particularly in solutions between 60 percent and 90 percent alcohol with 10 – 40 percent filtered water.
When concentrations of alcohol drop below 50 percent, disinfection efficiency drops significantly. Notably, higher alcohol concentrations do not contain any more attractive bactericidal, virucidal, or fungicidal properties.
Use as an Antiseptic
Isopropyl alcohol is also used as an antiseptic, and you certainly had it used by a doctor to swab the skin before injections to destroy bacteria on the surface. This is used for cleaning minor cuts and abrasions and destroying any bacteria that may be in the region to prevent bacterial growth. This is also approved for use as a surgical scrub and as a clinical hand sanitizer by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA.
Use as a Surface disinfectant
Isopropyl alcohol is one of several of the active ingredients used to disinfect surfaces in hospitals. Usually, the isopropyl alcohol in these products is combined with another chemical that helps to remain longer on the surface and not evaporate as quickly as possible. That is a valuable addition to any home surface cleaner and can also destroy bacteria, spores, and viruses on certain surfaces.
99% Isopropyl Alcohol:
This 99 percent IPA concentration is used as a solvent or cleaning agent for industries manufacturing water-sensitive products. Hence, the use of a hydrophobic solvent makes sense, evaporates easily.
Uses in Industries
It is beneficial in computer and electronics manufacturing industries, which prefer the instant evaporation of cleaning agents for their work.
Use as Astringent
Astringents are substances that, when applied to the skin, will compress or tighten your body tissues, much like the pores in your skin. Isopropyl alcohol serves as an astringent and is often used along with other astringents such as witch hazel in skin toners and tightening formulas. It helps to make the skin appear smoother and the pores less noticeable.
Besides Disinfection some Household uses of Isopropyl Alcohol are as follows:
We've always used rubbing alcohol before putting on a band-aid to scrub out cuts and scrapes, but rubbing alcohol is useful for more than you think to disinfect. So, if you have it placed in the cabinet, get it out, because you have some cleaning to do.
Rubbing alcohol will help you clean your kitchen, bathroom, and so much more.
- Cleans Mirrors If you want water stains to be cleaned and your reflective surfaces streak-free, then rubbing alcohol will help you get the job done.
- Sanitize Makeup Brushes Soaking your makeup brushes in rubbing alcohol will give them a deep cleaning and make them good as new in no time.
- Removes Odors Spraying a small amount of alcohol into the air can prevent odors in every space in your house.
- Sanitizes your phone A tiny bit of rubbing alcohol will make it clean anyway when your phone screen starts looking all smudged and icky.
- Disintegrates Grease residue Grease residue can be hard to clean in the kitchen. But the grease and grime build-up is not an issue. Isopropyl alcohol will remove it.
- Clean windshield Sprinkling the windshield with rubbing alcohol will remove the snow and ice so that when you brush it, it will fall right off.
- Erase Permanent Marker Rubbing alcohol will rehydrate the ink left from a permanent marker, making it easy to clean away. Just squeeze some rubbing alcohol, let it sit for a minute on the stain, then wipe it off.
- Eliminate Fruitflies Additionally, rubbing alcohol also helps to get rid of the fruit flies.
- Skin and Acne Rubbing alcohol helps clear the skin and removes the acne-causing bacteria, according to Health Tree. That is also helpful when you find the first signs of a pimple because washing the area with rubbing alcohol three times a day can rapidly minimize blackheads and pimples.
Note: Such chemicals are meant to be used for research, industrial work, washing or disinfecting, and should therefore not be toyed or kept close to young children or infants.