Isopropyl alcohol can be a bit expensive, and evaporates quickly. Deicing
fluid like TKS is usually some combination of ethylene glycol and
isopropanol, which is a lot more viscous and sticks to the airframe better.
It also makes a tremendous mess on the hangar floor that never evaporates on
its own, and is very slippery.

A mix of warm water and cheap glycol based antifreeze in a garden sprayer
works pretty well as a substitute as mentioned. The pink or yellow-green dye
won't matter. Don't forget to do the wheels and landing gear, as well as
flap tracks, etc. In lieu of a plane with deice equipment it may give a few
minutes of ice protection, particularly if you taxi out in snow or slush.


"smackey" wrote in message
...
"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
thlink.net...
It probably would not have sublimated on climb out, sublimation takes a
long
time. You might want to consider filling your garden sprayer with
RV-type
antifreeze as a deicing solution in the winter.

Mike
MU-2

Thanks to all for the feedback. Question on the garden sprayer:
I usually have one filled with 90% solution of isopropyl alcohol
(didn't that nigt) from the drug store. Any reason this isn't a
feasible deicing solution to use if I were departing, say, in daytime?