soaked strings in alcohol, they turned purple

j_nition · #1 03-06-2011, 07:51 AM

thought I'd give a try to soaking used set of strings in denatured alcohol solvent like I've read a lot of people do. They've been soaking since for about 4-5 weeks in a PVC tube and they came out slightly uneven shades of purple along the length of the strings. The brightness is back, they feel clean, but they're purple.

Is this normal?

Sleeq · #2 03-06-2011, 12:32 PM

I guess they needed fresh air?

Mazinger · #3 03-06-2011, 12:37 PM

Was the PVC pipe clean? Are there remnants of pvc primer (which is sometimes purple) Just a guess. ????

BrandonBass · #4 03-06-2011, 12:41 PM

bet it'd look nice w a maple fretboard w block inlays

Emm9T · #5 03-06-2011, 12:44 PM

Sounds pretty cool to me unless it's corrosive or something.

FunkMetalBass · #6 03-06-2011, 12:46 PM

4-5 weeks is quite a long time. Generally one or two days is enough.

I second the PVC primer color. I've never seen that happen before, though.

williamshively · #7 03-06-2011, 01:22 PM

I always soak my strings in denatured alcohol in a big pickle jar. I swear by it. I never go over a day or two. It makes my strings sound brand new. The only thing you have to be careful about is that the strings' intonation will go out over time. I find that after 3-4 use/soak cycles, the upper register fretting tends to be out of tune.

j_nition · #8 03-06-2011, 06:16 PM

yeah I dont know guys...the PVC was definitly clean and new with no primer remnants. I just dumped the old alcohol and it's clear and clean.

The wierd thing is when I took the first set out, I put another used set in right away before I noticed the purple color. I checked back like less than 5 minutes later and that set that I just put in allready looked slightly darker and, you guessed it, PURPLE.

I wish it was cool... I dont really think it is.

Alex T · #9 03-06-2011, 06:55 PM

pics?

Handyman · #10 03-06-2011, 06:57 PM

The strings didn't happen to have blue silks on them, did they?

jgroh · #11 03-06-2011, 06:57 PM

4-5 weeks is too long to soak them. Does your strings have colored wrapping at the ends...say red or blue? Just wondered if that caused the color change.

Ahh handyman beat me to it!

j_nition · #12 03-06-2011, 07:38 PM

no wraps, DR lo riders. I'm stumped.

I'm using Sunnyside De-natured Alcohol Solvent and again, it's in a new PVC tube.

williamshively · #13 03-06-2011, 07:40 PM

Forget the tube and use a pickle jar like I do, bro

funkygroover694 · #14 03-06-2011, 07:42 PM

please post pictures, this could be a new fad

j_nition · #15 03-06-2011, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by williamshively

Forget the tube and use a pickle jar like I do, bro

probly my next step..I'll see waht I can do about a pic

jefkritz · #16 03-06-2011, 07:45 PM

probably the 4-5 weeks. i just leave mine overnight. the second set turned purple quickly because the alcohol was already purple-fied.

at least, that's my theory.

metallicafan18 · #17 03-06-2011, 07:51 PM

I'd like to see some pics! haha

Planet Boulder · #18 03-06-2011, 08:02 PM

4-5 weeks?!?!? Hell, with that much fermentation time, you probably ended up with a tube full o' grape drank!

C.Linton · #19 03-07-2011, 08:20 AM

Just wanted to ask the OP, how was the end of the PVC pipe sealed? The cement use for sealing PVC pipes is purple, I was thinking that perhaps soaking in alcohol for more than a month might have caused some of the cement to leach into the alcohol.

FunkMetalBass · #20 03-07-2011, 08:41 AM

Well, there's not much to the strings except metal and metal (I believe the low-riders are a nickel-alloy and steel). The idea of denatured alcohol is that it should just break down the finger oils and gunk and get in between the wraps to clean them out. However, because it contains so little water, it nearly nullifies the potential for rust.

I can't see that the metal would be reacting strangely to it - it's just metal and just denatured alcohol (I think. I should research your brand)

It's possible that your finger oils are reacting with the alcohol, but I imagine you would have noticed the purple color showing up in the alcohol too).

This is really strange. I'll continue to investigate further. Have you had any luck wiping the purple off of the strings?

I just noticed that your brand claims to be 100% denatured alcohol. That's quite high, considering most denatured alcohols that I see are only around 75%. Maybe that had something to do with it, like it was reacting with the shiny coating on the string wraps?