Draylath - 25-6-2015 at 11:01
Hi there all,
I'm new to the forums and I'm a starting out hobbies putting my little lab together at the moment. I've got loads of books but just as many questions.
One of the first things I'll want to do once I've got set up is to source my chemicals and I found a paint stripper in a shop which was a mixture of
DCM and methanol. I read that they form an azeotrope so how would I separate them out?
Apologies in advance if my question has broken any rules or site ettequtte
MrHomeScientist - 25-6-2015 at 13:25
The method I used seemed to work pretty well.
Part 1: Distillation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ppYMTAqWM
Part 2: Purification: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcsHZVydZds
Distillation separates out the goop that lets the product adhere to walls. Purification gets rid of the methanol (at least to my limit of
detectability). I'd understand if you don't want to watch the full 12-minute documentary of Part 2 
It's mostly testing. Just shake the product of your distillation with water several times. The methanol migrates to
the water because it's soluble whereas DCM isn't.
Draylath - 26-6-2015 at 08:06
Thank you so much. I really should have looked up water solubility before I posted. Thanks for not giving me a hard time and I'll remember that lesson
for next time. Oh I fully intend to watch the full view. Many thanks again