Chemistry Forum

Hello,

So in the selection of various grill cleaners you can buy, the active ingredient tends to be:
Surfactant, which you can get in other household cleaners.
Lye, (sodium hydroxide) which is too caustic for me to use on my grill -- which looks like stainless steel but the rust spots tell a different tale.
An ether, which is an organic solvent.
An ammonia, which as I understand is a generally good cleaner so long as you don't inhale it.
A "super powerful bleach", potassium hydroxide. Which is also too caustic.
Isopropanol, an alcohol.
And butane.

So, I'm thinking either the alcohol, butane, or ammonia.

I'd like to understand, is butane a good cleaner? How? I mean, it's lighter fluid.
Is butane a good thing to use health wise? (For the easily concerned, I'm not going to drink it or something stupid, of course.)

The alcohol formula also contains a butane in the from of isobutane. Is one more effective at cleaning or safer than the other?

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

PS: When I say "safer" I am (obviously) not asking for professional medical advise. I'm saying, "In your own experience with you're own understanding of chemistry."

Butane is not a cleaner. It is a gas, what is used for lighters, campingburners, table fireplace, etc.

Well, it's the second ingredient in the brand-name Kingsford grill cleaner.
The fourth is propane.
I can't imagine why they'd need these in the mixture.
I kinda assumed they aided in the cleaning process somehow -- instead of just being there because Kingsford refused to buy compressed air.

PS: Isn't butane, aka lighter fluid, a liquid? I mean, I've seen fluid in the clear plastic packages of those long nosed lighters.

How it is used. As a spray ? The gases are the propellents.

Yes, as a spray.
I thought they'd have used compressed air instead of compressed flammable gases.

I know the active ingredients of four cleaners -metal cleaning surfactants, namely LS₄₈ metal cleaning surfactant, LS₂₀₂ stainless steel cleaner, LS₂₀₆E ultrasonic non-foaming cleaning agent, and LS metal cleaning agent series. Among them, LS₄₈ metal cleaning surfactant is an important surfactant of normal temperature water-based metal cleaning agent, which is non-toxic, harmless and non-corrosive. Depending on the material of your grill, choose wisely a cleaner with the right active ingredients.