Denatured alcohol or
methylated spirits is
ethanol that has additives to make it
poisonous, extremely bad tasting, foul smelling or
nauseating, to discourage recreational consumption. In some cases it is also dyed.
Denatured alcohol is used as a
solvent and as fuel for spirit burners and camping stoves. Because of the diversity of industrial uses for denatured alcohol, hundreds of additives and denaturing methods have been used. The main additive has traditionally been 10%
methanol, giving rise to the term "methylated spirits". Other typical additives include
isopropyl alcohol,
acetone,
methyl ethyl ketone,
methyl isobutyl ketone, and
denatonium.[SUP]
[1][/SUP]
Denaturing alcohol does not
chemically alter the ethanol molecule. Rather, the ethanol is mixed with other chemicals to form an undrinkable solution.
Different additives are used to make it difficult to use
distillation or other simple processes to reverse the denaturation. Methanol is commonly used both because its boiling point is close to that of ethanol and because it is toxic. In many countries, it is also required that denatured alcohol be
dyed blue or purple with an
aniline dye.