FIELD GUIDE
A short, honest guide to 70% IPA — where it belongs in a home, what it replaces, and why 70% matters more than 100%.
Most Australian cleaning cupboards have the same problem. Six bottles, each promising one thing. A glass spray. A stone spray. A stainless spray. Something in a yellow trigger for the bathroom. Disinfectant wipes that always feel a bit damp. And somewhere at the back, a bottle of isopropyl alcohol someone bought to clean a laptop screen in 2021.
Here's the part nobody tells you at the supermarket: that last bottle, if it's the right concentration, does the job of most of the others.
This is a short, honest guide to 70% IPA — where it belongs in a home, what it replaces, and why 70% matters more than 100%.
It's counterintuitive. The weaker number is the stronger cleaner — for everyday surfaces.
100% isopropyl alcohol evaporates so fast it doesn't have time to penetrate a bacterial cell wall. It's brilliant for electronics prep, 3D printer beds, precision surfaces — anywhere you need zero residue and zero moisture. But on a kitchen bench, it flashes off before it disinfects.
70% IPA — 30% water, 70% alcohol — is the household standard. The water slows evaporation just enough to let the alcohol do its work. It's the ratio hospitals, labs, and commercial kitchens use for surface wipe-downs. It kills 99.9% of germs — fast.
Rule of thumb: 70% for surfaces. 100% for electronics that can't tolerate water. When in doubt, it's 70%.
Stone, sealed timber, laminate, quartz. Fingerprints, oil splatter, raw-food residue. 70% IPA disinfects and evaporates without the soapy film supermarket sprays leave behind.
Grease, sauce splatter, the bit behind the knobs nobody can reach. IPA cuts oil on contact without the ammonia smell that seeps into the next night's dinner.
Fingerprints lift off stainless with IPA the way they don't with anything else. No polish, no stripes, no greasy sheen.
Streak-free. No blue pooling at the bottom of a mirror. No ammonia reek.
The high-touch inventory of a house. The surfaces people actually share. Ten seconds of 70% IPA per handle, once a day, does more than most daily routines.
The single dirtiest object in most homes. Oleophobic coatings on modern phones tolerate 70% IPA — manufacturers now recommend it over old-school "dry cloth only" advice.
The grime between the W and the E. Crumb-adjacent. 70% IPA lifts oil and food residue without dripping into the board — evaporation is fast enough to keep the liquid where you put it.
Touched constantly, cleaned almost never. Same 10-second rule as door handles.
Metal clasps, buckles, zip pulls, the soles-to-upper seam on white sneakers. IPA lifts scuffs and deodorises without soaking leather.
After a session, before storing. Kills the bacteria that turn into the smell. Dries before you roll the mat.
Steering wheel, gear stick, indicator stalks, the dash around the screen. The cabin surfaces you touch every trip and think about once a year.
The Bundle
One strength. Three sizes. One per zone.
$59 AUD. Free shipping.
Aussie Made, Aussie Owned. Kills 99.9% of germs — fast.
Shop the Isopropyl Alcohol 70% Bundle →Kitchova 70% IPA is Australian Made and Owned. One strength. Three sizes. No additives, no perfume, no colour. The only things in the bottle are 70% pharmaceutical-grade isopropyl alcohol and 30% water — the ratio the chemistry calls for. That's why the label is short.
The bottles are designed to be refilled, not replaced. Buy the trigger once. When the 250mL runs out, top it from the 1L. The system is the product.
"Fantastic alcohol cleaner for general purpose disinfecting around the office. It's so easy to use around food handling and preparation areas. Wiping down benches and cleaning dining areas is a breeze with this as it removes stains, disinfects and dries very quickly. The bottle is an easy size to carry around and a little bit goes a long way. We only have a small team at work and this is excellent to have around especially when someone isn't feeling well, we can easily disinfect surfaces, including workspaces. It's a super handy germ killer!"
— Verified buyer
"This isopropyl alcohol is a really useful thing to have around the house or workspace. It works well for cleaning all sorts of surfaces, especially electronics like keyboards, phones and screens where you want something that dries quickly and doesn't leave streaks behind. It evaporates fast, so you're not left waiting around for things to dry. The bottle size is practical and easy to store, and the cleaning power is solid without needing much effort. It's also great for removing sticky residue, which comes in handy more often than you'd think. Overall, it's a reliable, no fuss cleaning solution that does exactly what you want."
— Verified buyer
Yes — on surfaces, wiped and allowed to flash off. It's the concentration used in commercial kitchens for the same reason. Evaporates residue-free; no rinse needed. Keep the bottle itself out of direct contact with food and away from children.
Modern oleophobic screens tolerate 70% IPA — Apple, Samsung, Microsoft all list it as an approved cleaner. Apply to the cloth, not the screen. Power off first.
No — and that's the point. 100% IPA is for electronics prep and precision surfaces that can't tolerate water. 70% is the everyday household disinfectant. If you're cleaning anything that isn't a circuit board, you want 70%.
Sealed, 2+ years. Once opened, the alcohol evaporates slowly over time — keep the cap tight and it'll stay at concentration for 12+ months of normal household use.
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