there's a relatively simple source for ethanol be it diluted slightly. Mouth wash (aka Lister-something or other) contains about 24% for about $1 a litre discount super cheapo.

The alcohol distills out but still smells like the mouthwash which can (probably) be dealt with with activated charcoal/filtration.

Then on to drying like was mentioned afore  (CaO).

this is closest OTC but doesn't beat Everclear, etc.

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OTEECEE & meeeee!!!!

rumor has it heating lawn lime (CaOH) drives off CO2 leaving CaO. anything troof to it?

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OTEECEE & meeeee!!!!

Now the catch.  You have to heat it beyond red heat (825-1000C).  This is easy to do if you have access to a pottery kiln.

what about drying your 95% EtOH with MgSO4?
is there some reason this will no work?

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what about drying your 95% EtOH with MgSO4?
is there some reason this will no work?

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Magnesium sulfate is soluble in ethanol, thus it's not a good choice for drying it. Calcium oxide is the traditional method    Molecular sieve 3A would work    Azeotropic distillation using benzene is the recommended route for drying, if drinking it isn't the goal, a little known method of drying ethanol is to boil out the azeotrope of dichloromethane and water; it's boiling point is 38.1° C, and is composed of 1.8% water. See Jour Soc Chem Ind 61 and Chem Ind 20 120 (1942) for more details    Using magnesium as described in Vogel's is another good method    
 
 

In SWIVE's dreams, he uses dried sodium carbonate where he used to use dried epsoms. Does anyone know if it is soluble in ethanol? SWIVE told me he's had good results drying ISO, methanol, acetone and VM&P naptha with it.

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Real Men Don't Preview Their Edits

Lugh hi, would CaO remove the H2O only or would it also remove the methyl alcohol denaturant?

thanks advanced

is there a decent way to turn the MeOh into a solid
compound by the addition of something else?  Then simple
distill your goodies... any ideas?