04-25-2023, 09:12 PM
Just a follow-up report on Oil of Wintergreen.
DRONE7, wow you are right! I can't find bottles of wintergreen in the pharmacy, as in the past here in the US. Maybe it was pulled after the death of the teenager. I had an old tube of Icy Hot (30% methyl salicylate) and tried it. It cleans the tip of the soldering iron to looking new in seconds. No residue. Simply amazing stuff. Great find!
Active solder flux has higher amounts of rosin, which is tree sap with the terpenes (turpentine) boiled off. The darker the color of the flux, the more rosin. The problem with rosin is that it leaves a residue. Methyl salicylate is really clean and residue free.
Regarding toxicity, children are particularly susceptible, because they don't metabolize methyl salicylate well. Toxicity usually occurs by ingestion.
Methyl salicylate can be used as the flavoring agent in mint candies, such as Altoids.
DRONE7, wow you are right! I can't find bottles of wintergreen in the pharmacy, as in the past here in the US. Maybe it was pulled after the death of the teenager. I had an old tube of Icy Hot (30% methyl salicylate) and tried it. It cleans the tip of the soldering iron to looking new in seconds. No residue. Simply amazing stuff. Great find!
Active solder flux has higher amounts of rosin, which is tree sap with the terpenes (turpentine) boiled off. The darker the color of the flux, the more rosin. The problem with rosin is that it leaves a residue. Methyl salicylate is really clean and residue free.
Regarding toxicity, children are particularly susceptible, because they don't metabolize methyl salicylate well. Toxicity usually occurs by ingestion.
Methyl salicylate can be used as the flavoring agent in mint candies, such as Altoids.
