Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is the alcohol found in liquor.
Isopropyl alcohol is most commonly used in sterilizing hand wash.

Ethanol is a very effective sterilising agent, and the two are often
used in the place of the other for this purpose. Each is suitable for
the purpose that you are talking about.

Yes ethanol is a smaller molecule than isopropyl alcohol, but it it
hardly makes any difference - they are both far smaller and able to
penetrate the stomata of your orchid's leaves. Each will tend to draw
water out from the leaves, unless used carefully.

You can buy ethanol in the form of methylated spirits (approx 90%
ethanol), but the other 10 % is a mixture of methanol and pyridine. I'm
not sure how toxic these two would be to your plant's leaves.

Regards,
Andrew.


Reka wrote:
What is the difference between isopropyl and ethyl alcohol? Can I use ethyl
alcohol in place of isopropyl in an alcohol/soap/water solution for spraying
pests???
Can't seem to find isopropyl in Italy. :-(