“Rubbing Alcohol”: £8.99 for 25ml!

“Rubbing alcohol” is an American term that’s catching on in Britain, and it describes a mix of typically 70% Isopropanol and 30% distilled water. Electronics and technical folks commonly use pure Isopropanol (Isopropyl Alcohol or IPA) as a cleaning and degreasing fluid on all manner of circuit boards, circuitry, delicate mechanisms and enclosures, as it 'flashes off' or evaporates rapidly and is generally safe to use on most plastics. You can buy IPA in cans, bottles, aerosols or wipes for industrial, technical and engineering use. I keep a 1 Litre tin of it in the electronics workshop. It’s pungent and flammable.

Domestically it’s not the best product to slosh around 100% ‘neat’ but by diluting it with distilled water, a user-friendly cleaning solvent is produced. It’s used for all kind of delicate cleaning, degreasing and personal care applications, including helping with bedsores as well as anti-bacterial handgels and even spectacle wipes. Sometimes, pure IPA is found labelled as “rubbing alcohol” but it seems to be more widely accepted that it should contain (typically) 30% distilled water.

What is called "Surgical Spirit" in Britain does the same kind of job but smells very different. I believe it uses Methyl Salicylate 0.5% and methylated spirits (denatured alcohol or ethanol with human-repellant additives) instead, according to a typical product listed here.

DIY Hand sanitiser using IPA(?)

With the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown upon us, we’re implored to isolate, wash our hands for 20 seconds and use antibacterial hand gels frequently. Due to a shortage of hand gels, word has spread that Isopropanol will do the trick instead, with some folks mixing it with aloe gel or similar to make their own sanitiser. Understandably there’s been a mad rush to buy Isopropanol. In normal times pure IPA sells for around £12-£15 for a 1 Litre can from typical trade suppliers like CPC, whom, I note, are currently out of stock of it.

So when I spotted a teensy (and I do mean small) 25 ml (twenty five millilitre) bottle of “Rubbing Alcohol” for sale on Amazon, I was gobsmacked. That’s no more than about 5 teaspoons, under 1 fluid ounce (or 3½ teaspoons of IPA, if you take out the water), and the price was an eyewatering ... £8.99 ( about $11).

Using the Camelcamelcamel (CCC) plugin for Amazon, the price history of many products on sale can be charted, and sure enough, this titchy Classikool-brand bottle according to CCC was clearly shown at £2.99 for several years, before trebling in price to £8.99 in mid March. That’s equal to £359 per litre, including the 30% distilled water. Gross that up again (remove the water content) and it’s £513 per litre of Isopropanol.

Classikool 25ml Rubbing Alcohol on Amazon / Camelcamelcamel [Click to see]Furious customer feedback slammed the ridiculous price and posted accusations of taking advantage and price gouging in the Coronavirus-terrorised marketplace. My screenshot of Camelcamelcamel charting ‘Classikool’ brand 25ml Rubbing Alcohol shows the price leap before CCC suspended its price tracking service today.

It's also a classic illustration of supply and demand. Customers can take it or leave it. Personally I'm not impressed and I like to illustrate what's going on, but I will let the customer feedback speak for itself.

Update on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at 12:55PM by Alan W

It's dropped to £6.99 on 25th March.

Update on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at 3:54PM by Alan W

Finally, it's gone off sale - should think so too.

Update on Monday, December 28, 2020 at 6:22PM by Alan W

Rummaging through my accounts, I found a Paypal receipt for 'Classikool' 70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol -  back then in 2014 it cost £4.09 for 250 mls.