Are methylated spirits damaging to paint?

Answer 1

Depends on the paint. Enamel and lacquer should be OK for short exposure, but meths has a purple dye added to warn people off drinking it (which makes it taste foul) which may leave a stain on non-gloss surfaces or pale colours. Probably safer using propanol, but see if milder cleaners (Spray-n-Wipe) solve the problem first before resorting to meths. Meths smaller methanol molecules can eat easily into things, so propanol is a safer bet (for example, never use meths for tape recorder heads use propanol instead). Spectacle cleaning fluid is a good, safe, substitute for meths for cleaning difficult marks on most surfaces and is an excellent CD/DVD/Monitor cleaning fluid as well (use the same microfibre clothes used for spectacles and rinse and dry cloth in warm water between uses). As for acrylic paint(water-based) - alcohol will dissolve it, so meths will do a lot of damage.