[Herbalist] rubbing vs grain (PGA) alcohols

Sue Rogers wjwakefield at juno.com
Thu May 31 21:32:36 PDT 2001


It is my experience that rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol is more drying to
the skin and stings more on cuts and sores than pure grain (PGA) alcohol.
 For those with very dry skin, this might be an issue, but otherwise I
would not expect either to cause undue problems.  The most common brand
of PGA around here is Everclear.

Also, for anything with a desirable fragrance, grain alcohol has minimal
fragrance, whereas rubbing alcohol smells (and I don't care for the
smell).

For tinctures and such, I commonly use cheap vodka - many herbal
components extract better in water than alcohol, but others do better in
alcohol.  Vodka provides both.  And it is easier on the skin than
straight alcohol of either variety.  When I make astringent for the face,
this is a consideration.

Only time I use PGA anymore is tincturing wormwoods to get the emerald
green color - I can't get it with vodka.  Myrrh tincture might be another
place to use PGA.
Suzanna, herbalist, Barony of the Steppes, Kingdom of Ansteorra (Dallas,
TX)

On Fri, 01 Jun 2001 00:51:13 "Mary Temple" <noxcat at hotmail.com> writes:
>I'd be curious to see something regarding rubbing alcohol being bad when
>applied directly to skin - I use rubbing alcohol both before and after I
>give myself my insulin injections. Been doing it everyday, up to three
times
>a day for over 21 years with no problems. I would think it's not too big
a
>deal when used short term.
>Mary/Katerine

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