Rubbing Alcohol,Isopropyl Alcohol ,Surgical Spirit, Conundrum
 

As per Wikipedia Isopropyl Alcohol (C3H8O), Isopropanol and Rubbing Alcohol are same.
Rubbing Alcohol,hand sanitizer and disinfecting pads contain 60-70% Isopropyl Alcohol in water.
Rubbing Alcohol =ethanol based liquid or British pharmacopoeia defined surgical spirit.
United States Pharmacopoeia defines Isopropyl rubbing Alcohol USP as containing approximately 70% by volume of pure Isopropyl Alcohol . In Ireland and the UK the comparable preparation is Surgical Spirit BP , which British Pharmacopoeia defines as 95% methylated spirit , 2.5% castor oil and two other components

I'm thinking this post was incomplete?

Was there a question, or a statement concerning beginners growing orchids, that you intended to include?

It was neither. I was trying to get a clarification regarding the difference between surgical spirit and rubbing alcohol for quite some time, the answer was eluding, I found it , wanted to share the info. Those already know can ignore it and those don’t can assimilate it.

It seems that I'm not the only one confused by this post (and others).

You appear very eager and willing to share all sorts of information that you come across, and it's good to be enthousiastic. But it's also good to keep in mind that when information is posted with no context, and no clear relation to orchids, people reading your threads may be left scratching their heads a bit.

To summarize:

- Rubbing alcohol - 70% alcohol => Can't find it anywhere

- Ethanol - 96% alcohol - Can find it everywhere

- Isopropyl alcohol - >99% alcohol - Sold only in drugstores.

Rbarata:

The availabilities of similar products is quite different on our side of the pond. Updated this post after verifying availabilities.

Rubbing alcohol, 70% ispropanol: pretty much everywhere that sells any product related to medicine or first aid. Grocery stores for example.

Ethanol 99-100%: I'm basing 100% based on label saying 100% natural spirits, could be wrong. Any place that sells whiskey and similar alcoholic beverages; referred to as grain alcohol. Probably drug stores as well. There is also "Denatured" ethanol, making it undrinkable, available at hardware stores.

99% isopropanol, also hardware stores.

Interesting... in the US, Rubbing alcohol (70% isopropanol) is available everywhere (kills mealybugs and doesn't hurt flowers), 90% isopropyl alcohol also fairly common (too strong to use on orchids) . On the other hand, ethanol above 40% (vodka) hardly anywhere unless one is getting laboratory reagents. But how does this relate to orchids or orchid culture? This is an orchid forum.

I use ethanol (96%) on my orchids, diluted around 5%...but sometimes I suspect it damages the plants due to a too high concentration.

Yes, some care must be taken when giving advise due to this. It depends on the geographic region of the on who makes the question.:)

I do add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of the cheapest vodka (40% ethanol) to 2 gallons (about 8 liters) of my fertilizer water...seems weird, but I have read from several sources that this bit of extra, soluble carbohydrate can be beneficial (I know people who use molasses on growing vegetables, and there was a grower in California who once sold a product that was 30% methanol that apparently had good effect to facllitate blooming of high-light orchids, no longer selling the product) So while green plants make their own carbs through photosynthesis, maybe it does some good to add a bit. Dilute enough to do no harm (and doesn't cost much), perhaps they at least enjoy their little apperitif.

:D