I made my first batch of Ed's Red. It seems to work very well, but I wonder if I'm missing a capability based on two of the ingredients I used: kerosene heater fuel and paint thinner (mineral spirits). Both were used since they are readily available at local hardware and home improvement stores in small quantities.
I used the paint thinner to fulfill the Stoddard solvent ingredient. The SDS for the paint thinner shows 80-100% CAS No. 8052-41-3 Stoddard solvent {Mineral spirits; Aliphatic Petroleum Distillates; White spirits}, with 3-7% trimethyl benzine.
The SDS for the kerosene SDS shows the same ingredients with mineral spirits at less than or equal to 100% and the trimethyl benzene at 5% or less.
Kerosene has CAS No. 8008-20-6, so it would appear that my mix is lacking this component. However, kerosene and Stoddard solvent share characteristics. Both contain aliphatic hydrocarbons of very similar carbon chain lengths; C9 to C16. Both have similar specific gravities, flash points and boiling points.
Minding that the instructions say to use the specified ingredients, what is the practical difference between kerosene and mineral spirits in Ed's Red? What is missing if true kerosene is not used?
Thank you.
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