Isopropyl alcohol is a common and surprisingly versatile product. From cleaning your blinds, to getting out permanent marker stains, to performing extractions, and many more uses.

Stronger Isn’t Always Better

You can buy rubbing alcohol with a concentration of 70%, 91%, or 99% isopropyl alcohol. There are uses that requires a purity grade of 95% or more.

However, in cases of using IPA for disinfecting – even though most may think the higher concentration is more effective, experts say 70% is actually better for disinfecting. It has more water, which helps dissolve the isopropyl alcohol more slowly, allowing it to effectively penetrate cells, and kill bacteria. The disinfecting power of rubbing alcohol drops at concentrations higher than 80%-85%.  The strength in 80%-91% Isopropyl Alcohol is in cleaning, removing, and extracting. Applications needing to be cleaned but are sensitive to water should consider 99%.