Just in case someone insists that PLA will dissolve in Acetone - this piece

Just in case someone insists that PLA will dissolve in Acetone - this piece of Faberdashery PLA has been in acetone for 3 years. The Acetone is as clear as the day I put it in and it’s still 2.85mm.

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Based on the viscosity, that looks like nail polish. Or is that just the glass bottle screwing with me?

“PLA” is a class of plastic, not a chemical formula. Some PLAs are immune to acetone, some are softened, some (rarely) are dissolved. Depends on the additives and such.

@ThantiK I always used these nail polish bottles for making abs sludge back in the days, but wanted to try with a piece of PLA also. I purchased them empy, so I can guarantee that it’s pure acetone :wink:

@Ryan_Carlyle True. It was meant as “not all PLA can be altered”. Not that “no PLA will be affected”.

Faberdashery’s PLA is based on Ingeo 4043D from
NatureWorks LLC and I know that many PLA makers are sourcing from the same company.

@Jens_Chr_Brynildsen yeah the raw Natureworks resin will be completely resistant to acetone. It’s al the other junk that gets mixed in that can cause acetone to affect the PLA. Like if they use styrene masterbatch pellets for adding coloration.

Acetone dissolves within contact of atmospheric conditions. So in theory the exterior contact with materials will be on a cellulose level.

The question now remain:

Does it has the same structure density ,after being exposed to acetone only ? And after air contact?

Industrial acetone has a different qualification than cosmetic acetone.

So we can conclude that :

After the material undergoes structural and surface porous change. Which indefinitely will decrease the material quality.

Should one take the risk to use this material ,knowing that it may me flammable? Or may produce material surface alterations after the acetone change ?

Just a theory , therefore not making this answer a reason debatable.

I used to buy proper 100% acetone/nail-polish remover 30 years ago for cleaning carburetor parts. The junk nowadays is watered down…might as well be Windex.

@Richard_Karlson mostly now for home use it’s ethyl acetate, which is a less powerful and safer solvent.